Things That Rob Your Time - Part 3

One technique for stopping time robbers are to use time management strategies that will improve your productivity and decrease the amount of time you spend on tasks that produce nothing in the end. Time management strategies are an important technique used by managers, entrepreneurs and independent consultants around the world. One of the hardest things to accomplish is a task list that is not structured by another individual, such as a boss or manager. People who work from home, or work for themselves, must be more highly organized on a general basis because they set their own goals, their own future and their own pay scale based on the amount of work they can complete in a given time.

Another time robber which is common to all of us today is e-mail. It is highly unproductive to consistently sit in front of the computer screen and watch for e-mail that arrived in your inbox every 10 minutes. Shut off that auditory reminder that an e-mail has arrived so you are not tempted to click over and “just check”. Instead set up two times during the day, such as morning and evening, when you go through your e-mail in the course of 15 minutes. Answer those which need answering and delete those which don’t need to be addressed.

Stay away from all Internet and computer related time wasters such as online games, social networking and surfing until you’ve completed your tasks and you’ve been as productive as you want to be for the day. Social networking and surfing should be left for evening hours when your brain is not as creative and you are not as able to focus on work related activities.

Time robbers may be all around us but it is our responsibility and within our ability to eliminate them from our daily activities and ensure that we produce enough time to spend with our families, friends and work activities.