September 17, 2009
Avoid These Time Wasters
Time is the most perishable, irreplaceable, non-negotiable, precious possession we have. Everyone gets twenty-four hours a day; no more no less and when they’re gone they’re gone for good, so it’s important to make them count!
Think of time as CURRENCY that you choose to spend carefully, rather than an elusive substance that just vanishes. You would never throw money away, but that’s exactly what you’re doing when you waste time. Old habits die hard and it can be a struggle to shift from your old, familiar ways of doing things to new, better ways, but - if you value your time - here are some things you shouldn’t be spending your time doing any more. Even making a few of these changes will help make you more productive and save you time.
TIP #1 – PRIME TIME: Are you a morning, afternoon or evening person? Figure out when you’re at your best - you may even have more than one prime time - and use that time wisely. Complete detail-oriented tasks when you’re at your best and save more mundane, repetitive tasks for your off-peak times.
TIP #2 – WRITING CHECKS: When possible, set up automatic payments for your bills. Have them charged to your credit card or debited from your checking or savings account. Check with your bank to see if they offer a bill paying service and take advantage of it if they do.
TIP #3 – KEYS, CELL PHONES, ETC.: Keep items you need to take with you on your way out by the door you usually exit. If you do, you’ll be able to just grab them and go without wasting time looking for them.
TIP #4 – DIRECT DEPOSIT: If you spend 30 minutes every two weeks going to the bank to deposit your paycheck, that adds up to more than 5 days of your life over the next 10 years! Put this time to better use and have your checks direct deposited, if possible.
TIP #5 – LAPTOPS: If you go from work to home and back again with your laptop, get an extra power adaptor and you can keep one in each location. That way, you don’t have to remember to take the adapter with you or bother to unpack and repack it each time you change venues.
TIP #6 – NEWS READERS: I wish I had a penny for every minute people waste looking at the same websites over and over again to see if there’s anything new on them. By using news readers like Google Reader or NewsFire - which constantly check your favorite news sites and blogs for new content and alert you - you’ll save the time and bother of having to check yourself. How great is that?!
TIP #7 – LAUNDRY: If space permits, set up separate hampers for colored, white and dark items. Save time and energy by sorting your clothes before they get to the laundry room.
TIP #8 – TV COMMERCIALS: If you had a friend who spent up to 30% of your time together trying to sell you things you didn’t really need or want, what would you do? You’d tell them to please stop, right? Well, that’s exactly what’s happening when you watch commercials on TV. Using Tivo to skip them puts YOU in control of your time, not the advertisers or TV station. With Tivo, you can pause and rewind live TV, find and record your favorite shows and more. For more information, go to Tivo.com.
TIP #9 – SYNCING: When someone whose contact information you want to have calls you on your cell phone, remember to record their name and number in your phone so it will be transferred to your computer the next time you sync the two.
TIP #10 – PODCASTS: Instead of wasting time just sitting and waiting at a doctor or service provider’s office or during a commute, etc., subscribe to podcasts on subjects that interest you and listen to them on your portable media player of choice. Use your waiting time learning instead of checking your watch!
TIP #11 – DATA BACK UP: If you’re like most computer owners, you have financial documents, emails, digital photos, music, etc. stored on your computer. Because computers are vulnerable to hard drive crashes, virus attacks and theft and natural disasters, some or all of your data is vulnerable to being erased in an instant. However, if you back up properly and your computer crashes, you can start working from your last backup with all your programs and settings exactly as they were before the crash. The savings in terms of time and money - to say nothing of aggravation - will be huge. Consider yourself warned because I WILL say, “I told you so”, if you don’t back up your data and your computer crashes!
TIP #12 – COLLEGE CLASSES: If you’ve got the requisite discipline, direction and motivation, take college classes online and spend your commute time studying instead of traveling. Join the ranks of the many great thinkers in history who were also self-taught, like Joseph Conrad, Albert Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, Agatha Christie and Ernest Hemingway.
TIP #13 – COUPONS: Clip any coupons (or gift certificates) you have to your calendar/planner on the day you’ll be making a trip to that particular store(s). Or use location-based mobile-coupon network Yowza!!. Yowza!! allows consumers to simply show the digital mobile coupon on their iPhone or iPod touch at the time of payment to redeem the discount on their purchase. Participating stores include: The Container Store, Sears, Loehman’s, Kiehl’s, California Closets and Tekserve. Yowza!! is free of charge via the iTunes App Store. For more information, visit Yowza!!'s website.
TIP #14 – COOKING: When you cook, make enough to freeze some for easy-to-fix lunches and quick dinners later on. Soups, sauces, pastas and casseroles lend themselves well to this time saver.
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