Do you control “nibblers” or do “nibblers” nab you?  

Nibblers are distractions that sabotage your plans, gnaw at your ability to concentrate, and steal hours every day. There are “internal” nibblers, personal dispositions or behavior tendencies such as perfectionism and procrastination, which prevent you from completing your plans. There are also “external” nibblers, interruptions like meetings, calls, e-mails or drop-by visits that can easily derail your day.

Take a close look at these common nibblers. Which ones most frequently derail your best-laid plans?

Nibbler 1: Perfectionism         

The inability to objectively evaluate the quality of a project or task, or to know when to stop tinkering because it is isn’t “good enough.” Perfectionists tend to evaluate everything they do in one of two grades: It’s either perfect, or a complete disaster—there is no in between.            

Nibbler 2: Procrastination      

To avoid doing a task out of anxiety, rather than time constraints or logic. Procrastination often involves unfocused wandering and puttering around on trivial tasks, rather than activities related to big-picture goals.             

Nibbler 3: Interruptions          

Sudden requests or demands from other people that you hadn’t planned on dealing with at that moment. Dealing with interruptions is a delicate balance. When you live or work with other people, you want to be supportive; but if    you take every single interruption, you’ll pay a high price in your own productivity and plans.       

Nibbler 4: Meetings

Meeting overload is one of the most common complaints among my clients —many lament spending half their week in meetings that are mostly a waste of time. Whether you’re the leader or a participant, there’s little more aggravating than meetings that start late, go on forever, and fail to resolve a single thing.

Well-run, useful meetings provide enormous value—they can solve problems, generate ideas, save you time, clarify direction, tighten work bonds, build teamwork, and reignite passion for your individual projects. Because this is an arena in which you are so much at the mercy of other people’s work habits (or lack thereof), knowing how to get the most out of meetings—without them getting the most of you—is a fine skill.



Overcome the Nibblers         

Regardless of which of the nibblers you fall prey to, the main objective is to prevent them from stealing more than their fair share of your precious time. The first step to keeping time drains in check is to simply become aware of them! Then, when you see yourself slipping into a less productive mode, stop dead in your tracks and ask yourself these questions: Why am I doing this? What is the gain? What is the risk? The more you recognize your saboteurs, the less likely you are to let them take control of your day.

No matter how disciplined or focused you are, you will encounter nibblers to one degree or another. It’s unrealistic to think you could avoid them altogether; what counts is how you deal with them in the moment.

What are your nibblers?  Which nibblers would you want me to blog some more about?  What techniques have you tried that haven’t worked? And which have worked for you?