Let’s say you have a phone call scheduled for 1:00. 1:05, they still haven’t called. 1:10, 1:15, still haven’t called. 1:18, they finally call and you begin your meeting. What did you do for the last 18 minutes? If you’re anything like me, I bet I know the answer. Nothing. Here is what to do about it.

Why It’s Frustrating

Waiting is frustrating because we’ve already mentally prepared for our new task, the other person just hasn’t shown up yet. We are hesitant to start a new task because that will require changing our mental state again and we’re afraid that we’ll have just gotten started when the person finally shows up.

What To Do

We can make this easier on ourselves by having a list of tasks ready to go that can fill this time. The Vegetable tasks in your Time Diet are good candidates for this role. Remember, Vegetable tasks are still important, they just don’t require the same kind of mental dexterity as your Meats. These are often short, easier tasks that you can knock out quickly. Do those while you’re waiting.

Or, when you’re making your to-do list and you have a big difficult Meat task, break it into smaller chunks so that when you’re glancing at your list for something you can tackle in a few minutes, those smaller pieces look more do-able.

Time Management Karma

Finally, remember the golden rule of time management: treat other people’s time the way you want your time to be treated. It is frustrating when people make you wait. Remember this frustration the next time you’re tempted to leave late for a meeting or appointment. It will also help you remember that sometimes even when we plan to the best of our ability, life still happens and makes us late occasionally. There are times we can also be understanding.

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I’ve written a time management blog nearly every week for the past 4 years. I didn’t realize that the very act of writing the blog was doing amazing things for my non-blogging productivity. Here’s what I discovered.

The results

I write much faster. Everything from emails, to summaries, to project descriptions to formal proposals. I’m able to get my ideas down on paper much faster than I could in my pre-blogging days. Not only am I faster, but I’m more concise. I get to the point more quickly and it’s boosted the response rate of my written communication.

Before blogging

Before blogging, I had the tendency to be verbose and include long run on sentences of excess information, but there is no time for that in blogging. In a blog, you need to get your information out in a few hundred words so you need to make each one count.

Blogging has also helped my writer’s block. I used to stare at a blank screen for a while waiting for inspiration. However, when writing a weekly blog, I don’t have time to wait for inspiration. Sometimes I have to just start writing and see what comes out. This process usually kick starts some ideas and I can pull something good out of the random pile of sentences.

My recommendation

I recommend that everyone write regularly. Whether it’s a blog, or a personal journal, or poetry, or letters to a friend, written communication is such an essential tool and our writing skills only get better with practice. Do you have your own blog project? Tell me what it is!

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Faced with a packed calendar? Wonder how it happened? We don’t mean to schedule too much into our day, but sometimes it happens anyway. Here are three ways to stop over-scheduling yourself.

1. Be realistic with how long tasks take

Your one-hour class at the gym doesn’t take an hour. You need to add getting ready and travel time. Your 30 minute meeting is only 30 minutes if it starts on time. When scheduling your day, plan for the real amount of time tasks take so you don’t over-schedule.

2. Trust others to help you.

If you want something done right you need to do it yourself. Are you a believer in that mantra? Then you’re probably over-scheduled because you refuse to let others help you. Before you can work on delegating, you must first develop the trust that delegating is worth it. Let go of the notion that everything must be done your way. There are many “right” ways to do things and having it DONE is what’s important.

3. Learn from your mistakes

How many times have you said yes to too many things, found yourself stressed, vowed to never do it again, and wind up in the same position 6 months later? Learn from your mistakes. If you over-scheduled yourself once, don’t accept the same combination of tasks again. Learn to say no.

Nobody is a super human capable of cramming more than 24 hours of work into a day. You’ll frustrate yourself trying!

Connect with The Time Diet for more time management tips