The Killer 13 Time Wasters

By Vince Panella

We all waste time! I've been studying time intensely for the last 20 years, and I have NEVER come across someone who did not waste some time every day. From my experiences, each of us wastes an average of two to four hours every day. It's part of our behavioral programming to be playful, frolic, and waste time. It's who we are as human beings!

The secret to permanently gaining at least one more hour a day in this category of controlling your time is through balance. Through balance, allowing your natural human tendency to play and goof off still exist while just halving the time you waste now, you'll be able to gain immense control of your time permanently. By just halving the time you waste right now, you can expect to gain between one to two more hours a day. That's 7 to 14 hours a week and 30 to 60 more hours a month!

From my research and experience, I've found that there are 13 main areas of our lives where we tend to get distracted and waste time. I call these areas the Killer 13 because of their ability to silently kill valuable time in your life. Identify which of these Killer 13 time wasters affect your time on a consistent, daily basis and concentrate on reducing, merely halving, and their effects.

Telephone / E-Mail
Inability to Say "No"
Surfing the Web
Lack of Delegation
Interruptions
Indecision
Socializing
Unimportant Paperwork & Reading
Procrastination
Poorly Planned Meetings
Personal Disorganization
Television & Video Games
Cleaning Your Desk

Vince Panella, a partner of DOVICO Software, is the founder of Success-Centered Time Management and author of The 26-Hour Day.

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DOVICO Software - Time management software
P.O. Box 27058
Dieppe NB
Canada E1A 6V3

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