The Time Killers

Reschedule those calls that interest you to a better time. Perhaps
between a couple of important tasks.
Immediately terminate those that do not interest you. First, try to
do it in a courteous manner and then abruptly if necessary.
Hang up immediately on those that persist after being told that you
are not interested. You are under no obligation to hear someone out if
you are not interested in the product or service.

Ask for some consideration in a courteous manner. If you don’t have
the time to converse, state that early in the conversation. Perhaps you can
ask them to call at another time or promise to call back at a time that is
better for you.

Office Chatting – every office has denizens who spend much of their time going
from one person to another chatting. Let these people know that you don’t have
time for such chatter except during breaks or lunch times. There are too many
pressing things during your workday to facilitate standing around chatting. There is
no need to be rude to these people. You can convey this message in a pleasant
manner making certain to tell them that you look forward to talking with them
when time permits.

Traffic – if you have to drive to work, traffic is one of your time killers. Commuting,
even with public transportation, is a time killer. When using public transportation
you can take advantage of the commuting time to do research and complete some
tasks that you would normally perform in your office. It is more difficult when you
are driving but you can still take care of some phone calls and take them off your list.
This is also a great time to listen to instructional or motivational tapes.

Cell Phone Safety - If your commute involves driving and you want to do
some of your telephone work during this time, make certain you are set up to
do it safely. Automobile cell phone use is very unsafe under normal
circumstances. I suggest that you get a hands free setup for your cell phone so
that you can keep both hands on the wheel.

Meetings – these may well be the worse time killers. Most meetings run at least
twice as long as necessary and dwell on subjects totally unrelated to the purpose of
the meeting. You can avoid this by following just a few rules. Naturally, if you are
the boss it will be much easier to implement these rules. If you aren’t, it is still
worth suggesting them in the interest of saving time for everyone at the meeting.

Agenda - Create an agenda that describes, step by step, everything that you
intend to cover at the meeting.
Checklist - Print a checklist of these items for everyone in attendance.
Check off or cross out each item as soon as the subject is resolved.
Leave - When the last item is crossed off, thank everyone for coming, get up
and head for the door.
Don’t ask if anyone has anything else to cover. When a professional has
something else, you won’t have to encourage him or her to speak. This is an
important step because many meetings continue for longer than it takes to
cover the agenda because of the babblings of a few who simply enjoy hearing
themselves speak.
Delay - If someone insists on bringing up something else, ask him or her to
set up another meeting because you have some place to be in fifteen minutes.
Doing this regularly forces people to attend the meeting prepared to focus on
the agenda.

Faulty equipment – equipment downtime can cause serious delays and destroy
a schedule quickly. It is impossible to avoid equipment downtime completely.
However, you can make it a rare occurrence by maintaining your equipment in
excellent working order and setting up a replacement cycle for old equipment. Once
your equipment starts to break down regularly, it is costing you much more than
the price of replacement.

Automobile problems – if you commute or depend on your vehicle to make
calls, it is essential to maintain the vehicle in excellent running condition.
Automobiles that fail to start regularly, or overheat or simply run badly should be
replaced promptly. It is false economy to have an automobile that is not fully
reliable. When a car breaks down, your schedule is completely destroyed or you will
spend much more in getting immediate transportation in the form of a rental
vehicle or a taxi.

More on Meetings - These are just a few time killers. For me the worst has
always been meetings. I had a boss years ago that told people I took mean pills
before a meeting. He was referring to the fact that I was always ready to end the
meeting the minute the specified agenda was completed. Most people wanted to
chat and bring up totally unrelated subjects that caused the meetings to last for
hours. I always hated wasting time like that and still do.

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