Time eaters - what are they and how to fight them?

Time eaters make precious hours pass in the blink of an eye. They are a real nuisance for listeners, students, pupils and employees. Check

Time eaters - what are they and how to fight them?
Time eaters - what are they and how to fight them?

Time eaters make precious hours pass in the blink of an eye. They are a real nuisance for listeners, students, pupils and employees. Check out our ways to fight time thieves and become more efficient.

Time eaters - what are they?

Students, learners, students and staff often complain about a shortage of time during the day. The most common reasons for the difficulties with fulfilling all duties are improper organization, as well as paying too much attention to the so-called "time wasters". What are time wasters? Simply put, these are the factors that distract and break the day. They steal not only our energy, but also valuable hours that we could spend on work, study or self-development.

Surely each of us has reached for a mobile phone to quickly browse Facebook, and then wake up after 30 minutes of mindlessly watching funny cat videos. According to the "Digital 2019" report, the average time we spend using social media during the day is 2 hours and 16 minutes! Per week, month or year, it turns out that we lose a precious piece of our lives through social media. According to estimates, it may be up to 5 years. Time wasters, however, are not only Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Time eaters - examples

We have plenty of other examples of time wasters. The most popular of them are:

  • Watching TV - television is the undisputed leader among leisure time eaters. According to the 2018 TV & Video Market Report, the average Person spends up to 4 hours a day in front of the TV. Even more frightening are the experts' estimates that we spend 10 years of our lives watching TV, 2 of which are for commercials only;
  • Playing on a computer or telephone - the average time spend on computer games is about 2 hours a day. Mobile games that can be downloaded for free on the phone are also very popular
  • Phone calls - we are talking not about urgent calls related to our professional or family life, but about "about everything and about nothing" and gossip;
  • Mess - disorder in the workplace, e-mail box or phone can effectively distract us from our duties. An employee loses up to half an hour a week to search for the necessary documents. This is why it is so important to keep the space around you clean and tidy;
  • Perfectionism - contrary to appearances, excessive perfectionism can also be classified as time wasters. Focusing on the fact that the end result of a task exceeds our wildest expectations most often has a detrimental effect on us. If something has been done well enough - it's worth stopping there. Otherwise, we will only waste a lot of time and energy that we could spend on other important activities.

Must Read: Planner “ why is it worth having one?

Time wasters - how to deal with them?

We have an influence on most time wasters and we can fight them effectively. The simplest and paradoxically most difficult solution to the problem is to limit the use of devices that distract us from our duties. Applications blocking access to the phone or private computer during working hours may be helpful. If excessive perfectionism is our main enemy, it is worth following the simple rule that "done is better than perfect". The fight against perfectionism, however, takes much longer and one day is not enough to completely change your attitude. Sometimes psychotherapy may be necessary.

Time eaters and time management

An effective weapon in the fight against time thieves is effective time management. It is about setting goals for the day and then prioritizing them. The easiest way to start is to write down a to-do list. Those that take less than two minutes (e.g. replying to an e-mail, calling someone back) are performed immediately and crossed out. The remaining tasks, for which you will have to spend several hours, are organized in order from the most important to the least important. For this purpose, we can use various methods of task prioritization, Thanks to them, we are able to determine what we need to do right away, what we can articalpone, and what is enough to delegate to another person.