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Attack

The next stage of managing your time is to attack those things that steal your time – here we call these
time‐thieves. There are two types of time thieves you need to attack. The first, we call outside thieves:
unwanted or long telephone calls and visitors, unstructured meetings, interpersonal conflicts and idle
talk. The second type comes from inside: an inability to say no, indecisions, procrastination, guilt,
inability to prioritize or plan, and poor delegation skills. You have probably encountered both types.
Below are some basic ‘hints’ on how to attack time thieves.

 Thief 1: Inability to Say ‘No
 Prioritize your actions.

 Say ‘no’ if it is not important.
 Say ‘no’ if it is not your job.

 Begin by saying ‘no’ to small requests.
 Ask: ‘Could someone else do it?’

 Thief 2: Too Much Time on the Telephone
How much time do you spend on the telephone? How much time do you need to spend on the
telephone? Most of us spend more time than we need. Some of the main reasons for this are:

 Talking for too long.
 Engaging in unstructured conversations.

 Being unable to terminate conversations.
 Accepting all calls.

If you spend too much time on the telephone:
 Separate chat from important discussion.

 When calling, plan what you want to say.
 Learn to terminate a conversation.
 Have your calls screened.

 Turn your phone off!

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