Thieves of Time
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Dealing with the habits that steal your time and of peace of mind
When we look at how we manage our time, we normally focus on impersonal matters: prioritizing, organizing, various forms of distraction and loss of focus. These are all important, but can all be dealt with by training or some teachable techniques. There are also other thieves of time which are not so easy to deal with. These are personal behaviors which we use all too often without realizing how much harm they can do.
These behaviors waste time on a grand scale and they are notable stress producers. You can’t deal with them by techniques or skill training as they are too personal. The only way to deal with them is to bring them into the open and see them for what they are: bold thieves of time, attention, and — most destructive of all — peace of mind.
The causes of stress and disfunction
One major problem is caused by the habit of holding grudges. This habit digs around in what’s dead and gone and drags it out to corrupt the present. Actions are often taken with the express intention of paying off old scores. Projects may be derailed, much information withheld, much time and money wasted, just so that one person can take pleasure in seeing another’s plans fail or career harmed.
Another habit that consumes significant amounts of time and effort to no purpose is the habit of scoring petty points. Meetings are often riddled with this unpleasant activity, with hours wasted on reports, presentations, and sham questions whose sole purpose is to score against some imagined rival or competitor. They produce nothing of benefit. They waste time, increase stress, and make those people who are trying to do useful work, leave feeling angry and humiliated.
Then there’s the habit of jealousy: jealousy of another’s achievements, career progress, popularity, or even looks. If holding grudges is like some science-fiction corpse stalking the living, jealousy reminds us of vampire stories; of something that sucks the blood out of the living to sustain its own existence. Creative ideas get shelved, product improvements are reversed, customers deliberately lost, and false accusations raised with the whole purpose of feeding someone’s jealousy. A person who steals from an employer is labeled a thief. Someone who wastes resources through lack of ability will likely be fired for incompetence. But the jealous ones, who often destroy far more value and throw away resources on a larger scale to feed their obsession, too often get away with it.
Send such harmful thoughts and behaviors packing
Anyone who wants to cut their stress levels and increase their peace of mind should look into their minds and actions and remove all traces of these harmful habits. They are worthless, poisonous, and hateful. Treat them like the malignant diseases they are. Don’t tolerate them in yourself for another day, and do all that you can to discourage them in others.
You will find that a great deal of time will be saved. Costs will be lowered and the general atmosphere of your surroundings will be greatly improved.
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