WHAT ROBS YOU OF TIME?
WHICH IS MOST IMPORTANT?
Imp = importance in terms of impact, greatest effects; 1 = highest
Pot. = Potential time savings per week, which will vary by person
Minimum time savings, in terms of easy items, is more than 10 hours per week, up to 30 hours per week!
Imp
ITEM Pot. Comments
ITEM Pot. Comments1Improper planning 3 - 10 Doing the wrong thing or the lower priority costs hours
Improper planning 3 - 10 Doing the wrong thing or the lower priority costs hours1Inadequate planning "
Inadequate planning "1Lack of self-discipline 2 - 10 Not doing what was planned and necessary is costly!
Lack of self-discipline 2 - 10 Not doing what was planned and necessary is costly!1Personality conflicts Ignore it and move on, or don't associate with those people
Personality conflicts Ignore it and move on, or don't associate with those people1Involvement with details Delegate, decide which details to exclude if low value
Involvement with details Delegate, decide which details to exclude if low value1 Doing something too well 1 - 20 Use The 80% Approach (then decide whether to continue)
Avoid perfection: Perfection - The Sure-Fire Path To Hell
1Failure to delegate 1 - 20 Doing something that is not best use of your skills, time.
Failure to delegate 1 - 20 Doing something that is not best use of your skills, time.1 Poor procedure, system 1 - 10 A procedure or system saves time, makes something delegable
1 TV, news, irrelevancies Eliminating Distractions And Irrelevancies From Your Life
2Mistakes of others 1 - 10 Have the other fix it, if you fix it, you'll never catch up!
Mistakes of others 1 - 10 Have the other fix it, if you fix it, you'll never catch up!2Equipment failures Or failure to get the most efficient equipment
Equipment failures Or failure to get the most efficient equipment 2Poor communications Not planning out or thinking out communications ahead of time
Poor communications Not planning out or thinking out communications ahead of time2Conflicting priorities
Conflicting priorities2Meetings 2 -10
Meetings 2 -102Unrealistic time estimates We overfill our schedules, fail to leave planned margins!
Unrealistic time estimates We overfill our schedules, fail to leave planned margins!2Lengthy conversations 2 -10 Stick to agenda for calls, time limits
Lengthy conversations 2 -10 Stick to agenda for calls, time limits2Shifting priorities
Shifting priorities2Bureaucratic red tape
Bureaucratic red tape2Indecision
Indecision3Unexpected phone calls 2 - 10 Listen to message left, decide whether to pick it up
Unexpected phone calls 2 - 10 Listen to message left, decide whether to pick it up3Own mistakes 1 - 5 Mistakes happen, education in repeated mistake area saves hrs.
Own mistakes 1 - 5 Mistakes happen, education in repeated mistake area saves hrs.3Low value socializing 3 - 10 We get "sucked" in, without noticing one get no value for self
Low value socializing 3 - 10 We get "sucked" in, without noticing one get no value for selfSAVING TIME IN THE LESS TANGIBLE AREAS
One of the best time savers is simply to stop doing something that has no value or good impact at all.
Check of which you want to work on and improve.
__ Ineffectual attempts at control: See Control - Its Proper Use: Stop The Waste, Increase Power.
(Huge amount of wasted time in this area!)
__ Not doing something while tired and/or in a low state of resourcefulness.
__ Not setting effective boundaries
__ Not engaging in any negative, non-progressive conversations.
__ Stopping associating with negative or low-value-to-you people
__ Stop an activity when its value drops (such as leaving a party when it starts to drag a bit, cutting get
togethers to only what is of high value, anything that you're losing concentration or productivity in...)
__ Dump all low value activities: My Low And High Payoff Activities - And Reallocating My Time.
See Keith D. Garrick's ebook on Life Value Productivity for a more full discussion of how to dramatically increase the quality of one's life. Link to it from Books.
Cutting The Bottom 40% To Fill With The Top 20% - From sister site.
- What I actually did.
Outside articles
Time Robbers And What To Do About Them - Do the list for you of your top 10, considering these other lists.
Time Robbers - From a site that specializes in time management - see the other links.
