Chapter 23

Ten Time-Wasting Behaviors

With all the things you have to accomplish in a given day, wouldn't it be nice if the day were just a bit longer? Before you start thinking of ways to slow the rotation of the Earth, try to cut out some serious time-wasters — or at least reduce the amount of time you devote to them; it'll seem like you're gaining one, two, three, or even more hours to your day to invest in activities and pursuits that are important to you. Here are some of the most voracious devourers of your precious time.

Failing to Stop and Think

When you spend too little time in preparation, you're forced to spend too much time in execution. The time you invest in collecting, compiling, and organizing your thoughts before you begin a project pays off in time savings and in the quality of the outcome.

Not only does planning ahead eliminate problems before you start, but it also helps you imagine how you'll perform the task. When you address the situation in advance, you feed your subconscious with the tools and information it needs to work on the problems, often without your awareness. That's kind of like sticking bread dough in a warm space and letting it rise overnight — just consider your planning efforts to be the leavening that brings your projects to rise to their full potential.

Preparation is valuable in efforts big and small. Even 10 minutes at the end of a day to review your schedule and set out the materials you'll need is sure to increase your productivity and effectiveness the next day.

Multitasking

The scientific evidence overwhelmingly suggests that multitasking — switching back and forth between two or more tasks — is an extremely ineffective way to get things done. Researchers say that when you multitask, you're making your brain take time to switch to a different skill set and a different memory experience.

One study shows that when people who speak two languages are asked to switch between languages when counting objects, they have to slow down for each switch — even the language they're most familiar with. Another study indicates that when people start-stop on several tasks in a given time period, they increase the time needed for completion by as much as 500 percent.

Sometimes multitasking can't be helped: You're cooking dinner, helping one child with her homework, and telling another where he can find his soccer shoes. And sometimes multitasking doesn't affect productivity: You're reading a book while listening to jazz and stopping occasionally to respond to your spouse who's reading next to you.

For those projects and tasks that require your best effort, you're better off to focus on one at a time. Here's how to keep yourself focused on the task at hand:

See Chapter 15 for tips on handling interruptions.

Working without Breaks

There's a point of diminishing return where your focus and concentration start to fall dramatically. Too many people grind through, skip breaks, and cross that threshold. They sit and read the same paragraph over and over again because they're tired and out of focus. They review the same report again without realizing it until they're halfway through it.

Everyone needs breaks from routine and the tasks at hand. You should take frequent breaks but for very short durations. If you're given two 15-minute breaks a day plus your lunch hour, I suggest trying to take three 10-minute breaks or two 5-minute breaks and two 10-minute breaks for the day. I'm not suggesting taking more time than you're allowed by your boss, but to use it in short spurts to regain your focus and energy.

To achieve a true break, take a walk around the block. Leave your office and move your body. The act of physical movement connects with cleansing your brain, relaxing your mental muscle, and relieving stress. Don't take a break at your desk; detach from the project you're working on for at least 10 minutes.

Demanding Perfection

If you're expecting perfection from yourself or others, you're wasting your time. Letting imperfection keep you from pursuing recreational interests or your career goals can end up limiting your fulfillment in life.

The amount of time, effort, energy, and emotion required to achieve perfection dramatically reduce production. You may invest as much time and energy to move from a 95 percent performance score to the 100 percent mark as you do to go from 0 to 95 percent. You're much better off investing your energy in starting something new than focusing on perfection. Production beats perfection.

And if you refuse to give it a go until you're perfect, how will you ever get to be perfect? One of history's most prolific inventors, Thomas Edison, made hundreds of failed prototypes before he perfected inventions such as the light bulb.

Worrying and Waiting

Hand-in-hand, worry and waiting are two time-wasters that can undermine your success and happiness in life. Worry usually comes from dwelling on factors that you can't control. It's scary to think about overpowering forces that can have a devastating impact: a downturn in the economy, a hurricane, global warming. But if you spend time worrying, you're not spending time on ways you can prepare for or avoid such forces. Renowned self-help guru Dale Carnegie viewed it this way: “If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.”

