The woes of not having enough time are not unfamiliar for most of us. The desperate attempt to stay on top of work that is piling up is a struggle that many of us are all too familiar with. Stress levels rise as we anxiously glance at our seemingly endless to-do list, while dreading the incipient headache threatening to ruin any chances of productivity.
‘Time Eater’ is the name I’ve given to all the minor activities we take part in throughout the day that, slowly but surely, steal away small pockets of our time. The sneaky thing about time eaters is that they mange to do this so quietly and carefully, that we usually fail to even notice just how much time we’ve lost. How many times have you asked yourself “Where did this day go?”
Let’s take a closer look and work on answering this question.
If you wish to increase your productivity, identify and eliminate your time eaters. See if some of the following activities sound a little familiar.
WhatsApp Groups
The way we lose track of time when catching up with friends in person, is the same process that takes place when chatting online. A friend has posted something amusing, another has responded
with a witty reply and the next thing you know, a conversation has ensued and it is now 3 hours
later. We’ve all been there.
Twitter
This one deceptively eats away your hours, 140 characters at a time. This is of course applicable to all other forms of social media. Browsing, posting and commenting always absorbs up those
minutes faster than we realise.
Television
Whether we are browsing channels or binge watching a series, television is a classic activity through which we completely lose track of time. The ‘just one more episode’ is a lie we have all
told ourselves at some point. In fact, this is particularly dangerous if the episodes in question
are only 25 minutes long. We delude ourselves into thinking that another 20 or so minutes will
not have any long-term impact, all the while knowing that the chances of stopping at the next
episode are indeed slim.
Meals
This may sound like an unusual one but you will be surprised at how many of us fail to set aside an appropriate amount of time for lunch or dinner breaks. If we’re serious about getting back to work, consuming a meal should not take longer than 15 to 20 minutes. Many of us tend to have developed the habit of watching or reading something while eating, which mostly just results in slowing down the process and soaking up our time.
So what can we do to get ourselves out of these frustrating habits? A simple 3-step process may be the answer.
Step 1
The very first step requires a little self-policing and vigilance. Set yourself a task in which you make a note of how many minutes of your spare time you have spent on a certain activity. Think of it as a type of bank statement, except instead of keeping track of where your money is going, you are creating a record of your time. For 7 days, do not worry about changing anything else except simply taking note of the time and maintaining this record. The number of minutes in total spent on meals, how many minutes spent browsing social media etc.
Step 2
After doing so for 7 days, take a look at your log, add up the minutes and calculate how many hours a week you are spending on each activity. This will give you a clear, visual idea of exactly where your time is going.
Step 3
Identify the activities you can cut down on. Do I really need to be spending this much time a week in front of the TV? Do I really need this much time to eat?
Once you have identified your problem areas, you are in a much better position to begin saving time by making the conscious decision to cut down on a certain activity. You are now in the driver’s seat of your choices, rather than perpetually wondering where all your time has gone.
Finally, be sure to always keep in mind that repeated actions will only ever give you repeated results. If you desire a change in outcome, this can only happen with some reformations on your part. Give it a try, and if you find that this method is not working, identify the problem area and tackle that first.
Remember, everyone functions in a very unique pattern, so we must not classify any new method of self-improvement as a failed attempt. We are simply narrowing down our strategies and getting closer to the method that works best for us.
Follow the steps, eliminate those time eaters and reclaim your day!
