Time Management - Marc Mancini

Plugging Time Leaks 127
phone while driving was about as dangerous as driving drunk.)
The important thing: commuting shouldn’t become an
opportunity for workaholism. If you want to work on your laptop
computer during a flight or on a train, do it. If you don’t feel so
inclined, there’s no reason to feel guilty. (And if you try to do it
while driving, you should definitely feel guilty!)
In a broader sense, the strategy for tackling potential time
leaks, like commuting and air travel, is multitasking. Multitasking
is carrying on two activities more or less simultaneously. One is
inherently a “no-brainer,” while the other is more lively, engaging,
or productive. Examples:
• Eating while watching an instructional video.
• Bringing a magazine to read at the doctor’s office. (Hint:
make your appointment the first in the morning, when it’s
less likely that you’ll have to wait.)
• Listening to a motivational tape while commuting to work.
• Filling out a form while waiting in line at the bank.
• Downloading a computer virus protection program update
while talking on the phone.
One wonderful benefit to multitasking—it not only doubles
your productivity, but also defuses boredom, anxiety, or frustration.
The example of waiting in a doctor’s office is a fine illustration.
Normally, the wait seems endless. But it would certainly
seem shorter when you’re doing something else. In fact, you
may be bothered that your reading is being interrupted.
A classic bit of useful multitasking: the portable to-do file.
Many people create a folder of easy and brief tasks to complete:
short readings, forms to fill out, and so on. They bring this file
everywhere and work on it whenever they’ve got to wait.
Time Leak #5: Reading Time
It’s sad when we think of reading as unproductive. Yet the executives
in our poll rated it rather high among time wasters.
Reading is an essential wellspring of useful information. And