These Time Wasters Are Costing You Big Time and Big Money

walking

One of the most common questions we hear around here is how we get stuff done. It’s not big secret that we are quite busy; I myself have four small kids who are all involved in extracurricular activities, I am on numerous boards and committees and we have a very active social life. It feels sometimes that there is never enough time in the day, yet we always manage to make it work. We always manage to get done what needs doing, to find some free time to spend doing the things that we enjoy, and to actually have some fun in life. I do it by eliminating the biggest time wasters around; it’s easy once you recognize what they are.

Wasting time has so many negative effects on your life. For one, it costs you money. The more time you waste, the less time you have to get done the work that pays you. If you are looking for a way to make a little additional income on the side, you’re probably wondering when you can find the time because you waste so much of it and don’t even realize it. When you waste time, you become stressed. When you are stressed, your immune system fails to work properly and you become far more likely to end up sick. When you are sick, you have to pay to see the doctor and for a prescription. Do you see how all these things that are a direct result of not having enough time can cost you dearly?

If you’re tired of paying for the time you waste, it’s time to learn how to stop wasting it. The easiest way to start is to learn to recognize what is the biggest waste of your time, and then it’s time to get rid of those things and make it possible to live better and more efficiently.

You have no priorities

Is it more important to you to get up in the morning and relax on the couch with a cup of coffee and peruse Instagram and Pinterest, or is it more important for you to get into your office and get started on work so that you can finish at a decent time, spend some of that additional time with your kids or take care of the other things that need doing in life? If you have no priorities, you’re wasting time. You do what’s important and the rest will handle itself in due time.

You don’t delegate

One of my own personal biggest flaws is my lack of ability to delegate. It’s unfortunate that I am so good at everything I do (kidding, but kind of) and I feel that it is done better when I do it myself. However, with four small kids, a husband who also works from home, and a house to care for, I had to learn to delegate.

I cannot do everything in our lives by myself. If that means delegating tasks to my husband in the morning since he doesn’t have to come into our office to begin work until 8 and I can work anytime, then so be it. I will never admit this to him, but it’s caused me to feel so much less stressful about life.

You worry about others

If I were to stand in front of my mirror worrying about how others might view my ensemble, my hair or my makeup every single morning, I’d never be able to leave the house – this is the example I’m using. The same goes for anything else in life. It is a huge waste of time to worry about what other people will think when you know that you are happy with whatever it is that you are doing.

You cannot please everyone. I like to think of it this way: There are so many amazing people in the world, yet people still hate them. You can be the Kate Middleton of everything, and someone is still going to hate you, dislike you, criticize you or talk negatively about you. Who cares? The people who do this do it only because they haven’t enough going on in their own lives and their own confidence level is sad and depressing. The rest of us, my friend, haven’t the time to waste worrying about what you wear, how you do things or what’s going on in your life. We just want to see you succeed.

Your fear

Failure, my friends, is not a bad thing. It is the most important teacher of lessons in life. You do something and it doesn’t work, you now know that you have to do it better. It’s amazing what you can learn when you stop fearing failure, embrace it, learn from it and then let it go. It’s a waste of time to fear failure in life when we all fail a dozen times for every success we see in life.

You complain

It turns out that when I complain that people cannot drive, it does not make them drive better or faster. All it does it put me in a bad mood, ruin my own motivation and make my life more miserable. Complaining is pretty darn useless, and it’s not getting us anywhere. It’s a waste of time and an invitation for negativity to enter our lives.

You are a perfectionist

Ah, yes; the part about me. I’m a perfectionist, and it’s always difficult for me to realize that all things are not perfect. I want them to be, but I have learned that making a decision to stop while I’m ahead is always a good idea. To get too involved in the perfectionist part of things wastes time and causes undue stress. Let it go, move on and be happy with your goodness.

Photo by Getty Images

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