The Five Deadly Sins of Time (mis)Management

Keeping Too Many Things in Your Head

A common time management mistake is trying to keep track of all the things you need to do and places you need to be at.  The fact is that you simply cannot rely on memory alone to keep track of all these details without getting overloaded.  Use technology, or simply a piece of paper.  Most urban officers think the overload is part of their life, but they can be more productive only if they manage a well-designed productivity system to conquer this.

Doing Whatever Grabs Your Attention Next

Many people dont stop long enough to even think what to do next when one task is accomplished, they jump right in and do whatever grabs their attention (experts call it "tyranny of the urgent").  Working on impulses may be cool enough for your personality, but the company might like you more if you prioritise smartly.  Instead of doing whatever grabs your attention next, use your plan to figure our the best way to use your time basd on your top priorities for the day/week.

Doing Very Efficiently That Which Need not be Done at All

Surely, one of the worst ways you can waste your time, experts say.  Having a to-do list and a weekly plan really helps because you automatically assign more time to important thigns and less time to trivial ones.  And if you say that's the way 'you are', dont expect any improvement.

Poor Planning

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.  Poor planning is one fo the main reasons projects fail, fall behind schedule or miss their deadlines.  The best way to escape the practice of poor planning is to learn how to plan effectively, and to do it consistently.  If you don't want to read those fat 'help yourself manuals' simply start emulating a meticulous planner at your workplace!

Inability to say no

The worst culprit of all.  You encourage people to come and talk to you and waste your time just because those people have nothing better to do.  You love being a 'sounding-board' and think you are doing a great job by listening to everyone expounding on various things from politics to office gossip to personal problems.  The fact that you cannot say no means you want to keep them happy, at your cost.

You may also like to read -

• Why Time Management Systems Fail
• Programming Yourself for Success
• The Planning & Scheduling Process
• The Entitlement Mentality