Do These 9 Messaging Time Killers Sound Familiar?
In a world heavily shaped by our messaging activities on collaborative technologies, emails & chats, many have adopted behaviours that are killing our time – do any of these 9 message time killers sound familiar?
Time is OK, if you have a lot of it, but many of us don’t & we need to consider solutions to fix it.
It’s estimated, up to 30% of workplace time is spent messaging!
1/3rd of our time messaging – we either need to optimise or reduce it!
These are 9 of the biggest messaging time killers that impact our professional & personal lives.
They impact us individually, but when left unresolved – impact those around us?
Do any of these 9 time killers in messaging sound familiar to you?
Time Killer 1 : Checking messages as you wake up.
Before you even think about:
- Exercising,
- Greeting your family,
- Organising your daily activities,
- Preparing a healthy breakfast
- Your morning hygiene routine
Or even something as simple as lying quietly in your bed for a couple minutes – do you pick up your smartphone & check for messages?
Before you know it you’re distracted & have lost valuable minutes in your morning routine.
Time Killer 2 : Getting stuck in your inbox for hours.
Do you find once you open your Inbox(es) – you find it hard to get out?
New collaborative technologies are also a trap. Once there, you find it hard to finish & leave the constant flow of messages & responses. There’s always another message to answer or someone replies & you answer that.
A potentially significant time waster in your daily activities that must be controlled. Only enter your inbox at prescribed times with strict start & finish timings!
Time Killer 3 : Leaving your inbox open all day.
Do you leave your inbox(es) open during your entire work day?
At the start of your day you open your collaborative tools, email platforms, messenger tools & leave them open during the day to ensure we don’t miss anything!
Your inboxes become your default place of interest – to see if you have missed anything.
The constant flow of messages, distracts you from getting into a state of ‘flow’ while working. You can easily end up wasting a lot time in your inboxes.
Stop losing more time out of your day – close everything & access it only when it works for you.
Time Killer 4 : Checking messages regularly.
Research has shown people on average check for messages as much as 75X a day – in many cases its much, much more.
Whilst the level of checking messages is a time killer – what you do during or after checking messages is an even greater time issue.
You can break chains of valuable productive time checking messages constantly & waste a lot of unplanned time doing this regularly.
How often do you check your phone for messages?
Time Killer 5 : Reading & answering instantly.
We have a terrible habit of feeling the urge to read & respond to a message right away. Either because we’re curious to read or respond or because we feel the sender has a perceived or real urgent need.
It serves as a huge distraction, using up unplanned time. It increases the level of messaging with more return notes. Collaborative tools & their instant response demand is impacting how distracted we are with messages.
Respond only when the moment is appropriate for you not when everyone else sends messages.
Time Killer 6 : Distracted by message notifications.
Notifications are a real time killer. You stop what you are focused on & redirect your attention to the notification you just received.
It often leads to checking & replying to the message from the notification & taking more time away from your planned activities.
Notifications are distractions – do you have any for any messaging platforms?
Time Killer 7 : Searching for messages you cannot find.
Labelling & filing messages properly should be considered a fine art.
Lack of quality filing & labelling means spending excess time searching for messages you need. Cluttered inboxes, disorganised filing systems, poor label headings for emails & chats – messages always lead to a lot of time wasted searching.
Time Killer 8 : Opening the same message twice.
There is nothing more time inefficient than opening / deleting / filing the same messages across multiple devices.
When you act on them once on a single device – it should update across all technologies you have across the same system. If you don’t – you need to fix that!!
Time Killer 9 : Checking messages in the bedroom.
One of the biggest hidden time killers – taking your smartphone into the bedroom.
- Excess stimulation impacts sleep
- Negative messages are hard to remove from the mind, keeping you awake
- Affects conversation & intimacy
It’s critically important to disconnect & recharge during sleeping.
Excess stimulation impacts sleep & your rejuvenation for the next day!
Leave screens alone at least 30-60 minutes before sleeping.
Do any of these 9 message, email & chat time killers sound familiar?
They can all negatively impact parts of your life & place increased pressure on your time.
Our Creating Edge Email & Chats course will help you with these & 330+ other actions you can employ to stop wasting time on messages.
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