We live in a world where efficiency and productivity are very much cherished. But unfortunately, there are times when, regardless of how much we try to focus on the task at hand, we find ourselves engaging in things that prove to be less productive, much less bring us any benefits.
These things we will discuss in the article today are notorious for wasting our valuable time. We could have used those few moments for something much better. In fact, aside from wasting that precious time, these time wasters add nothing of substantial value to our lives.
Today in this article, we will discuss some of these time wasters as well as analyze some of the ways we can deal with them. If you are ready, let’s dive in.
The Biggest Time Wasters And Ways To Avoid Them
Procrastination
One of the most notorious time-wasters is procrastination. This is when you delay the execution of a task that needs to be done by giving excuses and doing something else that will bring you no real value. This time-wasting habit can be seen most of the time in the workplace, at home, and even in our various academic institutions.
When procrastination is entertained, it can lead to a lot of problems, and one such is the buildup of stress because of the piled-up work that needs to be cleared. One drawback of procrastination is that it can result in extremely low-quality work. Therefore, you must recognize this and deal with it.
How To Deal With It
Mostly, people procrastinate because they feel like the work given to them is too huge or that they need a perfect opportunity to handle it. But they do forget that the more they delay, the closer their deadline draws. So how do you deal with the habit of procrastination?
Simple: when you feel like the work is too huge and, as such, you cannot deal with it in one go, the best thing to do is to make sure to divide it into much smaller pieces, where you make sure there are deadlines for those pieces.
Dividing the work into pieces is only a few percent of the actual work. The actual work will be closer to execution when you make up your mind to sit up and deal with it. It could also be that you have no problem with how huge or small your work is; you just do not have the motivation to tackle it.
But then, have you considered the fact that, once you have a job that has a deadline set for you, there are certain work ethics you must follow?
Whether or not your work is remote, you must observe these ethics to be as productive as possible. In dealing with procrastination, when you have very weak mental energy, you will most of the time succumb to the urge to have your way to do what you want, leaving your work unattended.
Social Media
Once in a while, get yourself a timer and start recording the time you spend on social media in a day. Sum them all up by the end of the week and see how much time you waste weekly.
You will be surprised at how much time you actually spent away. Social media is not a bad thing. Actually, it is one of the easiest ways to find and make friends from different parts of the world. The problem is that people nowadays seem to be so attached to social media that they end up forgetting to even attend to most of the things that matter to them.
Now, due to social media, a student will fail to sleep early, or worse, even forget to do the things that are required of him or her. When you dive deeper to find the cause of this behavior, you will no doubt see social media as the culprit. Not only students, but even parents, employers, and employees, basically, many people have fallen into the pit of social media addiction.
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How To Deal With It
The best way to deal with this is to get yourself apps that can help you manage your time well on social media.
Most of these apps are productivity apps and have the ability to monitor your daily traffic to certain apps you select on your phone.
Also, most of these apps have been made in such a way that they are able to prevent you from accessing them at certain times of your choice.
You need to understand that, for this app to be as effective as you might want, you need to be honest with yourself.
If you are not honest with yourself, the new change will bother you, and in the end, you will even choose to uninstall these apps. In a nutshell, go ahead and get yourself an app blocker, and a capable one at that. Since there are many, you will have to explore and find one that suits your tastes.
Unnecessary socialization
When you go to most workplaces, one very common occurrence is when the employees waste time all in the name of a little chit-chat while it’s not even broken yet.
Most of these conversations become so engaging that people forget they are at work. Aside from the fact that it is a huge time waste in the workplace, it is very unethical.
Supposing your employer has a very strict policy about socializing in the workplace when you are caught, you can get in trouble for that.
Therefore, you must make sure to do away with such habits and start doing things that will make you more productive in the workplace.
How To Deal With It
In the workplace, even when there is no real policy concerning socialization, for the sake of being efficient and productive, you can make one for yourself.
