Time Warp

Sit back, play the music but try and avoid watching the accompanying video 

Ok, it may not totally fit, but lets have some fun for a while, then let’s get serious about how we spend our time.

How often have you gotten to the end of the day, felt exhausted – but in reality you haven’t actually achieved as much as you could – chances are you’ve done it often.

With all the good intentions we may have to get through certain tasks, the chances are we’ve gone through the motions but not actually attempted anything.

Put your hands up if you’ve ever done anything like Carla Young suggests in – Avoiding Fake Work Projects :

When I first started working from home, I established basic productivity ground rules: no extended personal calls during office hours, no watching daytime TV and very limited time for personal tasks. Imagine my surprise when I realized that even though I stuck to the ground rules, I had put in a long day with very little billable time.

What went wrong? My suddenly-tidy desk told the story. It reminded me of how I decided that in order to be more productive I needed to get organized…right now! What I failed to acknowledge in my enthusiasm to gain more productive time was that I was also avoiding a particularly nasty project for a client I wasn’t enjoying working with.

I had created my very own (and rather convincing) fake-work project to avoid doing what I didn’t want to do. I was stuck between not really wanting to do the project and dreading firing that particular client, so I bailed on making a choice and found myself a convenient distraction.

I have to admit I’ve shifted papers from one side of the desk to the other – given myself a pat on the back for a job well done, then realised I’d actually not done anything really productive. I’d delayed, deferred, put off – yes, I’d procrastinated. 

We all need to think about how we spend our day, how much of the time we have in any day is actually spent doing what needs to be done, what generates income – chances are it’s a lot less than it could be. 

Now is the time to set some new priorities, that pile of unread magazines, the file of ‘reading’ you’ve downloaded can wait until you have the time. Perhaps you could look at setting aside a time of the week solely for this – don’t do it only to put off doing what can generate income, awareness or other productive tasks. 

Time Warp – The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Richard O’Brien