Beware of Time Traps!

by Lionel Wijesiri

For me, it seems like the world is running at such an accelerated speed that I barely have any time to catch my breath. I start the day early morning running out the door at full tilt, only keep going until late evening when I crash into bed from exhaustion. Then I get up next morning and do it all over again day after day. The weekends don't seem to offer much relief either, because I have hundreds of chores remain to be done. While I considered myself an effective time manager, now I believe I am not.

Speaking of time, there seem to be just two ways of perceiving it. Some people like me who complain about never having any, others are always looking for ways to kill time. But time is actually very fairly distributed. Everyone gets 60 minutes per hour and 24 hours per day, net. It is only the daily tasks that are distributed unequally. They make the day too short for some people and too long for others.

Time traps are the pitfalls we can fall into if we're not paying attention. They seem to lay in wait for us as we innocently go about our day and will rob us of time, energy, and focus if we let them. The only way to avoid time traps is to be aware that they exist and stay alert, ready to block or divert them.

Personal set

We all have our own personal set of time traps, the ones that trip us up frequently. What are yours? To help you start your list, here are a few common time traps that I would like to include on my list:

Compulsive activity - There is a distorted view reflecting the philosophy of life of modern society today. The more we work, the more reason we have to consider ourselves useful members of this society. Respected most are those busy people who never any time at all. No doubt we are often swamped with work.

Fear of the void - most of us loathe being inactive. If we want to relax, we need the TV, book, tab or iPad or at least smartphone. By washing the car, we justify our desire to enjoy using free time for a little exercise. Some people need the excuse of having to take the dog for a run in order to go for a walk themselves. In short, free time is anathematic for most of us.

Inability to say no - Many of us take on too many responsibilities, not out of a spontaneous desire to help, but because we are afraid other person might be hurt (or reactive) if we said "no."

The desire to be praised can be so strong that we even refrain from saying how time-consuming and difficult it has been to complete the task

Wasting the fits and starts - often we rush from one activity to another, but the time between two events is usually wasted. "There is no point in trying to start something in between," we tell ourselves. One reason why most people complain about lack of time, in spite of the fact that our leisure time has increased, is that they don't take advantage of these fits and starts of time.

The refusal to plan - the reluctance to plan our time stems from the fact that in our mind's eye we see two different pictures: one of the pedantic planner, who can think of nothing but his deadlines, the other is of the happy-go-lucky non-planner. The second type works all night when he feels the urge, but decides, on the spur of the moment, to go on an outing when his friends invite him in. of course, neither of these two pictures is accurate.

The difficult start - You have made up your mind to get through the cleaning up the office room of stacks of files and documents lying there for years. You first have a leisurely breakfast. You read the paper from beginning to end. Then you go through your emails and social network sites. Next, there are few telephone calls to make. And finally, you decide that the cleaning job needs to be done. However, once you get down to work, just half you realise its lunch time and you postpone the rest for next week.

Precious resource

People who manage time work less than others who are always in a rush. But they know how to set the priorities, and they stick to their decision. Learning how to use time best can change our whole way of life and help us to get tasks accomplished in time.

Having a strong game plan at the beginning of the day is the first step in avoiding time traps. Whether using lists, flagged emails or calendar alerts it is necessary to stay organized. The intelligent person understands that efficiency is all about prioritization-knowing what needs to get accomplished by the end of the day and in what order.

Time remains our most precious resource; we can give up only so much of the time we need for sleep, good health, socializing, family, and the other things that make life worth living. We have no choice but to more firmly control our behaviour. We must trim away the unimportant and tightly control how we spend every minute of our day.

Firm and consistent time management and hard work are the only ways to pull out of this time trap.

While breaking free of these habits is not easy, learning how to become more productive will allow for better time management and more activities throughout the life.