How Do You Use Your Weird Time?

David Allen, one of the world�s most influential thinkers on personal productivity and author of Getting Things Done: Mastering the Art of Stress-Free Productivity, claims that most people�s thinking just isn�t set up to take advantage of weird time. There are lots of opportunities during the day that people waste. According to Allen, weird time is when we get 15 minutes�and sometimes only 5 minutes�between meetings and phone calls.

What to do about it is to turn it into a game, asking: How efficient can I be? Sometimes the most appropriate thing to do with five free minutes is to water the plants, or make a quick phone call.

Learning to set boundaries is incredibly difficult for most people. First determine what�s the very next thing that you need to do. Until you decide on that, there�s a gap between where you are and where you need to be�a big black hole that can suck you in. That big black hole is unproductive, wasted time.

Once you know what you�re doing, productivity becomes your one true competitive edge. There�s an elegance to how you work and live; it�s not just about running faster, it�s about utilizing your time efficiently. You can do anything�but not everything. Just control your aspirations.