What a waste of Productive time!!

On a long journey back, my friend exclaimed “What a waste of so many people’s Productive time!!“
He was right – the journey distance was short, but the journey time was Long!
You are right – We were in a traffic jam!! It added no value, we could not control it nor (at that point) could do anything about it!

And this is not the only time, when I reflected on this comment…
On a visit to a Leading Doctor…
This Dr. comes in at particular time and does consultation for a fixed hours. It is on a first come first see basis with fixed no. of patients /day (irrespective of the No. of patients – he too has a family, right!!)
This Dr. had a reputation of cure, so obviously lots of people came to see him…
Only thing, since there were no (prior) appointments & it is on a first come, first see basis, people came in about 3-4 hours before the Dr. comes and wait for him – they had to get cured and he always cures!!!
On one occasion, the Dr. did not come – people waited patiently..and then left murmuring…
what a waste of peoples productive time!!
On another occasion, he came in late…you could see the people’s relief / exultation after seeing the Dr. come in!! it was as though...a miracle had happened!
Dr. are God in so many ways…they bring people to the world, help them get cured, pro-long their life in the world….but with due respects to this great profession, they can definitely be a little more professional in dealing with people…!!
This Dr. is an extreme exception and I know most Dr. are much better off on appointments

Another occasion…is on travel
You can’t go to the Railway station or to an airport a few minutes before the train starts/take off..there are procedures, security stuff (in our best interests). Neither can you say, that the train was delayed the previous 2 times, so why did it start on time, this time..
The waiting time is almost mandatory and you can just take an attitude of…..
What a waste of people's Productive time!!

Well..I am sure you would have your own many stuff of waiting time…ration shops, railway ticketing stations, etc., but can we do anything at all about this!!
Hmm…let us see..
 Some things can be planned for – e.g. you need to be at the airport 2~3 hours early, or know that the Dr. has a long queue to wait normally,
you can
o Take that book that you had long wanted to read
o Catch up with friends – phone calls, mails, etc.
o Personal time with your spouse!
o Finish the brain teaser or a Sudoku(not again) …! :-)
o Do some peaceful planning – finance, house, office
o if you are alone, it is your Personal time!
o Go to the spa…and relax
o Do meditation, Breathing, walking around…cost less exercise!
o Window Shopping - No cost, good exercise!
o Buy/ Read magazines…gain knowledge, etc.

 For our traffic jams/ long road time cases,
We can do deep breathing exercises, catch up with friends/ family (without getting distracted off the road!), but obviously you can’t do most of the other stuff…can we do anything!

Hmmm…we can still travel at non-traffic times if we can plan or if it is flexible!!
I still remember an incident in my early days at office…(no offence to anyone). one employee kept coming late to office regularly…the manager asked him, why he was late often!!..
the answer was, I am getting struck in the railway gate (good ol days of not so many flyovers in Singara Chennai).…the simple solution to this was the employee was asked to start earlier or later, so that he need not get struck at the gate…!!

Sounds simple now….but many times, if we sit back and reflect on where exactly we are spending (/ wasting) our productive time, could get us some handsome savings!!

Also, Whilst we are busy in the important day-to-day things of life, reflect to see if people are waiting for us to give them decisions to move forward. While it might be a small matter for us, You could be the Doctor who gives them the decisions/direction on time and ensure that they do a quality job on time. (Or vice versa, making your team sit late because they were waiting & waiting and then once they got the direction they have to stretch and complete it, because you had other priorities!!!)

Just as I was finalizing this blog, read a related article of Bill Ford’s vision on Cars / environment – amazing how it connects into the future – frightening reality!!
http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_ford_a_future_beyond_traffic_gridlock.html