Another exercise to help you overcome worry is to ask yourself these four questions:

A first cousin to worry is waiting — not the waiting for your spouse to meet you for dinner. Or the waiting to hear back from a client about your proposal. Or the waiting for the price on HDTV to go down. I'm talking about the waiting that often accompanies worry, the waiting that keeps you from taking a productive course of action.

Why not know now rather than later? If that client hasn't called you back, call her. You're going to find out the answer, anyway. If she gives you the bad news that you lost the competition for the business, find out now so you can do something about it or replace the business by prospecting. If you're waiting for the price of a TV to go down, how much do you really expect it to fall? Is enjoying it for a few months in your home worth a couple hundred dollars?

Hooking Up to the Tube

According to the Nielsen Company, the average person in the United States watches more than 28 hours of TV a week. Think about it: If you could eliminate that much viewing time, it'd be like having an eight-day week. Just think of all you could do with 28 extra hours: read a good book, spend time with your family, take a class, start working out — and even get a good night's sleep!

If you're a committed TV watcher, kicking the habit cold turkey probably isn't realistic. The withdrawal pains would be too severe. And truth is, television isn't all bad. Just like coffee, a little bit can do you some good. But to me, 28 hours of TV a week is the equivalent of a four-cup-a-day espresso habit.

Here are some ways to wean yourself off evenings and weekends glued to the couch:

Surfing the Web

Nothing is wrong with hanging ten on the Internet — as long as the ten isn't ten hours. I'm not exaggerating when I report that although studies indicate the average per-day time online is one or two hours, a measurable percentage spend seven or more hours a day glued to their monitors! Studies also show that Internet time is increasing — and usurping other activities, including watching TV and reading.

The Internet is incredibly valuable as a time-saving tool. Just think how much faster pulling data and tracking down information is than in the past. But the Web is a storehouse of useless information as well. You can spend hours sifting through waves of data in search of what you really want to know, and before you know it, more than half the day has passed. Your original intentions suffer a wipeout as you get pulled off-course by information undertow.

When using the Internet for research or information-gathering, it pays to stay focused on your mission: What are you in search of? The annual report from a company you're pursuing as a client? The best bed-and-breakfasts available in St. Thomas in May? Don't get sidetracked by related information that steers you off-course. Put specific phrases in quotation marks to get exact matches or use the advanced search features to avoid certain words or limit your search to .org, .com, .gov, or .edu sites as needed. Bookmark sites you find especially useful, or copy and paste important info into a separate document, along with the URL where you found it, for later reference.

The biggest time-waster on the Internet is social media. There. I said it! The hours that most people spend on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other sites is staggering. According to Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange, the average person ages 18 to 64 spends 3.2 hours a day on social media.

The best way to avoid the time-creep of wasted time in social media is to set limits. Set a limit of 30 minutes so you don't review every post and video that arrives in your newsfeed. Additionally, remove or block posters who are not real friends or post views you don't want to read. This can save time as well as emotional energy drain.

A big use of the Internet is for recreational pursuits: music, shopping, computer games, blogs, virtual worlds, porn. My advice: In some cases, you're best to cut off this activity completely. Many of these online behaviors can lead to serious problems, addictions, financial risk, and even personal safety issues. In other more benign situations, it's still a good idea to keep the online activity to a minimum and find your kicks in the real world instead.

Getting Caught in Junk Mail Undertow

As if it weren't enough to be inundated with credit card offers, catalogs, and direct marketing materials in your mailboxes, now your email inboxes are slammed with unsolicited tidings, commonly known as spam. At least email offerings don't waste the thousands and thousands of tons of paper that get tossed in the recycling bin. But everyone wastes too much time sifting through both paper and electronic mail to make sure they don't miss critical correspondence.

