Time-wasters.

Inopportune phone calls, unscheduled and unexpected visitors, online chatting, pointless websites browsing and meetings, all have one common denominator.

Right in the middle of finalising a written piece, the phone rings.
"Oh! I found you at last," the cracking voice at the other end of the apparatus exclaims.
"Well, who is it? What can I do for you?" a polite voice replies.

With an opening like that you can expect anything, except that the conversation will probably take the best part of half an hour, at least. Wave good-bye to the work in hand knowing too well that losing all train of sequence is a risk. Takes time to resume properly after an imposed pause.

During any one day, except perhaps during week-ends, phone calls that are qualified as time-wasters will stand in a pretty long list. Blessed are those who have the courage to switch off their mobiles, or stay outside the hearing zone of fixed lines, at least for some moments of relaxation. A star for fortitude goes to all those who have the audacity of aborting calls whose early warning symptoms diagnose a time-wasting exercise.

E-mails to the front-line and to the rescue. A tactful "kindly send all you have to say in an e-mail, please," is to-day's upgraded solution, provided it is followed by a silent "never mind, there wouldn't be enough time to react to e-mails, in fact, they are deleted without opening."

Perhaps the phone is the culprit mostly responsible for the loss of long periods of precious time. It is interactive with a second party taking the initiative. Control is not entirely in one's own hands. Knowing too well that time is money, and that the economy of it is a precious commodity, its fruitful management takes priority.

The items listed in the opening sentence fall more or less in this same category. They are unequivocably time-wasters.

Much time is wasted in transportation, even when at high speeds, though with wisely operated electronic gadgets, much work can be fitted in while travelling. But molecular transportation will defintely cut down to the barest minimum the time spent on travelling.

Keeping minutes and losing hours is an indication of meetings that deal with time-wasting as the item permeating in most other proposals featuring on the agenda. To get a job done through the debating process takes ages, sometimes. Going round in circles, beating round the bush and colourful verbosity fill prolific pages of minutes collections.

Would time spent in good company, or at dinner or in bed qualify as a time-waster?
Not if the company is pleasant.

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