Time is on your side, at least according to Mick Jagger. (Think: song lyric.) But it rarely seems that way when you get to the end of the day and realize you didn't have nearly enough of it. Where on earth does the time go?
To find out, OfficeTime conducted a survey of "over 600 small business owners, freelancers and professionals." The resulting infographic (see below) lists "The Top 10 Time Killers (and how to fight back!)".
Number one? You guessed it: email. Thirty-three percent of survey respondents spend 1-2 hours per day dealing with email, while 22 percent spend more than two hours. In an eight-hour day, that's a full fifth of your time devoted solely to your inbox.
Next up? You guessed it again: the Web. Fully 80 percent of those surveyed admitted to spending at least two hours per day surfing the Internet. Granted, some or all of that might have been work-related, but there's no denying the distracting siren song of Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, and other non-work destinations.
Other big time-wasters include meetings, commuting, non-work-related conversations, and watching TV (what?!).
The infographic also reveals the three different types of procrastinator and offers tips on dealing with your particular motives. And from there it explains how to combat all these time-killers--primarily by keeping close track of your time (which just happens to be OfficeTime's business--convenient!).
Eh, there's probably a bit more to it than that. For example, you can boost your productivity by blocking distracting sites. And learn to block out common tech distractions. Heck, I think you can make your mornings more productive just by steering clear of email.
What do you think? Are these time killers familiar in your office? If so, what methods have you found for dealing with them?
