We like to defend our time.

And we get bothered when other people steal our time.

But, there are two sides to every situation.

Have you considered how you may be wasting others’ time?

Wasting Other People’s Time

You don’t like it when people waste your time.

However, sometimes you are probably just as guilty of wasting theirs.

If you want people to respect your time, then treat theirs as if it were your own.

It comes down to mutual respect.

Not wasting other people’s time means treating their time as you would expect yours be treated.

Do you respect others’ time?

Or are you guilty of some of these…?

Here are 10 Ways That You Are Wasting Other People’s Time:

1. Calling When It Should Be an Email – The modern cellphone is a technology marvel. Yet, being reachable anywhere and anytime has its limits. Ringing someone’s phone is interrupting them. Don’t ring that bell unless it is that important. Instead, consider an email or other form of communication that can be addressed at the appropriate time. 
2. Interrupting – Where else are you interrupting? If someone is working with their door shut or with headphones on, it probably isn’t the right time to interrupt their productivity.
3. Not Respecting Time Boundaries – I recently had a colleague text me at 4:22AM. That same day he called me at 10:42PM. I am not sure what he had going on that day, but those two times were outside of my “time boundaries.”
4. Not Doing What You Say – Broken promises affect not just your productivity but those counting on you to deliver. Bosses can destroy the productivity of entire teams by their lack of follow-through.
5. Spamming Them – Don’t abuse others with your email. If you are spamming others instead of doing work, then you are part of the problem. (Start here and here.)
6. Not Answering Messages - If you don’t respond to others you may be the communication bottleneck in the system. I know some leaders who are excellent in person, but they fail to answer any of their email or other messages.
7. Creating Fire Drills – Do you create last-minute urgencies due to your disorganization? It isn’t fair when your lack of action creates fire drills for others. Of course, if you are the one that constantly creates the fire drill, people eventually stop listening.
8. Knocking Twice – If you have sent someone an email, you don’t need to call them to see if they got it. Or if you have called one of their phones, you don’t need to ring all the others. They are probably busy. Resist the urge to “knock twice.“
9. Not Being Prepared for Meetings- Do you show up to meetings unprepared? If you are not ready to discuss the issue at hand, then the session turns into a social gathering or a joint reading session.
10. Being Late – Nothing disrespecting another person’s time like being late. At a recent, business launch, the leader was 1.5 hours late. The entire launch team sat around for 90 minutes waiting on the boss.

Respecting Other People’s Time

Be protective of your time while also respecting that of others.

Treat other people’s time as you want yours treated.

And of course, ask that they do they same for your time.

Question: Where are you guilty of wasting others’ time?