1. Explain the difference between Internal and External time wasters:
|External time wasters are usually beyond an employee's control, such as computer downtime, interruptions from colleagues, meetings, paperwork and telephone |
|enquiries. |
|Internal time wasters are within an employee's control and can be avoided, such as |
|Procrastination, socialising and poor planing, |
| |
2. Determine if the time wasters listed below are Internal or External:
• Arriving late to work Internal • Inability to say ‘no’ External • Lack of self-discipline Internal • Procrastination Internal • Paperwork – red tape External • Leaving tasks unfinished Internal • Excessive socialising Internal • Unclear instructions Internal • An untidy desk Internal • Email messages External • Telephone interruptions External • Changing priorities and deadlines External • Planning to take work home Internal • Unscheduled visitors External • Ineffective delegation Internal • Attempting too much at once Internal • Unnecessary or poorly planned meetings External
3. Suggest strategies to avoid these common time wasters:
|Common Time Waster |Strategy To Overcome It |
|Unscheduled Visitors |Make an appointment in advance |
|Untidy Desk |Make sure you tidy the desk when you finish the work |
|Planning To Take Work Home |Make sure you down all your work before you leave |
|Arriving Late To Work |Make sure you are not late |
|Inefficient Meetings |Make sure you write notes on the meetings |
|Telephone Calls |Make sure finish you main work first |
|Email Messages |Make sure looking it once |
|Poor Planning |Make sure you get good planning than you start work |
|Procrastination |Make sure you finish your job as soon as possible |
|Paperwork |Make sure you down it |
|Being unable to say ‘no’ |Make sure finish your work first than help others |
|Poor Communication With Supervisors |Makes sure you prepare it well |
|Ineffective Delegation |Make
