Common Time Wasters

 

More and more I realize that time is my most valuable asset. If I waste it, it can never be recovered. If I use it wisely, God will be pleased and honored. 

 

We began talking about one of the most common time wasters—interruptions—and how we can try to minimize other people interrupting us. But how about those self-interruptions? How many times a day do you interrupt yourself unnecessarily?   

 

Maybe you’re working away on something and you think, "Oh, I need to call so-and-so," so you stop what you’re doing and make a call. Well, unless there is a real need to call at that minute, you should group those phone calls and eliminate that self-interruption. When I’m writing —which it seems like I do all the time! I set little goals and rewards for myself. I’ll say, "Now, as soon as you get this much done, you can stop and get a cup of tea," and those little self-rewards encourage me to stick with it and not interrupt myself.

 

I doubt you’d throw a wad of money out the window, and you really need to think of your time as even more valuable to you. If you’re interrupting yourself often, then you’re just throwing time right out the window. 

 

Another major time waster is paper shuffling. Do you find yourself shuffling and re-shuffling papers a lot? Is there some stack of papers on your desk right now that keeps getting bigger, and now you’re not really sure what’s there? A good motto to keep in mind is "Handle each piece of paper once." 

 

When you’re trying to decide what to do with a piece of paper, here are five good alternatives: Toss it, or delegate it, or do it, or place it in a follow-up file or put it in a project file. That will help you eliminate that nasty time waster called paper shuffling.

 

And of course, we now need to find ways to save time with emails and paperless communications. I find that if an email needs an answer and I have the answer when I read the email, the easiest and most efficient thing to do is reply right then. That way I don’t have to remember to go back and answer it later. Our computers give us ways to prioritize emails and those technical tools can be helpful.