Common Things That Waste Time
In order for you to excel at time management, it is important for you to be able to identify things which waste time. If you cannot get these things under control, your productivity will fall, and you will fail to achieve your goals.
Things which waste time will destroy your time management system. You will want to watch for these things at all times, and when you detect one of them, you will want to stop it before it turns into a much larger problem.
The first thing that will waste your time is called poor planning. Poor planning is something that will not only waste your time, but could severely impact your ability to achieve a desired goal. It is always important to make sure you plan things properly. If you plan to finish a task within a certain period of time, you should make sure the plan is effective and feasible. You should look at any possible things which could cause the plan to fail. The second thing that will waste your time is constant phone calls. While some calls can be important, others are a complete waste of time. The time you spend talking on the phone about things which are not important will reduce the amount of time you spend on important tasks, and will destroy your productivity.
Another problem that people have is trying to do too much at once. Attempting to do more than what you can handle can lead to stress, burn out, and a number of other problems. To solve this problem, set up a schedule with a To-Do list that will only allow you to work on tasks that you can handle at one time. If you have your own business, you may have to deal with drop-in visitors. Even if they are clients you have worked with before, a surprise visit can throw you off the project you’re working on. It can also delay the time that is necessary for you to complete it. To overcome this problem, inform all your clients that they must make an appointment before visiting you. By doing this, you can avoid the surprise visits that may waste your time.
While delegating is important when you are working in a group, it can become a waste of time if it is not done effectively. An example of this is delegating a task to someone who doesn’t do it, or they do it incorrectly. There are a number of things that can cause problems with delegation. The primary factor is communication. Both sides must be able to communicate effectively. If only one side is communicating, there will always be confusion, and correcting the problem will waste time. In addition to this, tasks should only be given to people who can handle them. If they can’t handle them, or wish not to do them, they should either be given another task or removed from the team altogether.
Another killer of time management is disorganization. When people are not organized, they are prone to failing to meet deadlines, or they will forget to finish a task. If you are the head of your team, you must get rid of anything that can make your group disorganized. If you don’t do it, confusion can lead to frustration, and this can destroy your productivity and your ability to succeed. In addition to this, a lack of discipline is a frequent killer of time management. If you or someone you work with does not have the discipline to finish a project, it is unlikely to be completed, and if it is, it will generally be poor in quality.
Tasks which are unfinished can cause a major problem, especially when they are tasks that are crucially important. If you have made a To-Do list for a particular day, it is always important to make sure you finish the most important things on the list. Rate each task by its level of importance, and finish them in this order. If you are the owner of a business, you may find that your staff is simply not adequate when it comes to time management. In this situation, you may need to either educate them or release them from their duties.
