7 Time Stealers That May Be Taking over Your Day ...

1. Social Media

One huge time stealer in most of our lives is social media. You think that you’ll just dip into Facebook or check Twitter for a moment. Before you know it, thirty minutes have gone by. Keep your social media time under control by only checking it at certain times a day. Maybe mornings and bedtime could be good time slots for this activity.

2. Phone Calls

While phone calls aren’t as frequent as they used to be with all the other technology we can choose from, they can still take up time when they do occur. I’ll admit that I always love seeing a favorite girlfriend’s number pop up on my caller ID. You probably feel the same way. But if we aren’t careful, a long chat can get our day totally off track before we know it.

3. Online Browsing

Oh, how many of us fall victim to online browsing? I’d have to raise my hand. You know how it is. You just want to pop on to your favorite store’s website. Before you realize it, you’re adding things to you cart that you know you won’t buy. Try to refrain from online browsing and keep your surfing down to when you know you’re going to make a purchase.

4. Office Gossip

This’s one you have to watch for at work. You intend to just grab a bottle of water and before you know it, you’re knee-deep in the latest office gossip. This time stealer can do more than affect your productivity. It can actually get you into trouble at work. While you always want to be friendly with your coworkers, it’s a good idea to be careful what topics you discuss.

5. Unplanned T.V. Viewing

Has this ever happened to you? You’re just not feeling it so you allow the TV to suck you in? It’s happened to me. Be careful not to get sucked into unplanned TV viewing when there are things you need to get done. Enjoy your regular shows but don’t allow the TV to endlessly suck your time away.

6. Saying Yes Too Often

This one seems like a good thing but often it doesn’t turn out that way. You want to help someone out or you feel badly for someone so you say yes when you really want to say no. It’s good to have a compassionate heart for others but you have to be careful. You can find yourself struggling to get things done that you really need to do because you’ve said yes too often. It’s okay to say no if you really can’t or don't want to do something.

7. The Day without a Plan

If you haven’t got some sort of plan for your day then you could find that the day itself just tends to steal your time. No plans can equal a recipe for disaster. Of course we all need down days where we just relax and refuel. But if that isn’t what you want to spend your day doing then you should probably have some sort of plan in mind. Having some goals that you want to accomplish is a good idea.

These are 7 things that can steal your time if you aren’t careful. What’re the time stealers in your life? I’m curious to hear what you struggle with in this area.