But let me warn you, time-wasters are usually persistent habits that take discipline to change. So once you have identified your key time-suckers, pick just one to focus on changing first. Once you have let go of that habit, choose another. You are much more likely to persist as a result, and free your time for better things.
5 Habits that Waste Time and Drain Energy
1. Email worship
Yes you heard me – worship! Most of the people I coach have previously been spending way too much time on email. Why? Because it’s easy: the pretty little yellow envelopes? grab your attention ?and responding to them makes you feel a warm fuzziness inside as you tick yet another “done” of your action list. However, as I’m sure you’re aware; a large percentage of email focus is wasted focus. Instead, prioritise your email as you would prioritise any daily activity:
- Limit work email and personal email to set time frames each day
- Plan your day and allocate your tasks before you start your email so you don’t get dragged off to distraction
- Unsubscribe to newsletters you don’t read or that don’t add value to your day
- Spend less time perfecting emails: think 80% is good enough and hit that send button sooner!
2. Over-thinking
There is no doubt that our brain is one special, useful machine. Unfortunately though, most of us waste a lot of time and energy using our brain for unnecessary rumination. Worry and overanalysis do not solve problems, rather, overinflate problems.? Learn to nip overanalysis in the bud.
How? Each time you notice yourself slip into overanalysis and worry get busy doing other things; focus on a new task, do something physical, meditate, talk through the problem with another person to get a fresh perspective, or write your thoughts in a journal. Practice getting out of your head and into your heart; engage in exercises to connect with your intuition and creativity or attend a course that helps you reconnect with your true self. The more energy you put into getting out of your head, the more time you will spend in your life!
3.Vacuum fillers
Time fills the gaps provided. Much of our time is spend on tasks that do not deserve the time we give them, but because the space is there, we fill it. If you allocate 45minutes for a meeting with Jo in the corner office, it will take 45minutes. Alternatively, if you allocate an hour—guess what—the meeting will likely take the whole hour. Develop a new habit of setting specific time frames that tasks really deserve and do the best job you can in that time frame.
4. Indecision
Floundering in indecision is a frustrating space. Some people worry so much about choosing the “right” thing that they waste endless hours evaluating and considering. Become a confident decision maker. For the small decisions in your life, such as which toilet paper to buy or whether to start task ‘a’ or task ‘b’ first, commit to making a decision within 30 seconds. Refuse to analyse whether it is the right or wrong decision; just make it, reminding yourself that you are creating a new habit of effective decision making.
After a few weeks of practice with small decisions, start doing the same thing with slightly more important decisions. Give yourself a set time to consider your options and then decide to make a decision either way by that set date. Yes it will be uncomfortable, yes you might even make an occasional decision you later regret. However so what!! No amount of floundering and researching can guarantee you will make the “perfect” decision anyway. At least by making decisions more promptly, you can move on to discover whether or not it was a good decision, rather than rob yourself of great opportunities by not making any decision at all.
5. Disorganised living
“I’ll do it later” says the little voice in your head that keeps your life cluttered and disorganised. Rather than put something back in its place immediately after use, you leave it lying around, with the plan to get to it later. Rather than find a home for your wallet or keys, you throw them down without a second thought and jump on the couch to watch the television. Rather than spend time creating plans and systems you just dive in convincing yourself this will get the job done faster.
Come on, let’s be honest—this strategy does not work—instead it creates an endless search for lost items and big piles of mess. In turn, you feel too overwhelmed to tackle any of it because the list of “must organise” gets out of control. Create a new habit of doing things immediately. Start with a big spring clean once a month. Perhaps even hire an organisation expert to deal with old mountains of paperwork you’ve created. Once you have a clean slate, become someone who actions things immediately – as soon as the mail comes in, open it and action it. Just read that file, don’t put it aside on the desk planning to have another look later. Get more ruthless with what you keep and what you ditch. Adopt the reminder “later never comes”!
Source: Yahoo life style