by Kevin Hartford

Created on: October 24, 2008

We all have activities that waste our time and take attention away from the tasks we really should be doing. In today's world, many executives and managers suffer from what is known as attention deficit trait. This trait happens when people are simply overloaded with information. This condition has been researched many times and is known by many names; data fog, information overload, and the new attention deficit trait.

The truth is that there are things that can be done to counter data fog and information overload. The first thing that the manager needs to do is prioritize the work. It is hard to sit down and focus on work without all the distractions. There are a ton of distractions in every work place. These distractions come through every piece of technology on the desk and in the pocket.

To limit distractions, the worker needs to perhaps turn off the email and let the voice mail get the call. If the call is important then the caller will call back. As for the email, it will be there tomorrow. Another distraction regarding technology is email. Management by email is the worse. In today's workplace and manager may get tasking via email. This means that the higher manager was too lazy or not brave enough to personally explain the tasking. If the manager was to turn around and forward that email to their team, that can be a disaster. Email is not the best way to explain complicated tasks and complicated tasks are what people are paid for.

The worst time waster is when people just stop by the office. This can waste time, especially when the visit is primarily social and not really business related. The hardest thing for most people is to be rude to someone to their face. In truth it is not rude to try and get some work done during the work day. It is important for a manager to learn to correctly and politely ask someone to leave when the talking is done.

There are strategies that every manager and worker needs to know in order to be more effective. These strategies include turning off distractions, focusing on the task at hand, and learning to finish a conversation. These strategies work with the little tame wasters, but the biggest time waster is the meeting.

Too many meetings last forever because they are not well organized. Many people will wonder why they were even invited to the meeting in the first place. In addition, many meetings do not have agendas and in the end no one knows what was even decided. Managers need to know how to make meetings more effective.

These strategies can be used by anyone to stop time wasters in their tracks and have a much more effective workplace.

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