“We say we waste time, but that is impossible. We waste ourselves.” – Alice Bloch
You have 168 hours each week. Some of those hours you will probably spend doing things you have to do, some of them doing things you choose to do, and some of them doing things simply on autopilot.
Autopilot hours are things like:
– Recurring meetings that were once useful, but are now a waste of resources.
– Late night TV binging because you’re too tired to get up and go to bed.
– Cumulative blocks of time spent surfing e-mail, social media, etc.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of the above, if they are conscious choices. The problem is that we often slip into autopilot mode when we lack focus, when we are experiencing a dip in energy, or when we lack the kind of relational accountability we need to keep our wits about us.
This weekend, I’d challenge you to consider the places in your life where you are slipping into autopilot with your time, and what you might be able to do about it. (I know that in my life, nothing valuable happens after 10pm. I would be far better getting an extra hour of sleep than firing up HBO GO and watching an episode of The Wire.)
Where are your “time drains”, and what are you going to do about it?
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
Stitcher
iHeartRadio
Three words: Candy Crush Saga. *facepalm*
Well, you’re only human, Tracey. No mere mortal can resist. :)
I can SO relate! I am the Candy Queen.
I’m useless after 8 p.m. so you get a good two useful hours more than I do in a day! I unfortunately feel that part of my time wasting is at the beginning of each work session trying to figure out what I should be spending my time on. Putting a plan into place ahead of time has never been my strong point, but could surely turn things around :) Thanks for the great thoughts!
Unless I’m traveling, most of those post-8pm hours is in active parenting mode. I’m a bit like you – I don’t function well at the end of a long day. (Surprisingly, many people say they catch their second wind around 9p.)
Great post Todd. Facebook is my biggest time drain. I use it quite a bit for marketing and communication, although it is easy to get sucked in and distracted from the original reason I signed on.
I began to find myself constantly opening a new tab and checking it for a slight mental break from my work. The occasional break quickly grew into a bad habit.
Recently I installed a browser block for Facebook which I can turn on and off when I need to. That simple act of having to flip a second switch to access my Facebook has allowed me to turn the social network from a distraction back into a marketing and communication tool.
Love the idea of “forced focus” by using tools to limit distractions. I’m trying to do more single-tasking these days, whether in writing, studying, idea generation, etc. I love Cal Newport’s articulation of the importance of “deep work”:: http://calnewport.com/blog/2012/11/21/knowledge-workers-are-bad-at-working-and-heres-what-to-do-about-it/
Great article, thanks for the recommendation Todd!
I still have a little one at home and only have 8-12 hours of childcare a week. This causes a sense of urgency whenever I’m working. Every email feels like an emergency because I don’t really know when I’ll get time to approach again. I waste time checking email and Facebook to make sure I’m tuned in to my customers/followers. Customer service is really important to me since it is usually a weakness for graphic designers.
I have a little one as well and I find it as a distraction instead of adding a sense of urgency. He is home all day as well as my wife and I. All I want to do when he is awake is play with him.
If we can get him to stick with a schedule it will be a lot easier. Last night he woke up at 3 am and now my entire day is messed up…. :(