A phrase I hear all the time – one I use often myself – is “I have too much to do, and not enough time to do it”. There is certainly some semblance of truth to the statement – there will always be more to do than there is time available to accomplish it all. The dirty secret that nobody wants to admit to, however, is that we could get a whole lot more accomplished if we didn’t waste so much of that precious time.
We’re all guilty of it in some form or another – whether it be frequently checking Facebook to see what your friends are up to, or obsessively watching Twitter for the next trendy topic to chime in on – we spend an inordinate amount of time not doing the things we’re supposed to be doing.
Social Media, Internet News, RSS and other Internet distractions (yes, including this blog), provide an easy way to procrastinate. It’s easy to say “I’ll start working on that in a minute – I just want to check Facebook really quick” only to find an hour has lapsed and you’ve still not done any work.
We control how much time we have – and dont have – to accomplish what we want to do.
If you’re finding that you don’t have enough time to accomplish whatever it is you want to do, the first place you should place blame is likely yourself.
Just think of all the stuff you could get done if you stopped browsing the internet for hours a day….
(that goes for me, too)
Actually, I think I read somewhere that, in small doses, wasting time contributes to productivity by giving your brain a tiny break/reward for hard work. The trick is not wasting a lot of time.
Certainly – I’m not saying “don’t use Facebook and Twitter or take breaks” – however, I am saying be mindful of how much time you spend on those activities. You will likely find that you’ve gone from a tiny break to a giant time sink. That’s what you need to avoid.
I set a timer for myself when I go on fb.
Does it count if you have it in the background while you spend hours staring at data and then switch over for 2-3 seconds so your eyes can refocus?
Caleb Kopczyk I’d say if you can keep it open and not check it every 5 minutes then go ahead. For most people it’s just too much of a temptation, though. It can take anywhere from 10-15 minutes to get into “the zone” and start being effective at work, so a distraction every few minutes can do quite a bit of harm. Browsing the ‘net for a few minutes after you complete some piece of work and before starting another has major benefits. Interrupting yourself in the middle of a piece of work to check twitter has major negatives.
Eh, I’ll agree. I guess I just don’t pay attention to it that much. It kind of depends on the job though–in mine, I have to switch tasks about every 15-20 minutes (too many competing priorities). Makes it interesting.
Thrashing (shifting from one priority to another on a frequent basis) is even worse when it comes to getting things done.
Yup! By the way, does your company use “generalists” (basically, people who know every single part of your business and are responsible for all of it)?
Not really – most people are specialists in one area or another – for instance I’m specialized in application security, which is just one piece of the overall security program. Most groups are like that within the company.
That’s the point I’ve been trying to make here, and no one cares. Generalization leads to shoddy work and poor performance due to conflicting priorities.
Specialists cost more, but you typically need fewer of them because they’re more efficient.
I spend way too much time reading the news and checking fb on my phone. I usually have a kid on me, so I am not sure how much other stuff I would get done. But if I could break my habit I might be more productive.
Depending on the day I sometimes struggle with it. That’s especially true in the morning when I first get to work and am drinking my morning coffee. If I’m not careful I can get sucked in and realize I just spent an hour reading news instead of working.