Everyone wants to be successful in one area or another of their lives. This could be business, sports, art, music, or even agriculture. Any activity requires effort, concentration and high productivity from you. The road to success is paved with problems and failures. And time killers and distractions will only hinder your development.
A lot of failures are due to distraction and a waste of time. These are the most destructive elements for success. If not eliminated, they can undermine even the most capable person and make them fail in their endeavors. Not all wasters can be identified at first glance, but our workspace is filled with them. Here are some of the most common time wasters and killers you might meet on your way to success:
1. Procrastination
Procrastination makes it necessary to postpone until tomorrow what can be done today. This is often the case with tasks that don’t seem “attractive”. As soon as a task has been postponed for the first time, a cycle begins that takes more and more time. There is laziness that actively begins to destroy all chances of success in something. To avoid delays, it is worth dividing a large task into a number of simpler actions. Then you can start the day by solving the biggest and most important blocks of work. People have the most energy in the morning. After that, you can take on less important tasks. By doing more work piece by piece, you can do more in less time.
2. Too much attention to others’ opinions
You can get too distracted by other people’s opinions. Young professionals and entrepreneurs who are just starting their journey often fall into this trap. They’re creative, focused, ambitious, but they make the mistake of asking too many people what they think about their work. Some people, of course, genuinely want to help, but most remain ill-wishers. Getting feedback is important, but you need to be able to filter useful advice from unnecessary noise made by those who are just jealous. Negative reviews can lead to self-doubt and distract from the original vision. To avoid this, you should carefully select people you can turn to for advice.
3. Internet
The Internet is a tool that can take up a huge number of working hours if it is misused. Internet access during working hours should be done only for professional reasons. You can use browser extensions that will allow you to restrict access to unnecessary sites. All personal needs should be left for the lunch break. At this time, you can check social media or read your favorite news portal.
4. Not having a plan or having a bad plan
Creating the right plan is one way to take control of your day. This should be a step-by-step guide to the tasks you need to complete during the day. Spending the day without a plan is a sure way to spend your time. Tasks will be performed in a chaotic manner, which will not allow you to achieve maximum productivity. Also, tasks may take more time than necessary; there will be no time left for some. This will lead to inefficient performance and failure. A bad plan has similar consequences. Every night you need to make a plan for the next day. It should take into account what needs to be done and when, which tasks have a high priority, how much time should be devoted to a particular task, and so on. Time killers don’t forgive a lack of planning and systematization.
5. Extra emails
The most common way to communicate in a work environment is email. This is convenient and allows you to keep all communication in one place. However, email takes too much time and distracts from basic responsibilities. It is necessary to avoid reading meaningless emails, newsletters, spam. If it is possible to avoid using mail and transfer information in person, then it is better to do so. It is much more effective to discuss something face to face than to communicate via email, wasting a lot of time waiting and typing messages. Also, don’t check your email first thing in the morning. The first hour of the day should be spent on self-development: reading the news. Email verification is not included in this list.
6. Meetings
About 42% of employees agree that meetings are detrimental to their productivity. They also think these meetings are a waste of time. Even though meetings can provide useful information, they are actually the same time killers.
Many careers have been destroyed by distractions and time wasters. We need to be vigilant here. It is necessary to avoid all things that are harmful to work. This will make it possible to become more effective in professional life.
Source: https://flytothesky.ru/
For any questions, please contact the author of the original text.