To be productive at home, things need to go smoothly. Your time is precious, and you need to be down to business to get your work done. Things get in the way: clients put you on hold, or there are distractions at home. But maybe the most frustrating is one due to something that should work right, but just never quite seems to: your computer.
Hourglass syndrome is a serious culprit. Dubbed during an Intel campaign, it is the frustration and stress that comes from time spent waiting for a program to load (usually with an hourglass smirking at you to show time is being wasted). People are working faster than some computers can, and this lag in time is costing workers their productivity. An astonishing amount of productivity, actually: it is estimated that workers lose 3 days every year due to waiting for computers to catch up.
It is easy to get stressed out and even angry when you know your time is being wasted, and that there is nothing you can do about it. In extreme cases, some people become violent due to hourglass syndrome, such as taking out their aggression on their computer.
Don’t let your time be wasted, and don’t make costly mistakes toward technology by not letting hourglass syndrome get the best of you. Lag time does not have to be unproductive time. While downloading something or waiting for a program to load, there are plenty of quick but essential tasks you can start or even complete while your computer takes forever to do whatever it is you want it to do.
Take the time to get organized. Make reminder notes for yourself for tasks you need to accomplish in the near future. Organize your day by jotting down a to-do list. Make the home office a better place to work by cleaning up, filing, and organizing. If you’ve been sedentary for a while, get up and stretch. Do some push-ups, crunches, or jumping jacks to get the blood flowing and help take care of your body.
Lag time does not have to be wasted time. Just as sluggish technology time adds up, so will the quick tasks you can do during that time. It will help you save time later, keep you more productive, and hopefully keep you from destroying your computer out of hourglass syndrome-induced rage.