Tips on Eliminating Time Wasters at Work

Did you know that most common time wasters at work come from the very nature of our work? Wondering how? Let’s break it down.

1. In an ever-changing workplace, most of us do not have crystal-clear job roles and boundaries. In a typical day, we need to spend time understanding what is expected of us and why. This lack of clarity often leads to wasted time.

2. Being part of a wider organization, we spend time on planning, unnecessary meetings, discussions, reports, and people-relations. The larger the organization, the less actual time we have for “real work,” contributing to a significant waste of time.

3. Many tasks require minimum chunks of time for completion, e.g., developing a strategic plan or direction or finishing a report. When done in dribs and drabs, we end up re-doing much of the work and wasting valuable time.

Eliminate the Time Wasters

Peter Drucker (in his book The Effective Executive) highlights a 3-step strategy to identify where your time actually goes.

Know your time, he says, so you can manage it. Here are the 3 steps:

1. Record Time: Record actual time-use (using any method that works for you), so you become aware of where your time is going.

2. Manage Time:

Identify unproductive, time-wasting activities by asking 3 diagnostic questions:

(i) What would happen if these were not done at all?

(ii) Which of the activities on my time log could be done by someone else just as well, if not better?

(iii) Ask others: “What do I do that wastes your time without contributing to your effectiveness?

Then, remove the time-wasters if possible, either by cutting down on the activities deliberately, or by redirecting your energy to the causes that are generating the time-wasters.
These could include:

• Recurrent “crises” due to lack of system or foresight (invest time to identify the root causes and focus your attention there).

• Excessive interaction instead of real work (often due to overstaffing)

• Too many unproductive meetings due to mal-organization

• Malfunction due to incomplete or ineffective information

3. Consolidate Time: Estimate how much discretionary time you really have, then set aside continuous and uninterrupted blocks of time, with deadlines to complete your activities within the allocated time.

What’s Consuming Your Energy?

Well, just knowing your time may not be enough. In his book Finding Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi shares a powerful insight – everything we think, feel and do consume psychic energy. When managing our time, we are also managing where we direct our energy.  Here’s an overview:

What we do: Whenever we think about or do something, it uses up our mental energy. People often reach their full potential during their leisure time when they can focus on activities that help them grow and improve themselves. For example, using leisure time to read books, learn new skills, or pursue hobbies can be very productive and fulfilling. When you’re feeling overwhelmed by a long to-do list of trivial tasks, unproductive meetings, or any other thing, it’s important to make time for meaningful leisure activities. After spending chunks of time working, allocating specific break times to recharge and gain new perspectives is essential. This will have a positive impact on productivity when you return to work.

Who we are with: Our experiences are largely affected by the people we are with, including – public space, family, and solitude. In the workplace, excessive interaction with colleagues, such as unnecessary meetings or excessive chit-chat, can reduce employee productivity and become a significant waste of time. Quality time with family or moments of solitude can help replenish our energy and improve our focus. Thinking about all these aspects can help you maximize your productivity levels and reduce time wastage.

Our intentions and goals: Our intentions and goals use up our mental energy in different ways. Intentions are like our short-term plans, keeping us focused on what we need to do right now, while goals are our long-term plans guiding us towards who we want to become.

Managing and focusing on our goals takes a lot of mental energy, especially when different thoughts and desires pull us in different directions. Using our time better requires us to set realistic goals and break them into smaller, manageable steps. This helps us avoid feeling overwhelmed and reduces stress.
Without proper breaks and time management, we can heighten our stress levels and waste valuable time.

Besides keeping track of where our time is going, he suggests that we discover the activities and people who add to or deplete our energy levels, so we can choose our activities more carefully.

Eliminate the Time Wasters and Energy Vampires

To use our precious time and energy optimally, we need to start by taking proactive steps to take stock of our typical time wasters. Make sure to use the tips in this article to start taking note of how you spend your time and energy, so you eliminate the time-wasters.

Download the book summaries and reading graphics of The Effective Executive and Finding Flow, or purchase the books online, to learn how to become more effective and to get in “flow”!