Wasting time while working
how it happens and how to avoid it
Wasting time while working is something that happens to all of us. Maybe to some people more and to others less, but it happens to all of us. And then we have remorse and regrets, especially since we will have to work harder to be able to meet the deadlines.
Because we are aware that we can never make up for the lost time. Yes, we can manage to complete the work and meet the deadlines, but this does not mean that we have recovered the wasted time. It just means that I did certain activities in another time frame in which we should have dealt with something else.
Under no circumstances, the passage of time can be stopped or controlled. But, of paramount importance is the fact that we have control over how we spend our time. What we do with the time we have available is entirely our choice.
Out of an average of 8 hours worked daily, 21% is spent on entertainment, news, and social media. That means almost 1 quarter, that is, almost 2 hours.
And if we go into more detail, we will discover that during the time we set out to work, we wasting time on:Nowadays jobs almost always include sources of distractions. From the email that is often checked at much
shorter intervals than necessary to instant messaging or phone calls unrelated and with no importance to our
work, all of these produce interruptions that take us out of rhythm and make us wasting time.
Not to mention that in itself transitioning from one task to another takes time.
To take the right measures, we must first identify the factors that cause wasting time while we want to work. This is simple and easy to do with a time-tracking solution. We time all our activities and based on the reports we analyze how we spend our time during working hours. We discover flaws and promptly take the appropriate measures that can help us stop wasting time in the future.
One of the most viable solutions to avoid wasting time is to plan everything we want to do. If we do not want to eliminate the emails, social media, or the news during working hours, then it is advisable to find the right time for each one of those.
By planning them in our schedule we will be able to be up to date with everything we want and at the same time to keep an increased rate of productivity. In this case, it is very helpful to make a To-do list in which to reserve time chunks for everything we are interested in doing, including phone calls or social media.
Once we have set the to-do list and time intervals for both work and breaks, we will be able to focus better on
what we have to do. During the period when we planned to work, we will no longer be tempted to think about
"what's new on social media?" or "what other news have appeared?". We know very well that we have a certain
amount of time allotted just for that and this is comforting. This will help us avoid wasting time through
repeated interruptions.
When the planned time comes, we’ll deal with those things, but until then we’ll work in a much more productive
way.
An important detail that we must take into account when planning the time intervals for activities is the time required to move from one task to another. Even if that means going back from one phone call to continuing the project in progress, it takes a few minutes to return to the maximum focus. Therefore, it is advisable not to divide the time into too small chunks, and to focus on one task at a time.
Let's be careful not to confuse wasting time with relaxing.
Proper relaxation will positively influence our productivity. Therefore it is necessary to include those in our
planning and, especially, not to feel guilty for doing that. When we are relaxed and in a good mood then we can
concentrate better at work. With proper planning, we can do everything we set out to do and we also should feel
good while doing so.
Relaxing doesn’t mean wasting time, it means “charging your batteries” for better productivity.
Note that engaging with social media or news channels may seem relaxing, but don’t allow our minds to settle because they tend to overstimulate our brain. The following activities are much more effective for relaxation: running or practicing a sport, yoga, playing an instrument, or any other artistic activity like painting, reading, or writing.
