I get pretty upset when
people steal my money....so why do i turn a blind eye when my time is being
stolen.It is a fact, a common thing for co-workers,bosses,even friends to steal
our valuable time.
Time is a tonic to
life,which cannot be gotten back.Yet our society do not care about people
monopolizing,interrupting,and simply taking our time.
In the workplace,it's as
usual.From lengthy meetings that are most times unnecessary.The annoying ones
are mercilessly scheduled on people's
calendars without notice or consideration.They constantly call these
meetings to gather people together. This may be to show the power they have or
how important they are.
Too often we find that we
are scheduled for extraneous meetings,that leave no time for work to be done.
People get upset if you dare
decline a meeting. You would be label a difficult or obstructive person.
Tips for defending your time
from being stolen.
#1. Stop answering the phone
Avoid jumping everytime your
extension rings or someone decides they
want to buzz you.Otherwise people will steal your time when it's most
inconvienient.
#2. Block your time
A very interesting strategy
you can use is scheduling a meeting with yourself.It would be socially
unacceptable to tell a colleague that you cannot come to the meeting because
you have something important to do,but guess what it is ok to say that you have
another meeting.It's not necessary to reveal that the appointment is with
yourself.
#3. Keep off those who waste
your time.
It is important not to waste
your time with toxic people.You know those specific people who waste your time.
Avoid hanging around this people.
#4. Set Standards
If you set high standard on
your time,then others would surely abide by it.Your actions will train your
co-workers on how to respect your time.
#5.Practice what you preach.
If you want others to
respect your time,you need to respect theirs.
Share your best stories of
people who waste your time and how you protected your time.Please share in the
comments.
I have some senior staff in my office that likes wasting my time by asking me to help them with their work despite the fact that i am not in their depts and i have a lot of work load myself. What i do when they start disturbing me is switch off the ringer on my extension phone so that i wont even hear them calling. I also ignore responding to their emails until i am less busy with my own work.
ReplyDelete