Page 142 - Time Management

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Plugging Time Leaks
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phone while driving was about as dangerous as driving drunk.)
The important thing: commuting shouldn’t become an
opportunity for workaholism. If you want to work on your laptop
computer during a flight or on a train, do it. If you don’t feel so
inclined, there’s no reason to feel guilty. (And if you try to do it
while driving, you should definitely feel guilty!)
In a broader sense, the strategy for tackling potential time
leaks, like commuting and air travel, is multitasking. Multitasking
is carrying on two activities more or less simultaneously. One is
inherently a “no-brainer,” while the other is more lively, engag-
ing, or productive. Examples:
• Eating while watching an instructional video.
• Bringing a magazine to read at the doctor’s office. (Hint:
make your appointment the first in the morning, when it’s
less likely that you’ll have to wait.)
• Listening to a motivational tape while commuting to work.
• Filling out a form while waiting in line at the bank.
• Downloading a computer virus protection program update
while talking on the phone.
One wonderful benefit to multitasking—it not only doubles
your productivity, but also defuses boredom, anxiety, or frustra-
tion. The example of waiting in a doctor’s office is a fine illustra-
tion. Normally, the wait seems endless. But it would certainly
seem shorter when you’re doing something else. In fact, you
may be bothered that your reading is being interrupted.
A classic bit of useful multitasking: the portable to-do file.
Many people create a folder of easy and brief tasks to complete:
short readings, forms to fill out, and so on. They bring this file
everywhere and work on it whenever they’ve got to wait.

Time Leak #5: Reading Time

It’s sad when we think of reading as unproductive. Yet the exec-
utives in our poll rated it rather high among time wasters.
Reading is an essential wellspring of useful information. And