Most of us are taught not to waste time. However it is easy to get into habits that, upon close examination, can be found to be big time wasters. I'd like to cover 3 points that, if not kept in mind, can cause us to become less efficient and to waste more time.
Phone and Email Interruptions:
For many of us, the phone rings and we, like robots, rush to answer it. These habits are usually established in us as kids and, for most people, continue on into their adult years. Compared to the phone, email is relatively new. But email, too, can become something we feel compelled to handle immediately. For, perhaps, most people the phone ringers remain on and email notification alarms continue to beep as the emails are checked every 5 to 10 minutes. Both of these, the the ringing phone as well as the constantly chiming email notification sound, can be very distracting and can essentially stop our production.
Most of us consider interruptions to be rude. In an office setting, we expect that if a colleague stopped to buy to chat, he or she should at least look in and ask if we are busy. Conversations can be easily put off to times where both parties are receptive and ready to engage. If we had a colleague who just barged in without any consideration as to what we were doing, we would consider it rude at the very least. This exactly what ringers and email notifications do if we do not properly handle them.
When it comes to handling phone calls and email most time management experts agree that it is best to answer the phone and to check and handle emails only certain, pre-established times of the day.
There are many workable ways of doing this, each of us will find our own. One successful method is to not check the email, even for the 1st time during the day, until after lunch. While some want to check it in the morning, the truth is that this can often derail our daily planning activities and cause us to divert our attention off the things that matter. This can kill momentum.
It is, unarguably, important to shut off the alarm notifying that email has arrived. What I personally do is turn off the automatic checking for email and check email manually. This way I am in full control of the incoming communications.
The phone can be a bit different because we might want to be available more often, especially for new clients. However if we are doing any kinds of projects, it is essentially impossible to be available all the time for phones. Many people find it best to have certain hours designated during the day for answering the phone. When calls come in during times outside these designated periods, we simply informed them, with our answering system or secretary, that we will get back to them at a certain specific time of the day. And we, of course, keep that promise. This allows us to control the times of our communication and allow us to have time relatively interruption-free. This is our time for production.
Regardless of how you handle your email or your phones, you will definitely find putting control into these factors will raise your own standards of efficiency and productivity.
Trying to Be a Perfectionist:
Action is the key to a successful life. We simply need to get to work and get stuff done. It is best to consider every action as a cycle of action with a start, a change and a stop. We need to do each of those components to actually remain in control.
Trying to be perfect is one of the false standards that many of us try to achieve in our activities. Perhaps one's ideas of perfection come from the time they were criticized as children. The key problem of trying to be perfect is that it sticks us in a cycle of action and we never are able to stop it. Since perfection is actually impossible, in order to hit the stop button on any cycle of action we must abandon the idea of trying to be perfect.
If we find ourselves not getting things done because we if we are not are trying to achieve perfection, not turning out products because they are not quite perfect enough, perhaps it is wise to figure out why we are trying to be perfect. Perhaps a simple definition of what perfection is would be of value. You might find it is very difficult to define.
No doubt about it, we should perform a great job at what we do. But we should leave perfection to the less productive in our society.
Multitasking Is a Myth:
There are so many distractions, especially today with all the technical innovations that surround us. We can keep many screens open on our computers at one time, be listening to all sorts of entertainment outlets from out iPhone and on our computers while we work. We can find ourselves doing so many things that it dilutes our efforts in any one activity.
There are some people that might have Facebook open on their desks at all times. They might be being notified of emails as they come in and trying to read or handle them rather than getting the work done. The thing is, after a day of amazing amount of activity, accurate reflection will often reveal that we've gotten very little of value done.
Multitasking is actually a myth. While we may see certain professionals operating as though they are multitasking - say a pilot for instance - a close look will find that, in reality, they are only doing one thing - even though it may be broken down into many different activities. They become so good at it, just like we are usually good at walking or getting around. It may appear to be multitasking to an outsider been, in reality, it is only one thing.
Being productive requires the ability to concentrate on one thing at a time. It is best to do one thing, then the next, and the next, etc. If we do that we will find our own efficiency skyrocketing.
Efficiency is not something we seek for its own sake. Efficiency is simply a label that we use to indicate how much we get out of something. Since time, for the most part, is a fixed commodity, we create time by utilizing it more efficiently. Keeping in mind the above 3 points can take us a long way to becoming more efficient and more productive.
