BradBridges.Net Strategic Leadership
I admit, sometimes I spend too much time completing a task. Ever had that problem? Oftentimes, we waste heavy amounts of time because we don’t have deadlines. We work open-ended and have no end in sight, no goal in mind.
As a life coach and small business coach, I strongly encourage my clients to make goals. What are your goals? Not sure? Guess what? You are normal. Many people simply live life with no goal in mind. In the process, they find themselves overworked, directionless, and wondering where the time went. I believe that if we set goals and plans to meet them, we not only would increase our chances of success but we also would increase our free time to spend with family and friends.
A tool that we use is called the “Egg Timer.” Before you discount it, let me explain. This website, http://e.ggtimer.com/, allows you to set a timer for any amount of time as a way of putting boundaries on yourself to complete a task or set of tasks. If you push yourself to set goals, you’ll quickly see why this website will become something you use regularly (plus its free). For this post, in fact, I had 13 seconds left on my 30 minute Egg Timer.
Time I had left on my 30 min Egg Timer for writing this post.
Here’s a few easy ways to begin using the Egg Timer now:
1) Email
Turn off Email Notifications. Don’t keep your email open all day. Schedule 1-3 times a day that you check your email. When you check it, set an Egg Timer for 15 or 30 minutes. Then stop.
2) TV
Adults need limits too. Rather than sitting and watching TV for an indefinite amount of time, set an Egg Timer for 30 minutes, 1 hour, or another amount of time and stick to it (Parents can use this for kids playing video games too)
3) Social Media
If you are reading this and you don’t use social media, go sign up for a Facebook account now. Seriously, though, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, and the news are all places we can waste an endless amount of time. Limit your Facebook time to 15 minutes twice a day or some other amount you see fit.
4) Breaks During Meetings
Sometimes a 5 minute break is announced and everyone gets back in 15 minutes. Create a 5 or 10 minute Egg Timer on the fly to create urgency for everyone to heed your request to return in 5 minutes.
How could you plan to use this tool? What suggestions do you have for others?
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