If you find that there aren’t enough hours in the day, it might be because you are spending too much time on certain activities. These activities don’t always give the consummate reward for the time invested in them. Re-examining how long you spend on the following activities, will allow you to apportion time to the activities that are important.

1. ARE YOU WASTING TOO
MUCH TIME?
MIKE GARDNER

2. WORRYING
• Although everyone goes through hard times, worrying about the small things is not helpful
• Write down your worries, propose a plan of action and move on
• If your problems are too big, speak to someone about them
• Don’t let worries keep you awake at night

3. WATCHING EXCESSIVE TELEVISION
• Limit the time you spend in front of the TV
• Don’t let TV programmes stop you from doing what is important
• Record or download to watch when it’s convenient, rather than missing Social engagements to watch a
TV programme

4. VIDEO AND COMPUTER GAMES
• These can be extremely addictive
• Don’t let them rob you of valuable time with friends and family
• Limit the time you spend on them, especially in the day, fresh air and nature are better for us

5. INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA
• Try not to aimlessly surf the internet, this can waste hours
• Social media is great for keeping in touch but don’t neglect face to face contact
• Set time aside for checking Social Media, rather than constantly reading posts

6. TELEPHONE CALLS
• Keep them as short as possible, set an alarm if it helps
• Set parameters for when people can ring you
• Try to utilise travelling time if possible for making/receiving calls

7. TRAVELLING AND COMMUTING
• Use travelling time to work, if you’re on the train
• Car share if possible, so you can share the driving and use time constructively if you’re the passenger
• Use driving time constructively, learn a new language or listen to an Audiobook
• Try to work from home as much as possible

8. HOBBIES
• Whilst it’s good to have interests, don’t let them become an obsession
• Allocate specific time to your hobbies
• Don’t allow time spent on hobbies to eat into time spent with family and friends or work time

9. DAYDREAMING
• Most of us did it at School, if we weren’t engaged with the subject that was being taught
• If you’re daydreaming as an adult, maybe you’re not happy with your job and should change it?
• Spending a lot of time fantasising about what you’d like to be doing is a waste of time, instead work out
a plan of action to try and achieve your dreams

10. MEETINGS
• Do you really need a weekly Team meeting?
• Only schedule meetings if they’re really necessary
• Invite key people only, don’t waste other peoples’ time
• Have an agenda and allocate time to each item

11. PLANNING
• Have a structure to your day
• Plan your day, so that you do the top 3 tasks first
• Do not move onto the next task until the finished the current task (unless you’re waiting on someone
else)
• At the end of the day, plan your tasks for the next day