The Time Sink
There are actions in my life which seem to act as a time sink. When I do these things, it's as if time speeds up and flows down a big hole. You know how it is...you sit down, you only mean to spend ten minutes or so...you look at the clock and half an hour has gone, or a whole hour - and it comes as a surprise or even a shock.
My Time Sinks are:
Surfing the Internet:
It's so interesting and I love doing research.
Bootcamp forum:
But only if I stop to answer a post.
My Blog:
Writing new posts eat up time quicker than anything!
Writing:
When I'm in the story and words are flowing.
Talking to friends:
In person or on the phone.
Playing the piano:
Like writing, it happens only occasionally.
Time sinks are not to be confused with those activities where I have a conscious awareness of time passing. These time-consuming activities are not nearly as enjoyable as Time Sinks.
Time Sinks pose a problem because I have a lot of committments.
The only solution to Time Sinks is to set a timer.
Often, I forget.
So, I'm wondering how you manage your time. Do you have time sinks? Does a timer work for you? Or have you found a different solution which works better?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hmm.. internet is a huge time sink for me, and I still haven't figured out how to manage my time effectively. Let me know when you figure out how to :)
ReplyDeleteI've got into a habit - neither good nor bad - of sitting down at my desk to write and the first thing I do is to turn on the computer. Even if I'm reading and making notes longhand!
ReplyDeletePerhaps a big notice on the screen which I need to fold out of the way:
DO NOT TURN ON THE COMPUTER!!!
and/or
SET YOUR TIMER!!! :D
If you hit on a way that works for you, do please share :) Good luck.
I avoid temptation by just not turning on the computer or declaring certain days internet-free. If I'm really at my wits' end, I can ask techy dh to lock my computer's access to the Internet.
ReplyDeleteOr I can get sick and not stand to be on the computer for several days. But that way I'm not doing anything else besides sleeping and reading, so it's not an effective tool for being productive. :D
I use it as a reward, Prue. I have a list I need to accomplish and at the end of the day I treat myself to some on-line time, like now. Tomorrow, *looks at clock*, ahem, today I'm going to go get more lessons downloaded for HTWAS. I'll work while those are downloading. :)
ReplyDelete