There are 24 hours in a day, but boy does it feel like some tasks suck up way more than their fair share of the time!
Whether it is a consistently full email inbox, office maintenance, or mind-numbing data-entry, some time-traps can drain energy and productivity.
It’s OK, we have you covered, you don’t have to keep churning out the hours on time-traps! Here are eight of the most common time-wasters and how to reclaim that time:
1. Office Maintenance Mayhem? Get Yourself a Serviced Office
Are you spending countless hours maintaining your office? Whether it’s getting that toilet hygienic and spotless, or vacuuming up the team’s lunch crumbs every waking minute, there’s an easy fix. Book a furnished serviced office and enjoy having professionals keep it looking and feeling fresh and beautiful. You get all the benefits of a stunning workspace, with none of the time commitments.
2. Chasing Approvals
Waiting for approvals during a project can not only take time, but bring projects to a halt. Use workflow automation tools to set up automated approval systems, so decisions get made – and logged – faster.
3. The Lunch Rush: Eat Smart
You need rest and nutrition on your lunch break, so don’t spend your precious time walking to buy food and queuing up. Instead, prepare delicious healthy lunches the night before, or use apps to get delivery to the office.
4. Social Media Spiral
The average employee spends over 2.5 hours everyday scrolling social media. Of course, you need to be on social media for your business’ social media management, but are you being smart with your time on there? Could you use freelancer services, or automation services to schedule and plan posts in advance? It can be such a time waster, so it’s worth nailing precision and consistency with this particular task.
5. Make Your Commute Productive
Long commutes can add hours to the working day. Going remote at least some days can save so much time. If you can’t go remote, consider listening to industry podcasts, catching up on draft emails, or adjust your schedule to work around peak traffic times.
6. Juggling Everything, Nailing Nothing
Studies show that whilst multitasking might feel like the only way to get everything done, it is actually a huge waste of time because, usually, nothing gets done well.
Instead, focus on one task at a time, in batches of time, giving it your undivided attention. This will likely get better results than if you split your attention between tasks.
7. Meetings For Days
Endless sit-downs can use up so much time. Having meetings over video-call instead helps trim down time consumed. Even better, quick chats over messenger, or even email, are not only quicker but more efficient as they log everything so you can look back on what was shared for reference once the meeting is over.
8. Email Overload: Take Control Back
According to studies, over 3 billion emails are sent and received daily. With that in mind, it isn’t hard to see how consistently tending to emails could be a time-drain. To avoid this, set specific times to check your emails, use filters to have them prioritised, and use automated responses so those contacting you know when to expect a reply.
Time can be easily wasted, but with the tips above, it can just as easily be well spent. Be smart with your time and how you approach tasks, and you’ll avoid time traps – before you know it, you’ll feel rich in hours.
