5 Most Common Time Wasters that Affect Work Productivity

December 19, 2008 on 5:43 pm | In Work Productivity | No Comments

Time wasters really affect one’s work productivity. These time wasters will really eat your time only if you let them to. In order to free up your time you have to identify them, make up your mind as to what you plan to do about those time wasters, and then take action. Here are the top 5 common time wasters.

Lack of plans, priority, and focus

Without concrete plans, priority, and focus, you will end up wandering and working in a disjointed and scattered way. This prevents you from spending time on more important tasks. You will find yourself working on activities that do not help you move towards your vision. If this is so, then it is definitely not a good way to spend your time. This will only make you feel directionless and your work productivity will drop.

Procrastination

Procrastination wastes your time as well as your energy and thoughts. When you put things off, much of your time is wasted worrying and thinking about the things you have to accomplish. You are only giving yourself a difficult time for not doing things and therefore you are not spending your time effectively. This is especially true when something really important arrives and what you have been procrastinating over eventually needs to be accomplished.

Interruptions

Interruptions may be unanticipated events, visitors dropping into your office, telephone calls - anything that disrupts you from effectively doing your task. Interruptions affect your focus as they distract you away from the important things you do at that moment. You also lose time and focus when you allow your personal life and work to overlap. Keep them separate as much as possible and do not allow them to get in the way with each other. You need to focus your energy on each specific task at a time.

Lack of delegation

It really wastes your time when you think you must do everything and believe that you are the only one who can do the job. You will find yourself doing too much without having sufficient time to focus on what you are really good at - your strengths, ability, and gifts.

Meetings

Meetings are a real time waster if you have no specific agenda, time frame, and reason for holding them. It is too easy for us to have the tendency to hold meetings without realizing that much of that time could be used more effectively.

Smart and Ridiculous Excuses for Missing Work

October 29, 2008 on 5:38 pm | In Work Productivity | No Comments

It’s a day like no other. You wake up with your adorable toddler sleeping  soundly between you and your husband. You open the curtain and the sun greets you with the sunniest smile. The day is so beautiful you decide to miss work. So you call your office and say you’re not feeling well, but you’re 100% sure your employer doesn’t buy it. Read on to know some of the smart and ridiculous excuses for missing work.

Excuses for missing work

The recent CareerBuilder.com survey on absenteeism indicates that about 33% of employees have played hooky from work at least once a year, calling in sick when in fact they were perfectly well. About 9% of them admitted that they called in sick because they didn’t want to attend a meeting, to avoid the temper of their boss, or buy some extra time to finish projects that were already due.

Other employees skipped work because they needed to recharge and relax (30%), go to their doctors (27%), catch up on much needed sleep (22%), run personal errands (14%), catch up on household chores (11%), or spend quality time with family (11%). A huge 34% said they simply didn’t like to go to work that day.

Smart excuses

“I’ve earned it” is one smart excuse. No one can question a good performance. Come to work early and finish your tasks on schedule and then negotiate a leave in advance. According to Andrea Nierenberg, The Nierenberg Group president, “Really work when you’re there, so you’ll be able to feel good about taking time off.” A doctor’s appointment is also a legitimate excuse for missing work. Make the appointment early in the morning or late in the afternoon, say around 3 pm.

If your job requires that you meet and court clients, then playing golf with a potential client is a good excuse. Just make sure that you meet with the client, don’t just call in and say you did. Having cramps is also a smart excuse for missing work. According to Jennifer Newman, Lippe Taylor Public Relations vice president, “It’s such an embarrassing topic that nobody will ever challenge it…It’s one of those things that men honestly have no clue about, and women can sympathize with.”

Ridiculous excuses

All of us have our share of ridiculous excuses for missing work, some can be very common while others can be out-of-this-world excuses. Employers provided some outrageous real-life examples in the CareerBuilder.com survey: an employee who hit a turkey while riding a bike, one who donated too much blood, an employee who was kicked by a deer, and an employee who swallowed too much mouthwash.

There’s also this employee who was told by a psychic to stay at home and an employee who had nothing to wear to work because his wife just burned his clothes. Another ridiculous excuse is that of an employee who called in to say he suffered from a heart attack early in the morning, but he was feeling good now.

Overall, playing hooky won’t win you fans at work. When you skip work, someone else will have to do your laundry just to make it to the deadlines. It won’t also help your career.