How to Stop Wasting Time at Work

If only all of us know how to maximize the hours that we have in a day, we would all be rich—in accomplishments! Being able to produce more output in a day will not only entitle you to a possible promotion (if an office employee) or extra revenue (if working from home or managing your own business). This also gives you an assurance that you made wise use of your time and a sense of pride that you could actually do more and be better every day.

Start with the Tough Ones

Procrastination is your biggest enemy. We tend to push the hard ones out and do the easy or clerical tasks first. When you’ve reached half of the day, you try picking out the hard tasks and finish nothing by the end of the day. Why not reverse this by getting the hardest and usually the most important job done? This works better because you have more focus and energy at the start of the day.

Get your Focus

This is the hardest and most important component. You may have already done a to-do list and you know exactly what to do to be able to deliver. The problem is no matter how hard you try to come up with ideas or compose your thoughts—the light bulb stays busted. To be able to beat this, do a little bit of stretching and perhaps sip a cup of coffee. Get some help by browsing online specifically about the task or consulting your colleagues. Make sure to keep this soul-searching period short and particularly about the task at hand. Directing your mind and your actions ONLY to this task will point you towards getting it done fast.

Destruct Distractions

Keeping your IM and e-mail open, especially if notifications from your blogs and social networking accounts are flooding, will eat up your whole day. After all, it’s more fun and exciting to check these out than to continue working on a spreadsheet your boss needs after lunch. While quick peeks during breaks won’t hurt, getting used to these momentary amusements will make you want more. So better to shut them off altogether or device a rewards system for yourself where you get to check ONLY when you have done such an amount of work.

Time-Box 

This simply means that you have a mental allocation of a number of hours to be spent on a definite task. While you’re at it and you are tempted to daydream or check out the latest Hollywood buzz, check your time. How many more minutes do you have? Time-boxing gives you positive pressure as you try to beat the self-imposed deadline. Time-boxing also applies to your quick breaks and chit-chat—keep these short so that you don’t lose your momentum.

Know When Your Plate is Full

It’s true that you want to be as effective as you can be but if you flood yourself with so many jobs, you won’t be able to focus and finish a thing. The more tasks you accept, the more people will be bugging you for follow-up or feedback and it will be a never-ending cycle. Instead of taking up all these by yourself, why don’t you get someone to help you? Perhaps a sibling on vacation can help but there is also a big risk that this may double up the burden since you’ll have to check and redo if there are mistakes. Professional assistants are available for a cost but the employee productivity and relief that they provide is all worth it.

Always remember, time wasted is like money thrown into the trash. Managing and spending your time well not only frees you from stress, but it also works as your personal investment. You may not realize it but making wise use of your time also results in a constructive outlook in life as you continue to pursue and encourage yourself to achieve something all the time. Disciplining yourself to not waste time is the key to improving your work and your being as well.

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Pepper Virtual Assistant Services is a business solutions firm that specializes in administrative assistance, customer support, CRM, copywriting, and personal virtual assistance. We take pride in our reliable service and responsive client handling which embodies our team’s optimal performance.

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22 Comments

  1. Janel Servida

    True enough! Should be the Five (5) Commandments of every employee! Our time is very precious, so why waste a minute of it? Kudos to you Pepper!

    Reply
  2. Erikka

    It helps also if you start your working day by creating your own projects list and it would take you only a couple of minutes. You just have to list down the “to do’s”, put in the status, next steps and deadlines. Before your day ends, write down any remarks (if needed). Not only does this help organize your work load, “priorities” will be your priorities and bye-bye to any short-amnesia excuses. Now everything will flow smoothly and efficiently with your work.

    Reply
  3. Steph

    I definitely agree! I for one, make sure that I get to work early then jot down my to-dos to get me focused and organized at the start of the day. Keeping a notebook where you can list your everyday to-dos makes it a lot easier. But I guess the best advise is to really eliminate distractions. Kick the Facebook habit and you’ll surely finish fast. Have a great day guys!

