Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Do You Have One of Those Time-Waster Personalities

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Do You Have One of Those Time-Waster Personalities When I met Dana Brownlee, the founder of corporate training company Professionalism Matters, we got to talking about time wasting habits. It turns out that certain types of people are actually prone to ineffective time management. Being the productivity nut that I am,I naturally probed a bit deeper on this one and asked Brownlee to describe her four personality types, and how to stop struggling if you have one of them. The Fire Extinguisher This person has no real plan for their career or even the day ahead. All she can do is focus on the latest fire or the most recent request in front of them, with no organized system to manage all of her tasks. Brownlee says this time bomb approach explodes when something really important falls through the cracks. The Checklist Checker This personality is more focused on checking off items on his “to do list” than the real accomplishment of important items. Focusing too much on small tasks rather than the critical (and yes, daunting) ones is a dangerous approach because it gives the false illusion of achievement. The Manic Multi-Tasker This personality is convinced that one has to do 2-3 things at a time to be efficient. This person often can’t distinguish what can be multitasked versus what can’t. This can set her up for negative consequences (e.g. quality lapses, errors) that result from lack of attention and concentration. For more where this came from, check out the QuickBase Fast Track blog.