Thursday, July 3, 2008

Identify Your Time Wasters

If you feel stressed much of the time and are always falling behind, certain that you'll never get caught up, one simple way to attack this problem is to identify your time wasters.

Television is a big one for most people. Have you ever watched someone walk through a room where a T.V. is on? Before you know it, that person has stopped and is drawn to the television, mesmorized by its content, even if it's a program they've seen a hundred times before. T.V. has a certain attraction for most of us (and our kids too) and it's easy to spend hours wasting time that could be used doing something productive.

You don't have to give up T.V. entirely, just schedule your favorite programs into your day and stick to your schedule. No channel surfing for two hours! Even better, get down on the floor and do some leg lifts and crunches while you watch T.V. Get your kids to join you. Burn those calories from dinner while you relax.

If T.V. isn't your biggest time waster, then take a minute and think about what is. Maybe you like to read the paper cover-to-cover every day. That can take awhile. Try skimming it for the most pertinent articles and catch up on your reading on the weekends. What other habits are wasting your time? Do you chat on the phone more than you need to? Do you spend too much time planning projects rather than just jumping in and getting them done?

Whatever your biggest time waster is, try to identify it today and make the changes that will give you more free time to get to the important things in your life. Eliminate whatever is keeping you from accomplishing all that you wish to and soon you will see the difference it makes in your life.

6 comments:

T. Forehand said...

So true, and I too have wasted time and used it as an excuse to not move forward towards my goals. Bootcamp is a great thing.

Warmly,
Terri
http;//www.freewebs.com/heartfeltwords4kids/

Carma Dutra said...

TV is a great time waster and I am bad. I have found out that the more i go without it the more I don't want to use it or need it. Quite time and a book are much better.

Carma
http://carmaswindow.blogspot.com

Lisa Kirby said...

Hi, Theresa,

This post hit home. I've had to identify MY time wasters lately. With my writing time so limited, I had to find a way to fine-tune it. I quickly realized that between Solitaire and Zuma, I was wasting a LOT of time.

Needless to say, I now only pull up a game if I'm done with my writing for the day. I've been a lot more productive since starting that new practice.

Lisa Kirby
www.familyfunandfood.blogspot.com

Dorit Sasson said...

Since moving to Pittsburgh last summer, we haven't signed up for cable or bought a new/slightly used TV. Our old one we picked off the street and turn it on with the end of a wooden spoon. We just get Fox and NBC and even that is fuzzy.

I noticed that my three year old just dazes out and I am so much more into literacy than enriching his life with Spongebox. I really much rather have him (and us) be productive members of society.

Excellent post by the way!
Happy fourth!

Dorit
http://newteacherresourcecenter.blogspot.com/
A home for new and seasoned teachers

Judy said...

Hi Theresa,

Excellent advise and taking the time to read this post was not a waste of my time. TV really isn't my culprit, so I will have to figure it out. Thanks for the prod because with work, writing, and life, I don't have much time to waste.

Take care,
Judy
http://www.localfoodconnections.com

Dorothy Massey said...

Live each day as if it's a precious gift (which it is), then you'll identify what is a waste of time and what's not. Dorothy