Is This Where You Waste Your Time?

Posted: 26 Apr 2010 04:53 AM PDT

rescuetime

When it comes to getting things done I personally believe every one of us use the time we have. Meaning, if you have two hours to finish a project it will take two hours. If you on the other hand have four hours, it will take four hours and you will get about the same things done.

Because of this it is important to always have a todo-list so you know what you should be doing. Another important thing is to get rid of all distractions, which can be a bit tricky if you do not know what is distracting you.

How to find your distractions

We are only human and it is difficult to think back and remember what we did during the day and for how long. When it comes to computers on the other hand, we can use them to track every second of our time.

Personally I am a huge fan of RescueTime, which is a software for both Windows and Mac. When using it you can see exactly how much time you spend on every website, document, software, etc.

How to get rid of you distractions

This is where RescueTime truly comes in handy. In RescueTime you rate every website and software on a scale from –2 to +2 depending on how productive they are. Later on when you want to focus one hundred percent you can simply click on a button in RescueTime and it will automatically block every website with a rating of –2 and instead send you here.

Unfortunately this only applies on you, when in front of your computer. Therefore I recommend you to also follow these tips:

Communicate that you should not be disturbed while working.
Create an office area, with closed door.
Switch off your phone.
Cut yourself from the online world (write offline, publish online).
Check your mail, RSS and stats, just twice a day.

Why we use distractions

Personally I believe we use distractions just because we do not know what we should do, or we are bored doing it. This is why you should try to find your true passion and also always know what to do when you are done.

Discussion: What are your biggest time waster?

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