Due to the nature of my business, I spend quite a bit of time online. Sure, I’m definitely doing legitimate “work” when I’m checking my email and updating my blog, but I’m always catching myself wandering off course.
Reading email somehow turns into watching YouTube videos, and updating Twitter means I wind up clicking links to check out pictures and websites and … you know how it goes.
During my travels in the last few weeks, I’ve been trying to figure out a few ways to better manage my time. the last few weeks, I’ve started experimenting with an egg timer. No, this isn’t something you’d find in a kitchen. What I mean is I’ve been using a piece of egg timer software that you can use online.
How it Works…
You’re probably like me and you think that checking sports scores for 5 minutes and watching a YouTube clip here are there is okay because you’re just doing it for 5 or 10 minutes. Well, you’re probably in for as big a shock as I was after I kept track of things with the egg timer.
“Five minute breaks” add up a lot quicker than I thought they did, because now I can honestly say that I’ve been wasting about 5 hours a week as I sit at my laptop. Five hours!
If you did that at work each week where you earn $20 an hour, your employer is essentially paying you $100 per week to waste time. If you look at it that way, from a boss’s perspective, it’s not pretty.
If you’re getting a paycheck every week no matter what, you might not care, but if you’re self-employed like I am, wasting 5 hours a week can wind up costing you a lot more than time.
Try it For a Week
I recommend you track what you do for a week with this software. This can become one of the best techniques for allowing your mind to focus on work, instead of wasting time on activities that provide zero value.
Should you decide to try the egg timer experiment, let me know what you find out about your own habits. Effective time management is a great way to get more out of your life. (Like I mention in my free report, “Life Plan Mastery”.)
Time is one resource we all have that we know is not renewable: we can’t turn back the clock. That’s why it is so important to make the most of every day we have.
I’m certainly not saying that you shouldn’t watch television or check out websites, but be aware of your habits. Start to realize what you’re doing with your time.
Try out the egg timer I mentioned, if only for a few hours. You’ll probably begin to realize that you’re wasting a lot more time than you thought you did.
Take Action. Get Results.
Wow, that egg timer software works great! I’ll use it every time I take one of those wandering internet breaks and track my own laziness. Thanks a bunch, Steve!
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Trust me…you’d be surprised at how much time we waste on a consistent basis.
I do the same thing…but like you, I can’t fire myself.
*big eyes*.. I absolutely LOVE this!!
Only, to juxtapose it. Instead of counting my down time, I set my kitchen timer to work in intervals. Truly, if it weren’t for booking appoinments & deadlines, I’d never pay attention to the time at all. I don’t even have a clock in my house (besides tech stuff, ie: comp, cel phone)
So I set the kitchen timer to work for 15 minute or 30 min intervals & there’s alot of getting up & running to the kitchen. *laughs* This software is brilliant. Thank YOU!!
Glad you like it Lynn. It really is a very useful piece of software!
Initially time management referred to just business or work activities, but eventually the term broadened to include personal activities as well. A time management system is a designed combination of processes, tools, techniques, and methods. What’s interesting on learning proper time management is that is will help you work smarter, not harder. What’s more, these same techniques help you beat work overload – a key source of stress. I am also having a hard time to deal with this. I need to focus on this because time is something we can’t keep and go back at the right moment when it was ours. Time is gold, as what the saying goes.
Steve – Great tip!
For those using Chrome a great plugin is StayFocused. You basically set a time limit for sites you want to block. I have Facebook set to 12 min so I only get 12 min a day on Facebook. Once you reach the limit you’ll be redirected to a page that says get back to work or something. You can just use another browser so it also requires some self-discipline.
Thanks!
Joe
—
University of San Francisco – 100% online
Joe,
Thanks, that sounds like a pretty awesome plug-in. Sounds very effective. I still use Firefox, but I assume there probably is a version for that to. I will check it out. Thanks for adding that.
I use Firefox for my main work but use Chrome for minor things like keeping a secondary email account open or even streaming music. I find that Firefox still gets bogged down a lot but I’m sure it’s because of the plugins that I have install (which I need).
I hear you there!
Like I said before I haven’t tried chrome yet, but I do find Firefox bogs down at times, of course like you it seems like I have so many plug-ins (that I need) that this is understandable.