Chronophages: What They Are and How to Deal with Them

Plans are made, the work laptop is open, documents are loading... Then, somehow, a phone ends up in your hands: one short video, two short videos, three short videos, and suddenly it's lunchtime, and the report is still not submitted (or even started).

What happened? Time eaters have intervened. Now we'll explain how to recognize these enemies and manage them—and, in general, why we lose productivity and how to tackle it.

What Are Chronophages?

This is how time wasters are referred to in time management terminology. We fight them (or at least try to), but not always successfully.

Here’s how it happens:

Let’s identify the main types of time eaters.

Types of Chronophages

Animated and Inanimate

Chronophages can be either animated (living) or inanimate (non-living), with the former being people who distract you and the latter being objects or phenomena that steal your time.

Animated Chronophages

Inanimate Chronophages

Chats with friends — of course, with memes and funny cats — are a typical time eater

Controllable and Uncontrollable Chronophages

These are the time eaters that you can anticipate and catch in the act, and those that are beyond your control.

Controllable Chronophages are the ones you can predict:

Uncontrollable Chronophages are more challenging—they're things that don't depend on us, are hard to predict, and strike unexpectedly:

Causes of Chronophages

When tasks and plans are poorly organized, it leads to one task piling on top of another ➡️ missed deadlines ➡️ derailed plans ➡️ aaaah! No results, but plenty of time wasted here and there.

These are the things that provoke procrastination. The urge to scroll through social media or laugh at reels. Sometimes it’s laziness, sometimes a lack of motivation, or sometimes freezing in front of a big task or a long to-do list.

Or total perfectionism. For example, instead of filling your presentation with substance and important details, you spend time choosing fonts and making it look perfect.

The desire to be a responsible employee is admirable, but as they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Taking on too many tasks can cause you to miss important ones due to a lack of time. As a result, you end up doing a bunch of minor tasks that don't bring significant results, leading to a sense of wasted time.

A lack of clear understanding of why you're doing what you're doing. When there’s no goal, you make many unnecessary moves, get bogged down in minor tasks, and quietly lose time.

Fatigue tends to accumulate, causing you to lose focus and get stuck on the simplest tasks. The brain goes into "energy-saving mode" to rest, and the time spent thinking about anything increases.

We've already listed possible force majeure events, and you’ve likely encountered them often.

The Impact of Chronophages on Productivity

Chronophages are enemies of productivity that hinder progress toward your goals. The more time you spend on them, the less time you have for truly important tasks.

Let’s look at a couple of examples of how chronophages negatively impact goal achievement.

Ethan

Designer Ethan scrolled through his feed until the app said, "That's all for now," but never got around to finishing the presentation due the next day. This earned him the unofficial title of "worst employee," as he had to work on the presentation all night and give it half-asleep the next morning. His colleagues noticed that something clearly went wrong for Ethan, so the next time, they entrusted the presentation to someone else.

Emma

Like Scarlett O'Hara, copywriter Emma lived by the famous phrase, "I'll think about it tomorrow." In her personal life, the consequences of this mantra were less noticeable. But when Emma kept postponing her article "until tomorrow" until the final deadline passed, it turned out her boss wasn’t a fan of classic literature—or irresponsible employees.

Combating Chronophages in Time Management

To identify and tackle chronophages, you need to:

Here are specific techniques for combating chronophages.

Time Logging

Time logging involves recording all tasks you perform throughout the day, along with the time spent on each.

How to do it:

The results might surprise you. It may turn out that you don't need to stay late at work every day—simply cutting out a couple of unnecessary smoke breaks with colleagues could be enough.

Time Audit

A disciplined time audit involves tracking your activities over several consecutive days.

How to conduct it:

Work Visualization

This method is described in Dominica DeGrandis' book "Making Work Visible." The author recommends using Kanban boards to identify the following time wasters:

By default, tasks should be organized into three basic columns: To Do, In Progress, Done. Then, customize the board to fit your own workflow and processes. Next, review and analyze the resulting columns.

Analyzing Questionable Tasks

Divide a sheet of paper into four columns:

Planning

Here are several planning methods:

Divide tasks into three categories: for example, morning, afternoon, and evening. This way, they are tied to specific times, reducing the temptation to procrastinate.

For instance, allocate an hour in the morning for writing a book and stick to that activity. Or reserve an hour in the evening for studying and follow the schedule diligently.

Also known as priority-based planning. Distribute tasks by importance: tackle the most critical and urgent ones first while you have the most energy, then move on to minor tasks and enjoy a well-deserved break.

Task Combination

This involves filling free time with productive activities. For example, while waiting in line at the doctor's office, you could check your email, read expert blogs, or write to your loved ones.

Another option is to listen to a lecture or a useful podcast while walking your dog or exercising. Experiment to see which tasks can be combined without compromising the quality of results.

Building Discipline

Set deadlines for your tasks—and stick to them. Create a schedule—and follow it. Turn off social media and resist getting lost on YouTube. In short, it’s all in your hands and your willpower.

Time Management Tips from WEEEK

The Story of Bill Gates and His Chronophages

Chronophages can cause both work and personal tasks to be delayed, eventually piling up into a mess that might blow up one day.

Take Bill Gates, for example. In interviews and Reddit discussions, he admitted, "No one praised me because I did everything at the last minute." At one point, his laziness even affected his academic performance: "I didn’t watch those lectures (on organic chemistry) and ended up with a failing grade," Gates shared.

When he entered the business world, Gates realized that entrepreneurs value meeting deadlines and promptness, and procrastination is not looked upon favorably.

Bill Gates

Entrepreneur, founder of Microsoft

I'm still working on it, but procrastination is not the best habit.

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