Blog Short #22: 5 Things That Steal Your Time
Photo by Jiyeon Park on Unsplash
Let’s start today with a question: “What do you do with your time?”
I ask because, in truth, most of us don’t know how much time we spend on any particular activity unless it’s tightly scheduled, like a meeting at work from 1 to 2.
We usually ballpark it, which means it’s easy to over or underestimate how much time something takes.
The only way to know precisely how you spend your time is to track it. Otherwise, you’re guessing.
Why is this important? Because time is ultimately limited in every life. You don’t know how much you have. What you do know is that in a single week, there are 168 hours, and if you sleep 8 hours a night (hopefully), you have 112 hours of waking time.
What happens in those 112 hours, and if you actually find out, will you be happy with what you learn?
This blog has two parts:
- Learn how to track your time
- Identify five time-thieves
How to Track your Time
To track your time, start by monitoring your activities for a whole week, from the moment you get out of bed to the moment you turn off the lights to sleep.
Write it down. It’s a bit tedious, but it’s worth it. To make it easier, you can use 15-minute blocks.
You’ll likely be surprised at what you find. And you’ll get an accurate view of how much time things take. For example, you’ll see how much time you spend on work, housekeeping, leisure, caretaking, chatting, resting, etc.
Now that you know how you spend your time in real numbers, you can decide what you want to change.
There are several possibilities. You may see ways to stack specific tasks together to be more efficient, or you may need to cut down on activities that waste your time.
You’ll see if you’re spending enough time on the things that are most important to you.
Break It Down
Here’s a way to break it down so you put your energy where you want it to go. Divide your time usage into seven categories:
- Activities that move you toward your most important goals
- Maintenance activities like cooking, cleaning, laundry, errands, hygiene, etc.
- Work or job
- Leisure and entertainment
- Relationship time
- Sleep
- Wasted time
As you review the week you’ve just tracked, try placing your activities in one of these seven categories. You can make sub-categories if you like. You’ll also find that some activities will overlap into several categories.
When you’re done, see if you can tweak things to spend more time in the categories that are most important to you.
Now for things that steal your time.
Time-Thieves
These activities often consume more time than you realize and don’t give you a sense of accomplishment or relaxation.
#1 Social Media
You knew I was going to list this one, right? Scrolling through social media or watching videos on YouTube (unless you’re watching something instructive for a purpose) robs you of time you could spend on more productive activities. It can be relaxing, and you may want to continue doing it, but not to the extent you are.
Make rules for yourself about how much time you want to allow for these activities and when. One thing you can do immediately to help is to remove social media apps from your phone.
If you do that, you’ll automatically reduce the time spent on social media. It works!
#2 Multi-Tasking
When you multi-task, you actually take more time to get things done. There are some things you can have going simultaneously, like clothes in the washer while you cook dinner and even several burners going at once. There’s an art to that.
But generally, it’s better to focus on one activity at a time and finish it before moving on to the next. You’re more efficient this way.
If you have kids in the house, this is often difficult to pull off. But even with kids, you can structure your time so that when you have something you must do, you can instruct them to self-entertain and then follow this up by giving them your undivided attention at an agreed time later.
Structure is the key here. Try to get very deliberate about what you’re doing and, if possible, do it completely and without distraction until you’re done.
#3 Not Planning Ahead
When you don’t plan ahead, you lose time you aren’t even aware of losing. The upshot is feeling anxious and overwhelmed.
It’s best to keep a running “to-do” list for each day of the week. On Saturday (or Sunday), make this list for all seven days and spell out everything you need to do on which days.
Then, check your list the night before so you know what’s on your agenda for the next day.
Undoubtedly, you’ll move things around as other things interfere, but you’ll have a plan in place to start. If you do this every week, you’ll get good at knowing how much time things take, and you’ll waste less time.
Be sure to keep your list somewhere that’s easy to access and alter. I keep mine in Notes on my iPad, so I can also see it on my phone and computer.
#4 Procrastination
We all do this, and some more than others. The problem with procrastination is that when you do it, things hang over you and drain you emotionally, even if you aren’t aware of it.
If procrastination is a problem for you, there’s a lot of advice out there for how to curb it. But in a nutshell, taking action is the only way to break the habit. There’s just no getting around that.
Put it on your list, and don’t allow yourself to deviate unless there’s an emergency. You can reread this blog for help with that.
#5 Digital Communication
This time thief includes texting, emails, and, to some extent, phone calls. I gave this a separate category rather than lumping it in with social media because it has a different impact.
Texting is a wonderful invention for quick communication. But – and this is a big but:
Constant texting creates anxiety.
Research shows this to be true. You get a text and feel like you need to reply. It becomes a demand. It lingers in the background and gnaws at you.
Same is true with emails. When you’re always accessible, there’s a sense of impending invasion, even when you’re alone.
Some people get upwards of 200+ emails a day on the job, which is horrifying! Who has the time, and how important are all those emails?!
Then there’s your phone. Just having a smartphone in view creates some distraction. It might as well just call your name out loud!
Talking to someone on the phone can be enjoyable or useful if you’re catching up or planning something. But if you get stuck on it, you feel like a hostage.
The key is to take control of when and how you communicate.
Tell your friends or family that you only check emails twice a day if that’s the case, you don’t respond to texts while at work, and you don’t answer the phone after 7 in the evening. Make the rules that fit for you.
The idea is to balance your contact with those you care about with the time you need for other things, including downtime.
Structure it, and don’t feel apologetic if you don’t want to text for hours or answer every email. Besides, there’s no replacement for face-to-face conversation if you genuinely want to connect.
I didn’t mention TV as a time-robber, but certainly it can be. If you’re an avid TV watcher, add that to your list and track how much time you spend watching to decide if it’s in your best interest.
Last Note
Just imagine that if you track your time and cut back on time thieves, you open up an additional hour per day. That’s 365 hours a year you could spend on the things that matter most to you.
That’s all for today.
As always, I hope you have a great week!
All my best,
Barbara