    Reply
  4. amory elvin a. anonuevo

    it is very true. We must have to value,budget our time. Being a time conscious person i agree to all the tips given on this article. If we waste time doing nothing, there is no productivity in our part. Time and effort are very important in our lives. Organized and plan the activities ahead specialy in the office or any other work we lessen the waste of time. Time counts!

    Reply
  5. Eric

    I totally agree! When I was still in college Time Management is my key to prevent wasting my time. And I think this also applies to work. When someone learns time management skills, he or she can enjoy an improved lifestyle, both at personal and professional level.

    Reply
  6. Joy

    I do agree. In order to stop wasting time at work, you have to know your priorities. This is one of the most important things to be learned. This brings order in whatever tasks you have during the day. It’s like having a To-do list which is far better than nothing at all. Setting priorities will let you accomplish the things that need to be done without wasting every single second of your time.

    Reply
  7. Ariel

    I agree 100% to the tips on the blog. Keeping your productivity up is a matter of time management and goal setting. It is important to keep yourself on track and on-time every time. You can only achieve what you have set out to do if you remained focused. Prioritizing task using to-do-list is like a cardinal rule of efficiency.

    Reply
  8. Rachel Ann Imboc

    Sure-enough! those tips will surely makes us to be a better person. It will lead us to success not only in career but also in life.

    Reply
  9. Ceferino Baya II

    This article should clearly notice and must read by all sorts of working people including professionals and even those who are just hunting jobs at this time because these tips were very useful in spending time wisely that will lead to a prosperous and productive working habits.

    Reply
  10. sheena

    Indeed! You can’t be able to do your chore or things what you want to do if you’re not engaging into self disciplining. Everything will leads to NOTHING if you are not going to use your time WISELY. And by listing down the things you really have to do for that specific time, for sure that’s what we call a task/s well DONE! This blog must be share/post somewhere in where many are still confuse in directing the right tracks for there businesses and etc. thanks pepper! :))

    Reply
  11. samantha

    Surely these are great time management tips! In addition to how you can maximize your time, by the end of your day have at least a mental list of the things that need to be done the following day. By the time you set up for work the next day, you already have an idea on how you would prioritize the tasks that you have to finish. Being able to manage your time properly would definitely make you work more efficiently and even give you spare time to things you enjoy outside work! 🙂 Achieve work-life balance! Win-win! 🙂

    Reply
  12. Jennifer Ablas

    Don’t we all just want to be rich and successful? What most of us fail to recognize is in “time” we can have all these… and more. This article simply lays it all out. It clearly points out what are the things that are keeping us from achieving all life can offer. And that in managing little ol’ time, we can be as young, as happy, and as stress-free as we possibly can.

    Reply
  13. rojae

    If you are reading my comment right now, then I have just the question for you. Assuming that before you get to this comment, you had already read the other comments above (and of course the article itself), and are now at the bottom part of the page, did you ever ask yourself just how much time did it took you to do that? Isn’t it just funny how we are reading this blog right now, talking about it and even being in agreement of almost all the points listed above about ways to make the best use of our time, yet while we are doing this our time is running and is slowly being wasted? How sure are we that at this very moment, surfing the net, visiting a blog, and posting a comment about it, is the most important job that we should be doing right now? Are we really getting focused? Or are we being destructed by distractions? Just a thought that maybe you would like to ponder. But if indeed, you’ve already finished all the crucial tasks for you today and are just taking your FREE time in surfing the web then I salute you – not just for reading this useful blog but mostly for putting it into practice. =)

    Reply
  14. Joseph A.

    Two thumbs up! I always believed that “Time is Gold” and that is why I make sure that I have a schedule for everything. These schedules help me to be efficient at all times. I also arrange my work for the day so that I can manage my time efficiently. I take on the hard tasks first before doing the easy ones. In this way I will be able to identify the time needed to finish each task given to me. This also helps me avoid short-term memory loss. It helped me all the time it could help you too.

