11 Ways You’re Wasting Time In Your Work Day – And What To Do About It

Take a look at any business and there’s a huge chance that they’re wasting time in one way or another. If you’re a business owner, you might think that there’s no way you’re wasting time. Your business is like a well oiled machine. Before you decide that this post isn’t for you, take a look at the 11 ways we’ve listed below and see if you identify with any of them. You’ll be surprised. 

1. Multitasking

Multitasking can feel like we’re getting more done, but it actually slows us down. Not only does it give us more to remember at once, it doesn’t allow us to get fully absorbed in one task until it is complete. Studies have shown that it’s so much faster to get into one task until it is complete before moving on. It should only take 20 minutes to get into the ‘flow state’, after which you should find moving through your to-do list pretty easy. 

2. Email

Having set times of day for checking your email is the best approach. Checking emails first thing in the morning is an immediate time killer, as it’s easy to get stuck on there and allow your inbox to clutter up your brain. Instead, decide how much work you will do before you head over to your emails. Ideally, you’ll have somebody on hand to reply to your emails for you so you can focus on what you’re best at without getting distracted. 

3. Social Media 

Going on social media without an aim is a recipe for disaster. These platforms have been designed to keep us scrolling and going back for more, even if we don’t know what we’re looking for. Avoiding social media, especially at the start of the day, will mean you can get more work done with more focus. If you have to visit social media, make sure you have a purpose before you do. Is there a particular client you’ll be messaging? A post you’re going to put up? Having a social media manager and platforms that help you to schedule posts mean you can spend less time on social and more time running your business. Social media is one of the biggest time sucks there is, so hiring somebody to take care of it for you will save a lot of time and mind clutter. 

4. Answering Phones

You want to get back to your customers as quickly as possible. People will be calling and messaging with questions and perhaps even problems. You can’t leave them waiting long or ignore their calls – this signals to them that you don’t care. Attention spans are shortening because people now expect immediate gratification. Rather than stop what you’re doing and answer the phone the second it starts to ring, have somebody else answer it for you. You don’t need to spend money on a receptionist or an extra employee; using a service like Virtual HQ can be massively helpful, and is perfect for small businesses. 

5. Pointless Meetings

There are businesses out there that will find just about any reason to have a meeting. However, meetings rarely achieve anything unless there’s a good reason for having them. Oftentimes, an email sent around the office or even a Skype video call will suffice. Make sure you know there’s a good reason for holding a meeting before you call everybody away from their work stations. 

6. A Disorganized Work Environment

A disorganized work environment isn’t just hazardous – it can also enhance the feeling of having a cluttered mind. This is bad for you and anybody you have working on your team. Having cleaners regularly come in to keep things healthy and tidy will help, as you and your employees won’t need to spend time polishing and vacuuming. Not only that, it’ll boost morale. Your team will be able to find important documents faster, and won’t have to worry about hazards so much. 

7. Ignoring Burn Out

If you and your team have been working extra hard, keeping an eye out for burn out is imperative. Exhaustion is a real danger and can happen when you’ve been spending long days at work with little thought to your other needs. You might think you’re getting more done on these long days, but the second you start to feel exhausted, you slow down. It’d make more sense for you to take a break and then get back to it. In fact, more and more studies are suggesting that regular, shorter breaks are the way forward, rather than working for hours and hours and then taking a longer break. You keep your head in the game this way without working so hard that you become exhausted. Many businesses are even introducing nap pods.

8. No Clear Goals

Goals are something a business should always have, both short and long term. If you don’t have clear goals for what you’d like to achieve, you’re likely wasting time and resources. What is it you’d like to achieve this month, in the next six months, and in the next year? You could even have goals for the next 2-5 years. 

9. Failure To Delegate

Trying to be everything to everybody is a recipe for disaster. Delegating tasks to people who have the skills to do them well will help you to save time and potentially make more money. 

10. Making Slow Decisions (And Making Too Many)

You have to make numerous decisions as a business owner. The first thing you should do is see if you can cut down the amount of decisions you have to make in a day – this is something all great business owners do. For example, wear similar clothing each day and eat the same breakfast. You’ll then have more mental energy for making decisions in the workplace. Practice making fast decisions in your everyday life, and you’ll get better at making quick decisions when you’re at work. 

11. Wasting The Commute

You could make the most of the commute by replying to emails, making that important phone call, or even coming up with your goals for the next month. If you drive, you could listen to a business or self development audiobook to get you pumped up for the day

This is a contributed post.