You should do away with anything that can be construed as socializing when it is work time. Not to say that you must be anti-social.
But definitely, as a rational human being, you can tell when it is the right time to let in a little socialization and when it is not.
But ultimately, you must understand that socializing in the workplace is a very slippery path to walk on. And as such, you must make sure to be careful. So, basically, in your best interest, you must limit it to the barest minimum.
Not Having Enough Sleep
You might be surprised, but not having enough sleep can be one of the biggest time-wasters there is. At the right time, the body requires sleep.
Once you feel the urge to sleep, you must not deprive yourself. But many people, students, parents, employers, and employees alike, in their best efforts to increase their productivity, refuse to sleep, even when it is really required.
Also, others just do not sleep because they have some other important things to do in those hours. And as such, in the workplace, school, or anywhere they find themselves during the day, sleepiness starts to set in, all because the night before, they refused to sleep.
And so they begin to battle the sleepiness. Aside from the fact that you will be hurting yourself, it will also waste your precious time and decrease your productivity because you will be focused on finding ways to deal with sleepiness.
And when, unfortunately, you are unable to deal with it, then that would mean you would be forced to sleep, and that is also another time waste. Therefore, that too is something you must try to deal with.
How To Deal With It
The best thing to do in this case is to avoid it in the first place. How? You should make sure to prioritize a very flexible sleep schedule.
Before that can work well, you must make sure to manage your time well, such that you will not have to force yourself to work in the middle of the night when you could have used it to sleep and recover from the stress you encountered during the day.
In prioritizing a healthy sleep schedule, another thing to consider is that, in your best interest, you must make your sleep and wake times consistent.
That way, your body will be able to let you know when it’s time to sleep and when it’s time to wake. That way, you are always refreshed every time you wake up for the day and ready for whatever challenges await you.
Last-minute preparations
Lack of proper and intentional planning is also a time waste, and an obvious one as well. This also stems from not having effective time management skills.
If that is the case, then almost all the time, your schedule will be full of surprises and hasty plans that mostly get you nowhere.
The more you do this, whether you are an employer, employee, student, or businessperson, a lot can be said about you. And one such is that you are either lazy or just a poor planner.
How To Deal With It
Simple: be proactive, always. Before there is any event on your schedule, make sure to make the right plans and know what you will do in whatever situation arises.
Aside from that, in your free time, you need to cross-check several times to make sure everything is in place.
That way, you are able to handle any unwanted last-minute situations with ease. That way, you will always be a step or two ahead before anything goes wrong.
Not Seeking Help
In the workplace, school, or home environment, people normally encounter problems they know they do not have the capability to handle on their own, which is a bad habit.
When that happens, they try to find ways and means to address the problem on their own. In the end, they end up wasting time.
For instance, for most students in school, there are times when certain concepts become difficult to digest. However, due to several reasons, these learners refuse to ask their facilitators for help and decide to tackle the concept on their own.
As much as that could be a much better way of acquiring knowledge effectively, it requires one to have plenty of time.
Meanwhile, the academic year is only this long for most institutions, thereby taking up the time that could have been used to learn other things. In the end, it wastes your time.
How To Deal With It
The best thing to do when you find yourself in such a situation is to make sure to ask your facilitator for clarification when you feel left out.
That way, you are able to save yourself days, perhaps even weeks, to focus on the things that matter. Also, in the home or workplace, instead of navigating problems on your own when you have no idea how to go about them, make sure to consult someone who is more knowledgeable than you are.
When you do that, you are able to save yourself time as well as gain more knowledge about how to tackle similar problems on your own without wasting precious time.
Final Words
Time-wasters keep us limited in our endeavors. But when you know these things and are able to deal with them effectively, you mostly find yourself always ahead in whatever situation you might find yourself in.
These time wasters are mostly encountered in the workplace, school, and our homes, as you might have observed. Make use of this and save yourself some quality time.
