Tips to Avoid Wasting Time in Business

Most of us complain at some time or another we don’t have enough time. "Where does the time go? I can’t believe the year is almost over." One reason is we work very long hours. Owners of successful and profitable companies like the two winners of the BIG Business contest, Premier Christian Cruises and Software Testing Solutions (STS), often work more than 40 hours a week. While working long hours may be important at particular times, the effective management of time is a more important element to success.

Many people mistakenly believe there isn’t enough time says BIG Business expert David Finkel, when in reality we have all the time we need. The problem is we need to identify tasks by order of importance, and delegate the less important tasks to somebody else. Most people waste up to 80 percent of their working day on activities that are low in value and return, Finkel says. By identifying work activities by importance, a person can become more efficient and productive.

"If you want to earn more, enjoy more, and grow more then you need to immediately start making better choices about where to invest your time," Finkel writes.

Next, Finkel suggests tracking your time to identify where better choices can be made and where the proverbial fat of time waste can be cut. Don’t let the old rationalizing mind interfere by not finding out where the time waste occurs.
The problem is, most of us are time wasters in one form or another. There is an epidemic in the U.S. of information addiction says Timothy Ferris, author of the inspiring book, the 4-Hour Workweek. While the computer is probably the greatest tool we have known, it can also be an enemy of productive work. The computer has given us the ability to automate many of our tasks, but it has also given us e-mail. This relatively new form of communication is a black hole of time, sucking away precious minutes with jokes, gossip, news, etc., and also distracting us from the task at hand. Blackberry’s also invade our life with interruption of e-mails. Ferris suggests limiting access to e-mail to twice a day, if possible, and funneling all communication toward immediate action. Reduce media intake, conversations, and meetings to a minimum, Ferris says, denoting a diet from distractions.

Once we undergo a diet of media consumption and eliminate distraction from senseless e-mail, we can focus on what’s important in our business. Then, we may find that we have all the time we need in business and life.