Biggest time wasters

    I had the pleasure today of interviewing Julie Morgenstern for my Miami Herald article on efficiency. Julie is a productivity expert and best-selling author who advises clients at small businesses and big companies how to better manage their time and space. We got into a conversation about the biggest time wasters.

     This is her list:

     Number one: You guessed it -- Email addiction. Morgenstern says people use e-mail to procrastinate when they need to do a difficult task. "They say let me just check my e-mail first.''

    Number two:  Internet surfing. Social networking sites are consuming hours of our time.

    Number three: To-do lists. Morgenstern says they are creating workaholism. "At work it is easier to feel like we're getting something done," she explains. "If there's an opportunity to stay at work and get to three more to-dos or go home and chill out, it's more satisfying to get more to-dos done."

        

Of  course there's also clutter and interruptions, which made personal coach Wendy Hearn's  list of Top 10 Time Wasters.

      By the way, Morgenstern thinks there's a time management backlash taking place right now. "Workers are so overwhelmed that they are not getting back to people for days and simple information is not getting communicated," she says. I agree. I find people more overwhelmed than ever. But like me, they seem to have time for Facebook and email and other time wasters.

     Is it a battle for you to get through your work day without wasting time? Are you struggling with time management? Have you done anything differently to become more efficient?

       

Comments

[Kell]

These are some great tips to be more effective at work. I find that managing the email is also another tip. Recent research says that on average, we spend more than 2 hours a day reading and replying to email. One way to get on top of the email, is to take the automatic notification off on your email (which is a great distracter from the important things we should be doing) and answer your email at set times during the day. There are several more email tips here:
http://www.effective-time-management-strategies.com/time-management-tips.html
Hope this is beneficial
Kell