Imagine that every morning your bank credits your account with $86,400. Every night, you lose any balance that is not used. Knowing that, what would you do with the money? I am sure you’d draw out every last cent each day! Each one of us has a personal bank. But instead of money, we are given 86,400 seconds each day. 86,400 seconds sounds like A LOT of time! Yet, many of us feel like we don’t have enough time to get everything done each day. Do you use your time wisely or waste it? We can’t carry our time balance over to the next day, so the time is now to trash time wasters.
The truth is that most of us waste a lot more time each week than we care to admit. In this day and age, we have a lot of distractions. These time wasters are mostly just habits that provide little to no meaningful reward for the time invested. If you are committed to being laser focused on realizing your vision, getting rid of time wasters is non-negotiable! You simply cannot let these things interfere with your progress.
AVOIDING these 10 common time wasters will add hours to your day!
- Electronic devices. How much time do you spend each week watching TV, surfing the internet, or flipping through social media posts? Do you play video games? Count up all of that time and ask yourself if there’s something more productive you could be doing. If being online is part of your business, are you ever lured away from productivity by your device notifications?
- Worrying. There’s no evidence that your thoughts impact the external world. You can worry all you want about the weather, your debt, or your relationships but worrying only creates physical and emotional stress. It also makes you less productive and less capable of dealing with the issues you CAN solve.
- Perfectionism. Ask yourself how well something needs to be done and strive to attain that level of quality. Perfection is an impossible goal and requires far more time than it’s worth.
- Clutter. Clutter is a huge time-waster. Everything seems to be in your way. It’s hard to find the things you need. It’s emotionally stressful, too. Have you ever noticed how peaceful a sparsely decorated room feels? You can create that same environment.
- Multi-tasking. It’s far more effective to do one thing at a time. Refocusing your attention on multiple tasks takes time and destroys any momentum you’ve created.
- Commuting. A 30-minute drive to work adds up. That’s 250 hours a year, or the equivalent of over six 40-hour work weeks. That’s six weeks of vacation! Living close to your place of employment can save a lot of time. If you can’t live close to your work, you can turn your commuting time into productive time. Listen to informative or inspirational podcasts as you drive. If riding, you can also read, journal, send emails, or make phone calls.
- Maintaining your life. There are things that have to be done that don’t enhance, but merely maintain our lives. These include tasks such as shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, cooking, and mowing the grass. If possible, pay others to perform these tasks for you. It will free up time for you to execute the “Ways” to make your vision real.
- Indecision. If you lack a clear direction, you’re likely to do nothing. Learn to make up your mind quickly. Release the story you tell yourself that the decision has to be perfect. Make the best decision you can and get busy putting it into action.
- No plan for the day. Having a plan for the following day before you go to bed is a great way to avoid wasting time. Make a plan at night and then spend the next day working your plan.
- Meetings. Many meetings are a waste of time, and they can suck the happiness from your soul. An ineffective meeting is worse than not having a meeting at all. Plan appropriately for productive meetings and try to avoid the rest.
Consider all the meaningful things you could accomplish if you stopped wasting time. Think about how much time you spend each week on unproductive activities. During your 86,400 seconds each day, eliminate as many of these time wasters as possible and reap the benefits!