How to Use Delaying Tactics to Save Time

It seems counter-intuitive, does it not, that you can save time by stalling or delaying. Nonetheless, this is a pretty clever way to manage your time and get things done more quickly than most people expect. So let’s take a look at the how and why of using delaying tactics to improve your time management skills.

Change Plans When Unexpected Delays Happen

Whether you are driving down the road on a shopping trip or trying to complete a project that has just lost one of its key dependencies, you can save time and accomplish something by immediately changing priorities. For example, if you have a secondary task that you have put on a backburner because it was not as important as the task at hand, but you cannot complete this most important task, then switching immediately to take care of the less important task will get your mind off the problem that you cannot resolve through your own efforts and help you stay focused on being productive.

Once the people depending on you see the benefit of your change in plans they will be more likely to support your drastic decision, especially since waiting often is all that is required to get through a critical delay in completing tasks with many dependencies. Whether you are expecting a shipment, traveling to a meeting, or otherwise engaged in a time-controlled situation you still have the option of choosing what you will do with your free time.

Start the Self-managed Parts of a Project First

When you’re cleaning house, do you start the laundry and dishes before vacuuming the rugs and mopping the floors or do you do the floors and rugs first? This is a critical decision because once you push the START button on an automated cleaning process you no longer need to be directly involved in that task until it is finished.

Doing the laundry falls into four or five steps:

1. Gathering the dirty clothes
2. Sorting the dirty clothes into loads
3. Starting each load in the washer
4. Transferring each load to the dryer and starting that machine
5. Folding and hanging dried clothes
6. Putting the cleaned clothes away

Experienced housekeepers know to start the long self-managed processes first.

In the business environment you can save time exactly the same way. Delegate all your disposable tasks first so that everyone is productive and you know that work will be done on time. Then start working on the tasks that you are directly responsible for completing yourself.

If you’re preparing a meal and you have to bake one item in the oven for an hour you want to start working on that item first before you begin preparing the rest of your meal.

If you are pumping gas and need to check the air in your tires, start the gas pump first and then check the air. You may be more concerned about your tires’ inflation than you are about how much fuel you have, but start pumping the gas first so that you get that part of your stop at the gas station out of the way.

Although this seems like a simple, intuitive way to do things, many people fall into the trap of doing one task after another, which often leads to an inefficient use of their time.

Walk Away from the Crowd

If you need to pay for something and there is a long line ahead of you, walk away from the crowd and find something else to do. For example, if you went to the store for just one thing and are deterred by a crowd at the cash registers, you can still make productive use of your time by buying a few extra things you know you’ll have to buy later. Taking the time to browse the store allows the crowd to thin out and you don’t have to stand in line waiting for a cashier.

If you are at an event where a lot of free stuff is being handed out, but you see a crowd at the freebie table, stand away from the crowd and study the schedule and maps for the event while everyone else is fighting for their swag. As long as you get your own swag you’ll have used your time efficiently.

Delaying Tactics Are Less Important Tasks, So Make Them Helpful

Doing something less vital than the task at hand is a delaying tactic. We often unconsciously turn to delaying tactics to avoid or reduce stress. By teaching yourself to choose when and which delaying tactics you employ you will make better use of your time and you’ll feel less overwhelmed by circumstances, which makes it easier for you to get back to the most important task when everything is ready for you to continue.