8 Ways to Spend Your Idle Time Productively

No matter what business you are in, you need some idle time away from the business from time to time. This is the time you can use productively doing some other highly beneficial things different from what you normally do in your business. Only highly productive people see time as a very valuable asset. Even though highly limiting, with just 24 hours per day available to us all, it pays to strive to make every single second count. Regardless of your workload, you are sure to have a few idle time gaps here and there. It is smart to choose to spend your idle time wisely and make every second count. Here 8 ways you can spend your idle time if you opt to make it productive.



01. You can spend it in reflective thoughts. This is a way of recalling things in your thought process. You can think back on your life, your business or any project at hand you are handling. That way, it is possible for you to come up with creative ideas to make progress. That is one good way to use your idle time productively.

02. You can listen to subtle music and audio books. Subtle kind of music always provides the inspirational effects for you to think and recall positively. This kind of music you can always get in portable Compact Discs. Good audio books are like having someone read a book for you, at your convenience. Listening to audio books is very relaxing and the message easy to assimilate. You get to soak in information without straining your eyes when listening to audio books. Acquiring new knowledge has become easier with increase in technology which audio books represent. With audio books, you can listen and learn while traveling, exercising, strolling in the woods, hiking or relaxing on the beach.

03. You can set new goals. To be successful at anything, you must first set clear goals of what you want to do. People who write down their goals are far more likely to do them than those who simply think about a goal, or those who have no goal at all. Setting goals helps save you a lot of time in the future. If you use your spare time to clearly record your daily and long-term goals, it will cut other distractions and give you an objective to focus on. Hence, time that would be otherwise spent on mindless diversions is productively used.

04. You can exercise. A sound mind in a sound body is what everyone needs for success in business. No matter how busy you are, you need to exercise if you want to live long enough to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Beneficial routine exercise is what your body needs to help you out in your business. Using your idle time to exercise is one good way to use it productively.

05. You can learn a new language. Advancement in technology has made it quite simple to learn a new language. With Compact Discs, downloads, and podcasts you can begin your journey to becoming bilingual or multilingual. These are skills which come in very handy if you do business across many countries of the world. If you are an employee, knowledge of other languages makes you more marketable. Gone are the days when it was necessary to sit in a classroom to learn foreign languages. These days, you do it easily with the aid of technology in your idle time.

06. You can learn to play a musical instrument. This is one way to acquire other skills in your idle time. Mastering a musical instrument is one great way to improve on your self-confidence and productivity. The better you are at it, the more confident you become and it is all something you can always do in your idle time.

07. You can touch base with friends and family. Many business people are at times so busy that they may find it difficult to spend quality time with friends and family. Earmarking your idle time to spend with your friends and family is one productive way to spend it. Even if you are unable to see them physically, you can touch base with them over the phone, email, Whats-app, Skype or even in a handwritten note or card. That in a way can help bridge the gap or make up for lack of your physical presence.



08 You can give a social/community service. In your idle time, you can always find a way to give something back to society. Real happiness comes from serving others by helping to put a smile on their faces. So, instead of sleeping away your idle time or watching TV, you can help teach someone how to read or write, play a musical instrument, acquire some sporting skills, or even help some elderly persons run errands and do some chores. These activities are not overly demanding of your time but they are highly rewarding and a great way to spend your idle time productively.

Can Time Really Be Managed?

With 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in day and 365 days in a year all fixed, what is there to manage? No one can add even one second to the 60 seconds in a minute. You cannot add one hour to the 24 hours in a day. The best you can do therefore is to manage yourself and your activities within the available time. This is where work efficiency is very important. How much work can you cram into the available hours and still remain effective and efficient? The answer to this question determines how smart you can work. To do it successfully, you need to know something about the “Pareto Principle” now loosely referred to as “Pareto Law.” I was introduced to Pareto principle myself while in graduate school in 1993. It fascinated me then and it still fascinates me till today. You will soon get to know why. I have since discovered that apart from its use for time management, it also has general applications to almost all forms of human enterprise. It is also called “Rule 20/80.” Basically, the rule indicates that “20% of the goals you achieve account for 80% of your effectiveness.” It is a general rule and a reliable guide. It may not be accurate to the dot as you have in mathematics but it is a good guide. The following examples will make this rule clearer to you.

Time: 20% of your time produces 80% of the results.
Workers: 20% of your workers do 80% of the work.
Football: 20% of the players produce 80% of the result.
Products: 20% of company products bring in 80% of its profits.
Customers: 20% of your customers buy 80% of your products.
Family: 20% of your family members consume 80% of your resources.
Telephone: 20% of your callers make 80% of your calls.
Banking: 20% of bank customers own 80% of the deposits.
Shareholding: 20% of shareholders own 80% of the shares.
Donations: 20% of donors donate 80% of the fund.



From the foregoing it is easy to discern that the Pareto rule has general application. It is a very useful tool for managing time. It is the rule that can be of help to you when prioritizing your daily activities. It helps you to draw up your “to-do” list on daily basis. It guides you to locate your benefit centers to enable you deploy your available time as appropriate. You must therefore spend more of your time pursuing your most important goals. This is because as proven by the Pareto rule, 20% of your goals will account for 80% of your effectiveness. This enables you to reduce time wastage to the barest minimum.

To draw up your “to-do” list everyday you need to ask yourself and find answers to the following questions.
What volume of work is available?
What is urgent?
What is priority?
Which job is to be done at what time and in which location?
Who will do what?
Which activities should I be spending more time on?
Which should take less of my time?
Which activities can be deferred to another day?
What techniques can I adopt to save time?