Phone and Email Interruptions:
For many of us, the phone rings and we, like robots, rush to answer it. These habits are usually established in us as kids and, for most people, continue on into their adult years. Compared to the phone, email is relatively new. But email, too, can become something we feel compelled to handle immediately. For, perhaps, most people the phone ringers remain on and email notification alarms continue to beep as the emails are checked every 5 to 10 minutes. Both of these, the the ringing phone as well as the constantly chiming email notification sound, can be very distracting and can essentially stop our production.
Most of us consider interruptions to be rude. In an office setting, we expect that if a colleague stopped to buy to chat, he or she should at least look in and ask if we are busy. Conversations can be easily put off to times where both parties are receptive and ready to engage. If we had a colleague who just barged in without any consideration as to what we were doing, we would consider it rude at the very least. This exactly what ringers and email notifications do if we do not properly handle them.
When it comes to handling phone calls and email most time management experts agree that it is best to answer the phone and to check and handle emails only certain, pre-established times of the day.
There are many workable ways of doing this, each of us will find our own. One successful method is to not check the email, even for the 1st time during the day, until after lunch. While some want to check it in the morning, the truth is that this can often derail our daily planning activities and cause us to divert our attention off the things that matter. This can kill momentum.
It is, unarguably, important to shut off the alarm notifying that email has arrived. What I personally do is turn off the automatic checking for email and check email manually. This way I am in full control of the incoming communications.
The phone can be a bit different because we might want to be available more often, especially for new clients. However if we are doing any kinds of projects, it is essentially impossible to be available all the time for phones. Many people find it best to have certain hours designated during the day for answering the phone. When calls come in during times outside these designated periods, we simply informed them, with our answering system or secretary, that we will get back to them at a certain specific time of the day. And we, of course, keep that promise. This allows us to control the times of our communication and allow us to have time relatively interruption-free. This is our time for production.
Regardless of how you handle your email or your phones, you will definitely find putting control into these factors will raise your own standards of efficiency and productivity.
Trying to Be a Perfectionist:
Action is the key to a successful life. We simply need to get to work and get stuff done. It is best to consider every action as a cycle of action with a start, a change and a stop. We need to do each of those components to actually remain in control.
Trying to be perfect is one of the false standards that many of us try to achieve in our activities. Perhaps one's ideas of perfection come from the time they were criticized as children. The key problem of trying to be perfect is that it sticks us in a cycle of action and we never are able to stop it. Since perfection is actually impossible, in order to hit the stop button on any cycle of action we must abandon the idea of trying to be perfect.
If we find ourselves not getting things done because we if we are not are trying to achieve perfection, not turning out products because they are not quite perfect enough, perhaps it is wise to figure out why we are trying to be perfect. Perhaps a simple definition of what perfection is would be of value. You might find it is very difficult to define.
No doubt about it, we should perform a great job at what we do. But we should leave perfection to the less productive in our society.
Multitasking Is a Myth:
There are so many distractions, especially today with all the technical innovations that surround us. We can keep many screens open on our computers at one time, be listening to all sorts of entertainment outlets from out iPhone and on our computers while we work. We can find ourselves doing so many things that it dilutes our efforts in any one activity.
There are some people that might have Facebook open on their desks at all times. They might be being notified of emails as they come in and trying to read or handle them rather than getting the work done. The thing is, after a day of amazing amount of activity, accurate reflection will often reveal that we've gotten very little of value done.
Multitasking is actually a myth. While we may see certain professionals operating as though they are multitasking - say a pilot for instance - a close look will find that, in reality, they are only doing one thing - even though it may be broken down into many different activities. They become so good at it, just like we are usually good at walking or getting around. It may appear to be multitasking to an outsider been, in reality, it is only one thing.
Being productive requires the ability to concentrate on one thing at a time. It is best to do one thing, then the next, and the next, etc. If we do that we will find our own efficiency skyrocketing.
Efficiency is not something we seek for its own sake. Efficiency is simply a label that we use to indicate how much we get out of something. Since time, for the most part, is a fixed commodity, we create time by utilizing it more efficiently. Keeping in mind the above 3 points can take us a long way to becoming more efficient and more productive.
About the Author:
Visit DayPlanner.info for more Time Management and Day Planning Hints and Tools. And Download, FREE OF CHARGE, our own Daily Planning Tool called Time Coach.
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