When someone doesn’t value your time

How to protect your most valuable resource

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is about how to handle situations when people
do not value your time. I was thinking about this
after receiving a note from a listener who was a

(00:24):
frequent volunteer. Some of the organizations she serves are well run,
others are less, so she described the frustration of showing
up at a board meeting at six thirty pm and
not achieving a quorum until seven. She noted that this
was especially galling since the group had originally planned to
meet at seven, but had changed the start time to

(00:46):
six thirty pm to accommodate people's requests. Then they started
late anyway, This is incredibly frustrating, but she wasn't sure
what to do. After all, she truly supports the organization's mission,
but having your time wasted like this is disrespectful. In
her case, this happened in a volunteer context. She mused

(01:08):
that she didn't think it would happen in a workplace.
But I've gotten enough notes about this topic to know
that getting paid doesn't necessarily solve the problem. A disorganized
supervisor might have people waiting around needlessly, but figure he's
paying for their time, so it's all good, But really
it isn't. Time is precious, and ultimately, when people feel

(01:33):
their time is not respected, they look for other opportunities,
or they stay but they don't perform at their best.
I'd also add that if a business is not respecting
customer time, the customers will go elsewhere, maybe not immediately,
but eventually, and they'll warn their friends too. There are

(01:55):
a few things you can do in situations where your
time might not be respected. I tried to be careful
about the volunteer opportunities I seek out and agree to.
In general, I look for ones where I know that
I will be able to spend time with people I
care about, So with my kids schools, I like to
do things where I know I'll be able to spend
time with my kids or my kids teachers. That way,

(02:18):
even if things don't necessarily happen efficiently, I know my
time is being well spent nurturing relationships. For projects where
this won't be an opportunity, I try to see if
there's a way I could donate instead. I'd also suggest
seeking out volunteer opportunities where you can actually be in charge.
In our listeners case, it sounds like the board she

(02:39):
served on had some serious issues, she could quit. This
is always an option. There are infinite problems in the
world and you cannot solve all of them, So even
if you do support an organization's mission, you might be
best off targeting your time differently. But our listener wouldn't
have to quit. Another option is that she could work

(03:00):
over the next year or so to become the president
of the board. Then she could rework policies and schedules
to introduce more accountability. If nothing else, she could bring
on more reliable people, and regardless of whether she was
in charge, she could solve the immediate problem by offering
to drive three volunteers to each meeting so there would

(03:20):
automatically be a quorum. As for a work situation, it
might help to track your time and have an honest
conversation with a supervisor about this. You could show the
downtime and ask for suggestions of what you could work
on during these windows. This isn't complaining, it's actually helpful,
no doubt. There are all kinds of work that does

(03:42):
need to get done, even if it's not your official
job description, or if you're high up enough in an
organization to know the finances, you might point out the
waste organizing time better might mean you wouldn't have to
hire new people. Most people do take bottom line arguments seriously.
If you're wasting a lot of time and meetings, take

(04:02):
it upon yourself to become the person pushing for an
agenda in all meetings. Offer to be the timekeeper. If
the person organizing the meeting seems unfamiliar with this concept,
you can point them to the vast literature online about
better meetings. In other situations, play offense to keep people
from wasting your time. I get particularly frustrated with healthcare

(04:26):
providers who don't view their patient's time as valuable. I
will definitely switch to other providers, and you should too,
But if that's not immediately an option, I'll ask for
the first appointment of the day or talk to the
scheduler about when the delays tend to be lowest. I
also bring something to do While waiting is annoying and frustrating,

(04:47):
It is less so with a good podcast or book
to fill the time. If you're waiting with kids, feel
free to make use of screens during this time. It
will give you a few minutes to relax. Even if
the city suation isn't ideal, being able to zone out
and take some deep breaths in the middle of the
day can feel pretty good. How do you keep people

(05:09):
from wasting your time? You can let me know at
Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com. In
the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd

(05:30):
love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's b E
the number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can
also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at
iHeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out

(05:53):
with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward
to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,
visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
you listen to your favorite shows.