    Reply
  15. Karen Therese Mamparo

    The article was great! It was very informative and in the same way discussed the importance of TIME that it should not be wasted with unexpected circumstances.
    It was very fulfilling to the readers since it pertains to everyone especially to those who experienced a hard time managing tasks and using time effectively and efficiently.
    I think the writer did a good job in relating and giving up techniques that would be very useful to everyone.

    Reply
  16. Vanessa

    This is something that every people in the world should read and realize, not just for employees, but to all who would like to achieve something big in the future! Time should not be wasted because one can never bring back what they have lost or what should have been. As the clock ticks, so as the opportunity. So people should be wise with spending their time!

    One quick comment to rojae, I believe that the people who read and commented on this article are those who either would like to learn how to manage their time, and those who would like to help others. So it is fair enough to say that they used their time fruitfully.

    Thanks pepper!

    Reply
  17. Robellito Diuyan III

    Jobs like these really requires time management. We need to consider a lot of factors to be effective as well as being efficient at work. It’s all about focus, an even allocation of task and choose priority.

    I do agree that sometimes we tend to be stuck in one task and at the end of the day we accomplished nothing. Let’s have to admit we experienced it before.

    Seek assistance if the task is something we can’t bear alone. You can do research or ask from a team mate during breaks…

    We have to value time, but we also need to value our health; it’s like they say, “Health is Wealth”. So take a break for a minute or two to normalize your system…

    Reply
  18. Karen Punzalan

    As the motto says “Time is GOLD”, indeed it is. We should spend every minute and second of our time everyday to meaningful and progressive things. This is ideal, if I may say and doing so is not important to us. For we sometimes become lazy and ignore important tasks that we should be doing as of the moment.

    If your an employee, it is expected from you that for the whole 8 hours of your stay inside the office, you are doing your job. That you are spending your time chatting with your office mates and others are even talking about other people’s affairs. It is unfair to the part of the employer. But why can’t we help it? We tend to like talking and chitchatting even if there are a lot of tasks that needs to be done. Hmmmm….I wonder, do you?

    Well, the thing there is we should VALUE every moment of our time to do quality things that will help us to become a better person. Everyday is a learning experience.

    Reply
  19. R-syll Lacdao

    I strongly agree! The article was great and it can be an eye opener for all the employees. Eveyone should learn to manage and use their time in appropriately. The phrase “time wasted is like money thrown to trash” was very inspiring that can be a good realization for each and everyone. All of us are eager and have hunger for success then let’s all start using our time effeciently and we should not forget that “Time is gold.”

    Reply
  20. Kristina

    I agree with the article. I believe that Time is Gold! We shouldn’t waste even a minute of it, because its like you are wasting a money. Time management is very important that we should learn and apply in our work. The article is very inspiring and we should follow always our work ethics.

    Reply
  21. joan

    This article is good. It will help many people realize the value of time. I strongly agree with the saying that “Time wasted is money a day”. If everybody will learn how to manage their time then there would be less hassles and more work done daily. I recommend this article especially to those who are starting to have their careers.

    Reply
  22. Charmaine Cuartero

    Work is not a stand-alone thing in our life. You can never be happy at work if you don’t have a “life” after work hours. The key is BALANCE. Identify the reason why you get up from bed and go to work. Is it just work itself? Or is it because you enjoy working as one part of living? Make sure that you work smart and not just work hard because if you just do the latter, you’d end up bored, frustrated, and unhappy. Give your very best every single minute you are at work and then clock-out on time to give enough time for your personal life. Doing this makes you fulfilled and gives you the drive to go back to work the following day. Do away with your time-wasters. You may not notice it but your small (but multiple) chit-chats with your colleagues, your smoking-breaks, social network site-hopping, may be taking up a lot of your time.

    Reply

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