Seriously, I tell myself, for just 10 minutes I will sit down and read my emails then move on, and guess what? I look up and it's been a hour and a half and I'm still answering e-mails. It is frustrating to lose to time traps like that. Alas, I will win against time vampires.
Ever since I was able to write, I remember writing a long list of things I wanted to get accomplished each day. Most of it was routine things like waking up, getting dressed for school, going to school, play time, art and crafts time, learning a new language etc. I remember marking down the length of time I estimated it would "cost" me per activity, then I remember feeling like a failure for not learning a new language in 7 minutes. Well maybe I'm exaggerating a bit but you get the point. Either way, I do remember getting a lot of things done, all I had to do was adjust the amount of time allotted per activity and alternate activities each day.
As an adult I have been tested in time management skills. There are those days when I know all my deadlines are behind me and I can sip my coffee and work and there is no rush and I can throw my scheduled to-do list for later. There are those days where every precious minutes count. I mentioned before my activities "cost" me time. Even at a young age I could see that time was money....well not money when I was 7 but it did cost me. As a business owner I know I have to organize myself and not lose to time vampires. What sucks the time out of your day? For me it's emails. I'm addicted to checking my emails every few minutes. So far I've been writing this blog and have yet to look, but I do type fast and it's only been 3 minutes since I started this blog. I wonder how much longer I can go without looking. But every time I check my email I have a new inquiry, question, problem to solve or Look! Shoes on sale and the sale ends in two hours! So yes, I do get distracted. My goal for February is to only check my email 1 hour after I start work, in the middle of the day after lunch and quickly before I shut my computer. Not only will my phone battery last me longer but I will have time to do other things.
Another time vampire for me is FACEBOOK. My goodness, I literally have a post it over my computer that says, "Facebook open between 5 pm - 7pm". That's when I'm usually cooking and cleaning so I can indulge in some Facebook time between cleaning. As a business owner, you know social media is very important in just about any industry now a days. It is hard to only go to your business page and manage that without peeking in your personal page but it's definitely do-able. Of course I find excuses to peek, my best friend and talented author Krystal is helping me write business biographies for professionals and that's the easiest way for us to communicate, but then I see cute babies and kittens and want to gawk all day.
Don't get me wrong, I am very organized but when I have those "easy" days I can get distracted. I am trying hard to change a few of those habits I dislike one at a time.
What are your "time vampires" and how do you deal with them? Do you plan to change or does it work ok for you?
till next time,
~Nancy Valdez
Austin's Virtual Assistant
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