Things That Waste Your Time And How To Overcome Them
When you think of things that waste your time, what comes to mind?
Do you at the start of a fresh day, have a truckload of activities to undertake, and feel like at the end of the day, it will be a done deal, only to be disappointed when the day ends and you realize you have achieved little or nothing that day? Well, if this is your situation, I can relate to it because it used to be mine, too.
We all have the same amount of time every day but one would wonder why some people are more effective at managing their time and achieving great results than others. It all comes down to how we choose to spend our time.
Leaving your day to chance is dangerous, it puts you at the mercy of timewasters who are usually unhelpful as you try to realize your dream day. Time wasters are persons or things that cause you to spend a lot of time doing something unnecessary, which produces little or no benefit.
Several time-wasters cause us to grieve quietly when we don’t realize our goals at the end of the day. They include:
1. Gossiping
Why spend long hours backbiting or getting into other people’s affairs when you have more important things to do. Gossiping is a time-waster that causes you to engage in a conversation that will amount to nothing. To effectively manage your time, avoid gossiping.
2. Watching TV
It is interesting to watch your favorite programs on television. But while you do this, you must not forget your tasks for the day. You must learn to prioritize your activities and be disciplined enough to resist the urge to watch television when the time for it in your daily schedule ends. Otherwise, you will spend precious time entertaining yourself without gaining anything meaningful or achieving much for yourself.
3. Spending Time With Negative People
Avoid moving with the wrong crowd, who dwell solely on negativity. Because if you do, you might be influenced and start acting like them and perceive negativity in everything. Such people don’t add anything meaningful to you, rather, they make you worse than they meet you.
4. Procrastinating
Why postpone your task for now to a later time? What if something else comes up then? It means that task will never be accomplished that day. To avoid procrastination, be determined to do every task you set out to do at the time you have allotted for them, and avoid unnecessary postponement of tasks or activities.
5. Indecision
Indecision is a major time-waster. Instead of deciding on the steps to take or what to do, it causes you to spend time wondering whether or not, you should be involved in a task or activity. To avoid indecision, always decide firmly beforehand on what you want to do, and be disciplined enough to go through with it.
6. Waiting For Something To Happen
We have all fallen for this time-waster at some point. Instead of making choices and going through with them, we wait and watch, expecting others to make decisions or choices for us and if they don’t, we would have wasted so much time. To avoid this, try as much as you can to be independent. Make good decisions and follow through with them. Doing this, will definitely help you save time.
7. Social Media
Social media are important sources of dispersing information, socializing with friends and sharing ideas. But when too much time is spent on them, at the expense of other useful activities, productivity is affected. Most people spend time constantly updating their social media status, profile pictures and checking on the latest news from their friends.
These activities are not bad in themselves, but if not moderated, too much time could be spent on them to the detriment of your tasks for the day. So, when you use social media, be time-conscious.
8. Surfing The Web Endlessly
Sometimes, we want to check the latest news on the web but get fascinated by basically everything we see. We start reading stories or checking for news we never planned for. At the end of the day, we would have wasted so much time surfing the web. One solution to this is to be purposeful; allotting a specific time to check the news on the web and work with that time.
9. Fighting With Others
The time spent on irrelevant activities like fighting with others will produce better results if invested in more productive activities. Instead of fighting others, learn to manage your emotions and invest your energy in productive activities.
10. Looking For Things You Misplaced
Learn to be organized. Arrange things in an orderly manner, so that they are easier to access when you need them. Searching through a pile of stuff could be time-consuming.
11. Not Using A To-Do-List
A to-do-list is helpful when trying to create a daily schedule. If not used, you might waste your time in many unproductive activities. But if you discipline yourself to use it, you will realize you get to achieve more daily and maximize your time.
12. Piling, Instead Of Filing
Piling makes search stressful and leads to a waste of time. Instead of piling stuff, learn to arrange them neatly, so that when you need them, sorting them out won’t be difficult.
13. Commuting During Rush Hour
Learn to always factor in time for unforeseen circumstances. Do not be of the habit of going out a few minutes to the time you are supposed to be at a particular location.
Rather, plan to leave early. You could be stuck in road traffic or maybe have a flat tire for example. But if you have enough time on your hands, you could pull through these hurdles and still get to your destination at the appropriate time.
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