Time Bandits: stealing your life – minute by minute
Your priceless time
Time is our most precious resource. When it slips by, it is gone. Forever. The successful millionaire and the average Joe are just alike when it comes to time. Each is given the same amount each day. It then becomes very easy to see that those people who are financially successful must use their time in a more efficient manner. The truth of the matter is that a man or a woman usually finds the time to do the things they want to do.
Stealing from yourself is still stealing
If we were like Rip Van Winkle and took a nap one day then woke up and it was twenty years later, we would be furious. To wake up twenty years older, seeing our children grown and with children of their own, that would be worse than any nightmare. But is it any different when we allow minutes and hours to be stolen from us each day? Is it only the magnitude of the time that makes it a nightmare?
Time Bandits
There are events, technologies and people who unnecessarily take up our time each day. I call these things Time Bandits. Time Bandits steal your time. A minute here, a half hour there, a little at a time so you barely notice. But your priceless time is gone just the same. The following are some of the most common Time Bandits:
- The Telephone: a great device for communicating with someone who is not in your physical vicinity. Do you really need to spend as much time on the phone as you do? Just because it rings, doesn’t mean that you have to answer it. Learn how to relay your message to the recipient in as an efficient a manner as possible or learn what they are trying to say to you, then move on. Use it – don’t allow the phone to steal the one thing you cannot replace.
- E-mail: another handy device for communication. But do you really need to check it every 5 minutes? Must you reply to every email? There is no doubt that it is both a convienence and a time trap, but it can be tamed and used for your good. Set aside a special time to check and reply to your e-mails. Ignore it otherwise.
- Cel Phone and Text Messaging: sort of a hybridization of the worst of the telephone and e-mail. They have their benefits, but for your sake, use them in moderation. Plus, it gets very annoying to see someone constantly texting when they are supposed to be doing something else. It’s sort of like communication espionage.
- The Office Talker: you know who I’m talking about. They stop by to “shoot the breeze”, but all they kill is your time. Not only are they not doing their job, they are also making sure that you are not doing yours. Do yourself a favor, institute some boundaries and introduce the Talker to them. You’ll thank me later.
- Television: aka – the drone box. Do you think you’ll be lying on your death bed and lament that you would have liked to watch a few more episodes of some show? I doubt it. Be productive and expand your mind at the same time. Read. It doesn’t matter if it is a book, magazine, or an online article, but actively use your mind instead of allowing it to become a sponge for hollywood propaganda.
We live in an era when there are more time-saving devices than ever before and yet we have less time. How is this possible? Time is what we want the most and then use in the worst possible ways. When we waste time, we are devaluing our lives. We will never get it back.
Realize the value of your time
We must “seize the day” and “grab the bull by the horns”. Ask yourself, “Is what I’m doing right now the best possible use of my time?” This simple question, if asked prior to beginning any new task will help you in your endeavor to spend your time wisely. Does reading this blog help you? Does it provide technical or motivational information that is worthy of the time you are devoting to it? If the answer is yes, fantastic. If the answer is no, then stop reading now and move on to something that facilitates your growth and development. Don’t waste time. You don’t get a do-over.
Other Resources:
1. Penelope Trunk at the Brazen Careerist blog wrote an article entitled “10 tips for time management in a multitasking world” that offers great insight for great time management.
2. The Secret of Time Management in J.D. Meier’s blog tackles time theft from different angle.
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I agree with your time bandits! It’s ironic that technology tries to help us be efficient with our time, but if you’re not careful, technology can take away time.
Does technology help us or hurt us? Like most things, in moderation, it’s all good – but we must take care that it does not rule our lives
[...] “Time Bandits” as my friend at soupornuts says should not steal your life away. Technology should be a convenient way to save time, not a master to it. In today’s society everyone thinks they have to be in constant communication with the world. They think they will “miss out” on something. My life and time are too valuable to let the “time bandits” steal the precious minutes and hours away. My wife and I have basically given up television for the past six months and we have not “missed out” on anything but the mindless dribble most stations are producing. We use to make sure we were home to see a specific show or program, but now we enjoy our time together reading, talking, or working on our life goals. [...]
[...] Time Bandits: Stealing Your Life – Minute by Minute by Chris at Soupornuts [...]
I agree, there are so many time bandits, but I call them Nefarious NapStealers.