Recently at our house, I collected a month's worth of junk mail, which included 30 catalogs addressed to Joan. Interesting thing: She had only ever ordered from two of the catalogs. Apparently, these catalog companies sold her name to the other merchants.

Selling or exchanging mailing lists is a common practice among catalog companies. I bet if you check in the stack of offers you receive, you'll find a few different companies that misspell your name in exactly the same way. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Getting off all these lists is more of a challenge than it ought to be. Calling the company and asking to be taken off its list doesn't always work. And after you do get off a list, the same company may purchase a new list with your name on it, and the mail starts up again. Although many companies commit to purging your name from future purchased lists, this just doesn't always happen.

Being removed from some email lists can also be difficult. When you unsubscribe, it might trigger more activity because the sender has now confirmed yours is a live email address. Too, those companies may take you off their list, but they might give your address to another company. If you want to reduce your email and not receive further information from a legitimate company, simply unsubscribe. When you respond to spam, all you do is confirm your email address. The spammers know that the address is good and that a person opened their email. Now the spammers have three options: continue to send spam email to you, trade your address to another spammer, or sell your email to others … none of these options are good for you.

You can take some steps to reduce the deluge of paper and electronic mail that comes your way. However, it does take a little bit of a time investment to stop this time-waster:

Be prepared: It can take as long as 10 weeks to see a reduction in your junk snail mail. Also, be sure to enter the names of all the people in your household — as well as variations of your name and address. Joan was actually receiving two catalogs from one fashion company: one to Joan Zeller and one to Joan Seller.

Killing Time in Transit

I used to envy those folks living in major metropolitan areas who could take advantage of efficient mass transportation. With the idea of hopping on a train and spending the commute reading, catching up on reports, and scheduling business commitments while leaving the driving to others, I wouldn't care if the commute were an hour!

That was an unrealistic fantasy, of course — my job required lots of driving to places not well-served by public transportation. That meant long, unproductive hours behind the wheel. Unproductive, that is, until I discovered that my automobile provided me with one of the most valuable opportunities I could've imagined. My vehicle became my very own auto-university.

At the time I turned to the cassette player — then to a CD player, and now an iPod or MP3 player. I turned my vehicle into a classroom for skills development and self-improvement. Instead of listening to commercial radio, switching stations as I drove out of signal, I put my ears to work listening to motivational speakers and how-to books on everything from personal finance to personal relationships.

I recommend some of my favorite audio programs from over the years: Jim Rohn's The Art of Exceptional Living, Earl Nightingale's Lead the Field, Brian Tracy's The Psychology of Achievement, and Goals, by my good friend, the late Zig Ziglar. I also recommend some of my own CD programs, which you can find at www.dirkzeller.com.

Although there's nothing wrong with listening to music or radio talk shows (one of my very best friends owns a number of radio stations), when you spend a lot of time in your car, you're better served by putting some of that time to good use.

Spending Time with Negative People

One way to bring down your energy level, reduce your enthusiasm, darken your outlook, slow your productivity, and drain your glass from half-full to almost-empty is to invest your time in negative people. The more you reduce the influence they have on your life, the happier and more productive you can be.

Easier said than done, I know. Chances are you have at least one foul-weather friend in your close circle. And you're likely related to someone who likes to remind you that you're not living up to your potential or that everyone is out to trip you up. Your negative associates don't necessarily focus their malcontent mojo toward you. They may, in fact, look at you as a shining success while they cast themselves as a poor victim of the world's injustices. But their pessimism is bound to rub off on you.

I don't suggest that you abandon friends and relatives who are suffering through hard times, whether due to illness, financial problems, or personal troubles. I'm talking about avoiding those people who are prone to see the negative side of life, no matter how much good fortune they have.

Do your best to minimize the time you spend in the company of curmudgeons and contrarians. Not only do you take back valuable time to direct toward positive endeavors, but their absence also breaks the dark spell over your optimistic outlook.