Tired of Wasting Time? Here Are the Top 10 Time Killers
Here’s a guest article from OfficeTime.net. I share it because I participated in their survey. Enjoy! -Ryan M. Healy
LONDON — In its third annual “Top Time Killers” survey, OfficeTime.net asked over 1,300 people — mostly freelancers, small business owners and other professionals — about how much time they spend on a variety of activities during the workday. For the third year straight, the “Top Time Killer” is email, but this year Meetings rose from 5th place to a very close 2nd place finish.
Results of the Top Ten list, released each February to coincide with Time Management Month, were ranked based on the percentage of people spending between one and four hours per day on each activity.
Presenting OfficeTime’s 2014 “Top Time Killers”:
10. Dealing with computer problems (6%)
9. Social networking for business (6%)
8. Break time (7%)
7. Watching TV or Internet videos (7%)
6. Non-business related conversations (7%)
5. Procrastination (10%)
4. Travel time / commuting (17%)
3. Surfing the Internet (22%)
2. Meetings (42%)
1. Email (44%)
Respondents to this year’s survey were asked why they waste time. “Feeling uninspired” and “Feeling stressed” both tied for the top spot, with 67% of respondents citing them as reasons for killing time.
“With ’email’ and ‘meetings’ neck-and-neck at #1 and #2 in our survey, obviously we spend a great deal of time each day communicating,” said Stephen Dodd, CEO of OfficeTime. “If we’re going to spend that large percentage of our day communicating, we have to look at how our communication can boost productivity. A key way to accomplish that is to make sure your communications are in the clearest, most effective way possible.”
To improve the efficiency of communications and make it more productive, rather than another huge time killer, OfficeTime suggests focusing on what’s “most important.”
“Understanding what is most important to the people you are communicating with will produce progress faster than any other point of focus,” Dodd says. “Whether you are communicating by email or in person, when you are able to articulate and get others tuned to what is most important, you produce meaningful direction, focus and impact that offers the greatest value possible as a leader and in delivering value to your clients.”
About OfficeTime.net: OfficeTime.net develops a remarkably intuitive app for tracking your time and expenses, whether on an iPhone, iPad, Mac or PC. OfficeTime balances features and ease of use, allowing users to easily track exactly where they’re productive and where they’re wasting time.
For more information about OfficeTime and how it can help increase productivity with its simple-to-use time tracking system, visit www.officetime.net.
