“A small handful of people are really off the charts,” says Chantrelle Nielsen, head of customer solutions at VoloMetrix. In studying more than 25 companies, ["people analytics" company] VoloMetrix has found executives who consume more than 400 hours a week of colleagues’ time, “the equivalent of 10 people working full-time every week just to read one manager’s email and attend his or her meetings,” she says.Time drainers:
Common time-wasting habits include copying too many people into emails and overuse of “reply all.” Inviting too many people to meetings is another common mistake, says Michael Mankins, lead author of the study and a Bain partner based in San Francisco. He suggests following the “rule of seven” people at a meeting: Every attendee added to that number reduces the likelihood of making sound decisions by 10%.I laugh at colleagues who "reply all" when they decline meetings and disclose too much personal information about their reasons (a sorry, can't make it is sufficient). But the joke's really on me when I sometimes join a new humorous thread based on those responses.
Throughout most of human history food, information, and entertainment were in short supply. Now that all three are plentiful for the middle class, it requires enormous discipline to keep one's bearings throughout the day.
[Related note - Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams on the same disciplinary theme: Can Your Phone Make You Fat?
I don't know about you, but my biggest drain on willpower during any given day is my iPhone 6. It calls to me continuously during the day. Often I need to be focusing on something more important, or it would be socially impolite to check my text messages, or I am driving and it would be dangerous. These situations come up all day long. It's mentally exhausting. The conversation in my head goes like this: "Look at phone. DON'T LOOK AT PHONE! Look at phone. DON'T LOOK AT PHONE!" And so on to infinity.]
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