I can't believe how much time I waste.....

Need More Time? This May Help You.

As communicators, one of our best assets is time. Our busy lives sometimes leave us with the feeling of having too little time, being constantly rushed and thinly spread among too many commitments with too many people in too many places. 

Sitting at my blogging table procrastinating for up to 20 minutes on what I wanted to write about today made me realise that looking back and forth from the blaring TV, sipping coffee in my new Robert Gordan ceramic mug and looking at the screen was nothing but a waste of time. So convinced that procrastination wouldn't get the better of me... I typed what I was thinking about-

 'I can't believe how much time I waste!'

Creating an opportunity in your life to take advantage of the time you have will not only make you a better communicator, but will clear your head so that you have time for the important things and are able to generate clearer and more productive ideas. Other reasons why time is so integral to successful communicating are;

1. Clears your mind and enabled better strategic decisions
2. Creates time for building essential relationships and contacts
3.  A messy room means a messy head- so create more time to organise yourself.
4. More time provides more opportunity to get involved in things that will benefit yourself and others in your community.  

How?
 
1# Design a daily routine

Waking up at different times each day not only messes with your body clock, but messes with your mental schedule. 
Make a conscious effort to wake up the same time each day of the week as best you can and make most of the 24 hours in each day. If you're short on energy this can deplete your motivation and time efficiency during the day, so your body will thank you for correcting its clock. 
Maybe start with a jog or munch down some vitamins- start your day well so that you have sustained energy. My favourite energy boost is Up and Go! Quick, yummy and gives me energy to burn until my next feed. Allow yourself to take breaks for meals at the same time each day and retire to bed at least an hour before you plan on sleeping so that you have time to unwind and distance yourself from tv, the internet or your phone before sleeping. 


2# A Place To Call Home
How much time do we waste on telling friends, ' We must catch up this week' and the rresponse adequate to a vaige, 'sure, I'll let you know.' Biggest waste of time- chances are this get together will be postponed time and time again for months and effectively, you run the risk of loosing friendship due to poor time management. The most simple solution I found is a simple, 'I'll get back to you by tonight.' This allows at least a day to check your sheduele and then break the situation down into two parts, a and b. A) If this is a person your not too keen on providing valuable time and effort towards, then simply tell them you're sorry but you can't seem to find the time to see them- but agree to stay in contact. (example fb) B) If they are someone you are eager to see then have a place pre decided. This is the place you will have ready to suggest at any potential meet up situation. This should be a place such as a coffee shop, resturant or cafe that you can rely on to be open at a variety of times and can always accommodate you and your friend.


3# Access you're leisure time
Throughout your week, keep note of the things you do that are not at all productive but instead, are things you do just for fun. These type of things such as television consumption, internet procrastination, games apps on your mobile or excess socializing are all potential killers of your time.
 Watching too much tv is an area I definitely need improvement in, and I doubt I'm alone. If I may assume and take a wild guess- the type of television most of us waste time on is not educational and self improving programs, it's more likely to be reality shows, tv series, lifestyle programs and movies. Calculate how much time you realistically waste on television consumption and try and cut that down at least an hour per week. Your time is better spent elsewhere. This is the same for internet usage- most out google searches are meaningless attempts at wasting time, and before you know it, 2 hours has passed and your room is still un-organised, that assignment isn't done, and those important to do's go another day undone. Last point here- I watch alot (too many) of my friends waste time on mobile game apps! They look enticing enough, but I refuse to put them on my phone, because I know once they are uploaded, I will be tempted to play them. Save yourself the trouble and delete those unnecessary game apps from your phone!


4# Set Achievable Goals
Sometimes we waste time because we haven't set realistic and attainable goals for ourselves. Its easy enough to save time by cutting out useless time wasters- but it's pointless if we don't have a reason behind it. Fill your time with production goals that will fuel your motivation. Some examples of beneficial and self improving goals are;

• Developing a fitness routine
• Begin a new hobby such as dancing, writing or a sport.
• Take time to build relationships with people
• Spend more time improving your performance at work   
• Join a worthy cause or volunteer for a local group
• Plan towards travel or take a well-deserved holiday

5#Look Behind The Veil

Take a look behind the obvious, and ask yourself if there are other, deeper reasons why you waste time or procrastinate. Are you unhappy with something? Are you avoiding meeting up with someone or hesitating to complete an unwanted task? There could be many root reasons why people waste time rather then the surface reasons of plain bad time management- although this can also be a justifiable reason. If you are wasting time to avoid something else it may be time to get yourself out of this cycle and break away from the rut. The only way to get over the feeling of avoiding or putting a task behind you is to overcome it. Complete it and move on.