The answers to these questions will help you to plan your day and to function well. With adequate daily planning, you can always get more done within your working hours. With proper planning, even though you cannot buy yourself additional second in any single day, you will “gain” more hours of useful work.

You Must Work Smarter not Harder

Many times I have heard people advocate hard work alone as the antidote to poverty. I must admit that I am a victim of this notion myself. I have found out that working hard is good but working hard and smart is better. Truck-pushers and “okada” riders are hard working people but most are always struggling to make ends meet. The reason for this may not be too far from the fact that many of them are not smart workers. They are simply hard workers, not talented workers. Talent is in the brain and the price for talent is limitless. Hard-work is more with your muscles while smart-work is with your brain. There is no power on earth that can match the power of the human brain. If you use your brain more than your muscles, you stand a very good chance of succeeding faster in any venture. Muscles may provide daily wages but talent will provide permanent and secure employment. This is the advantage of working smart.



I have always made it a point to state clearly in some of my seminars that “the Muscles will always work hardest while the Brains will always take the credit.” In the history of human existence, brawn has never been superior to brain in their struggle for supremacy. Brain has always managed to come out tops. Remember George Orwell’s extremely famous satire “Animal Farm”? Boxer the horse had all the muscles but no brains. Napoleon the pig had brains but no muscles. Boxer did the work and Napoleon and his fellow pigs took the credit. Towards the end, the pigs even conspired to sell Boxer away to be slaughtered when he became too old and feeble to work. What a cruel fate to befall a dedicated, hardworking and loyal worker.

Today’s business world still operates like “Animal Farm.” You’ve got to be smart to survive. Compare Boxer’s fate to the fate of today’s retrenched and retired workers who are not paid their entitlements. Have you found any difference in their fate? Have you recently read about or heard of “Down-sizing”, “Right-sizing” or just plain “Retrenchment?” No doubt you know what “forced” retirement or “premature” retirement is all about. If you do, take your mind back to “Animal Farm.” What is happening to those prematurely sent out of work is similar to what the pigs did to Boxer the horse. If Boxer had deployed half the energy he deployed working in “Animal Farm” to his own work, his fate would have been different from what he suffered in the hands of the pigs. It is a pity Boxer was not smart enough just as many of today’s “workers” and unemployed people are not smart enough.


 

5 Business Survival Skills

Going into business is not only fun these days, it is highly rewarding in very many respects. To survive out there, everyone needs skills, real practical skills. One of the most important skills you need to survive in today's business world is the ability to learn and to learn very quickly. Once you are able to do that, it becomes easier for you to learn and to quickly grasp all other survival skills. The act of learning is every bit as important as what you learn. Believing that you can improve yourself and do things in the future that are beyond your current possibilities is exciting and fulfilling. Among the many skills you need, these here 5 skills are some of the most essential skills which can deliver the biggest payoff for your efforts at surviving in today's business world.
 

01. Ability to take initiative. Initiative is the ability to take action without prompting. If you acquire the skill, it will take you far in business and in life. Anyone can always take initiative if they find ways to get over other things which usually get in the way. Knowing what to do and getting it done in spite of obstacles, requires initiative. In the business world, it is inevitable that you have to take risks and push yourself out of your comfort zone, until taking initiative becomes second nature to you. That is one great way to survive out there.

02. Time management skills. Management experts have determined that one of the biggest things that get in the way of effective time management is the "tyranny of the urgent." This is simply the tendency of little things that need doing now to get in the way of what really matters. If because of the supposed urgency of these little things you neglect other important matters, you end up spending more time doing things which will not help you to get the real work done. Learning to manage your time effectively is one essential skill you need to free up more time for you to perform optimally.

03. Emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is your ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others and your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships. It is a skill you can learn. Doing business is all about managing behaviors and relationships. Even though it may seem intangible, emotional intelligence is that something we all need to manage behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions that make positive results. In every field of human endeavor particularly in business, emotional intelligence is the critical reason that sets star performers apart from the rest of the pack. It distinguishes between genius and mediocrity, between high achievers and non performers.

04. Ability to stay positive. I am the first to admit that it is hard to find the zeal to focus on the positive when positivism seems like nothing more than wishful thinking. Emotionally, the real obstacle to positivism is that our brains are hard-wired to look for and focus on threats for the sake of our survival as human beings. This survival mechanism serves us well when it is a matter of life and death. But, in today's world, this mechanism breeds pessimism and negativity through the mind's tendency to wander until it finds a real threat. It is really a mind thing and the mind is subject to everyone's control. What you think about and focus on is thus subject to your own control. When you think positive, you stay positive. Thus, maintaining positivism is a daily challenge that requires real focus and attention. It pays to find ways to stay positive by deliberate efforts thereby preventing your brain from wandering off to fears and threats which it is naturally wired to look out for.

05. Listening skills. I once heard that the reason we have two ears and one mouth is because we are naturally expected to listen twice as much as we talk. Sure, it can feel so good to unload on somebody and let them know what you really think, but that good feeling is temporary because when you are at it, you can hardly know what the other person is saying. True listening is one effective way to focus solely on what the other person is saying and to think about a clear response strategy. It is about understanding, not rebuttal or comments. Learning how to delay judgment and focus on understanding the other person's response is one of the most important skills you can develop. In plain words, if you are not skillful enough to decipher valuable information from the other person's tone of voice, body language, and what isn't said, you could get left out of the game easily.