How to Save 12 Weeks Per Year

Time is a closed system: it can neither be created nor destroyed.

Paradoxically, it can be wasted, saved or burned.

It can also be stolen. Co-workers, meetings, managers, friends, enemies, past-times, family members and unforeseen events have ways of stealing time from our schedules.

But we can steal time back to compensate for the time stolen from us. The trick is not to steal other people's time, but rather our own. And you can steal back 12 weeks per year without affecting the quality of your life at all. That's right - more than 12 weeks! But where can we steal this time from to make us more productive without adversely affecting our lives?

TV. Statistics vary widely on how much television the average American watches per day. All of the stats, however, point to the same fact: we waste a whole lot of time in front of the glowing idiot box. Steal some of this time back. TiVo or tape your programs if you really MUST watch them. Or wait until they're re-runs. Barring either of these solutions, leave the room during commercials and use those snippets of time to accomplish something.

Time savings: There are roughly 20 minutes of commercials for every hour of programming. Figuring one hour of TV each night, that's 140 minutes per week (more than two hours!), which works out to a bit more than 121 hours of commercials per year! That's just over three weeks of work you can steal back!

Commuting. If you use public transportation, use that time productively. Review your company research. Read a trade magazine. Take the time to get ahead of your work. Even if your subway or bus commute is only 15 minutes, that puts you 15 minutes ahead of the pack at the start of the day and 15 minutes further ahead at the end.

Time savings: If you commute 15 minutes one way, that's 30 minutes round trip. Given you work five days per week, that's 150 minutes - 2 ½ hours per week! Doing so for 50 weeks (hey - you have to take vacation!) equals 125 hours per year! That's another three weeks of work you've stolen back!

Exercise. If you workout, you know the health benefits. But it can also help your career. Let's say, for instance, that you workout for an hour per day, five days per week. And, for the sake of argument, let's also say that you listen to music while you exercise. You could substitute a book on tape. Or, if you're on a treadmill, stair climber or stationary bike, you could read up on your target companies or read the latest memos from work. Some have even made business calls while working out!

Time savings: If you work out one hour per day, five days per week, you will steal back 260 hours of productivity over the course of one year. That's 6 ½ weeks!

IN A NUTSHELL: You can steal back more than 12 weeks of productivity every year without affecting your quality of life.