Not getting work done? Constantly running out of time?

Try avoiding these time wasters:

10. Unannounced visitors and drop-bys: Having a stream of visitors dropping by to say hi, it can hinder your efforts to concentrate on your tasks.

9. Gossiping: Senseless chatter about others wastes everyone’s time and creates friction in the office.

8. Surfing the net: This includes reading “funnies” (funny junk emails), looking at non-work-related websites, signing up for sweepstakes, and playing online games.

7. Excessively checking emails and voicemails: Constant checking of incoming messages disrupts your concentration and your work flow.

6. Starting a project without all the necessities: Be it a piece of information or a spread sheet, if you don’t have everything you need, you will inevitably run into trouble.

5. Procrasination: Day dreaming, indecision, or purposely delaying assigned tasks will leave you scrambling at the last minute.

4. Disorganization: You won’t get much done if you’re constantly looking for that piece of paper buried in the file.

3. Doing someone else’s job: It happens when you don’t say no to others’ petty requests. While it’s important to be a team player, it’s imperative that you look after your key projects first.

2. Meetings without a specific purpose, timeframe, or agenda: A meeting lacking any of these three goes on longer and achieves less.

1. Lack of priorities and plans: Many people feel the task daunting because they don’t know where to start or how to proceed once started.