Are you struggling with time management at work? Do you find yourself caught in a cycle of chaos and stress?
In his book Buy Back Your Time, Dan Martell explores common time wasters at work and how to overcome them. He offers insights into habits that drain entrepreneurs’ energy and productivity, providing strategies to identify and confront these behaviors.
Read on to discover how you can stop wasting time at work by changing some of your habits.
Surprising Time Wasters at Work
Martell writes that entrepreneurs should first tackle habits that may be sapping your time and energy. He argues that many entrepreneurs become so used to chaos and stressful situations that they feel anxious during periods of calm. As a result, they unconsciously seek out or even create problems.
Consider whether you’ve developed any behaviors that add up to time wasters at work that create and perpetuate chaos within your business, such as:
Time Waster #1—Procrastination: You hold off on making big decisions, stalling the progress and development of your business.
Time Waster #2—Haste: You make decisions too quickly, often prioritizing the quickest, cheapest, or simplest options. Without taking the time to reflect on your decisions and the reasons for their failure, you often end up repeating the same errors.
Time Waster #3—Wearing all hats: You have a tendency to micromanage while failing to adequately train or empower others to develop and learn. If you fall into this category, you might find yourself doing tasks you’ve hired other people to do.
Time Waster #4—Saving instead of investing: You save money instead of using it to make smart investments—for instance, you hoard funds instead of using them on time-saving tools, technologies, or services to increase your company’s operational efficiency and productivity. Martell argues that this is a shortsighted strategy that can lead to missed opportunities that could potentially offer high returns and catalyze company growth.
Time Waster #5—Unhealthy coping mechanisms: You resort to vices as a reward for success or an escape from failure or pain. This behavior can drain productive hours, affecting your overall energy and productivity.
Martell suggests you identify and confront these habits by taking time to list your last 10 major decisions and evaluating whether they were constructive or destructive. This can reveal recurring habits that are taking away your time and energy.
| How to Change Your Habits While Martell suggests you tackle your time-wasting habits, he doesn’t explain how to go about it. Charles Duhigg in The Power of Habit provides tools for understanding and changing your bad habits. He argues that bad habits can’t be eliminated—they must be replaced with good ones. Let’s look at how to do so. First, let’s take a look at what a habit is. Duhigg says that a habit is made of three things: a cue, a routine, and a reward. 1) A cue triggers your brain to perform a specific routine. Cues can be varying situations, emotions, people, or even previous actions. For example, if you notice that you procrastinate whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed, that sensation of being overwhelmed is your cue. 2) You perform the routine—the physical, mental, or emotional sequence of automatic behavior associated with the cue. For example, when you get overwhelmed, you may avoid the task and distract yourself with video games. 3) After doing the routine, you experience a reward that signals the end of your habit. For example, when you procrastinate, you experience temporary relief from the stress or anxiety of your workload. Duhigg explains that, to replace a bad habit, you must understand the cue that prompts the habit, the routine you follow, and the reward your brain associates with the habit. Then, experiment with different routines with new rewards until you find one that feels satisfying to you. For example, when you feel overwhelmed the next time, instead of procrastinating, you might break down your work into smaller, more manageable tasks and take a short break after completing one. This new habit also creates relief from stress but in a more productive way. |
