The grey men in the office: Time thieves and how to expose them

To coincide with the cinema release of ‘Momo’ on 2 October, I had to think of the grey gentlemen: Those ghostly figures who steal people's time.

And honestly? In our day-to-day work, they actually exist: The time thieves. Perhaps not as creepy figures in gray suits, but as habits, disturbances and distractions that rob us of precious hours every day.

Just like the little momo who opposes the time thieves, we too can learn to protect our time. That's why I've put together the 7 most common time thieves in everyday office life for you and show you how to expose and drive them away step by step.

But before we go into the topic, here is the current movie trailer. Don't be put off by the release from 6 years, the film is really well done and quite something for adults.

The telephone terror: When every ring becomes an interruption

Do you know that? The phone rings, and as in the reflex you take off. Your concentrated work is interrupted, the conversation drags on, and after that you must laboriously find your way back into your task. This time thief is particularly insidious because he disguises himself as ‘important’.

So you drive him away:

Voice mailbox as a silent hour: Activate the mailbox if you need to work focused and switch the phone to silent! Otherwise, the ringing will annoy you anyway.
Telephone service in the team: Rotates in the circle of colleagues. One takes over all calls for a few hours, the others can work through undisturbed.
The telephone note form: Create a template with all the important points. This helps you to make structured and quick calls.
Get straight to the point: Avoid small talk traps such as ‘How was your holiday?’ Ask the same question: ‘What can I do for you?’

The ‘Hab-mal-short-time’ trap: Unannounced visitors as a time thief

‘Do I bother?’ + ‘Do you have a minute?’ These seemingly innocuous questions are the cover-up of one of the greatest time thieves ever. Because one minute quickly turns into ten, and after that it takes you three times as long to get back into your concentration.

Here's how you set boundaries:

Appointment instead of spontaneous visit: “I have 15 minutes this afternoon at 2:30 p.m. Does that suit you?” This is how you show that you take the issue seriously, but structure your time.
Communicate time limit: “I have to give a presentation at 10 a.m. Can we discuss this in 15 minutes?”
You go to your colleague: ‘I'll be ready in ten minutes and then I'll come to you.’ The advantage? It's easier to leave than to compliment someone in your office.
The open-door time blocks: As a leader: Combines the principle of the open door with fixed time slots (e.g. 10 am - 3 pm) and lets short deadlines be assigned. So you remain approachable, but plannable.

The meeting marathon: When meetings become a waste of time

Meetings are important. But be honest: How many of them are really productive? Studies show that about half of all meetings are perceived as a waste of time. It doesn't have to be!

How to make meetings efficient:

Less is more: Do you really need a meeting? Or is a short memo, an e-mail or a phone call enough?
Thorough preparation: Creates an agenda with times per point. Determines where discussions are allowed and where they are not. Distribute the agenda beforehand so that everyone can prepare.
Invite only the right people: Only invite people who really care about the topic.
Participants may be dismissed: Cuts the agenda to different participants. After "their" points, they can leave.
Start and end on time: Too late? Unlucky, then ask later. The end of the meeting is the end of the meeting – even if points are still open. They are on the next agenda. Everyone has planned their time accordingly, and you respect that.

The email avalanche: When the inbox never feels empty

Ping! A new email. Ping! Another one. The constant stream of news is like a modern grey gentleman stealing your time in tiny bites. Every interruption costs concentration and energy.

Here's how to stop the flood:

Turn off notifications: Turns off the automatic display of new emails completely. You decide when to look in – not your mailbox.
The three-times-daily rule: Open your email inbox only three times a day. Best at times when your concentration decreases anyway (e.g. before lunch break, after lunch, before work).
Bundling e-mails: Collect all the messages you want to send and send them in your three email time slots.

The communication chaos: When misunderstandings cost you valuable time

‘I thought you meant...’ + ‘I didn’t understand that...’ Misunderstandings are expensive. Not only because the original conversation takes time, but because you have to painstakingly correct the resulting mistakes later.

This is how you communicate clearly:

Define clearly: Short, crisp, concrete. What is your concern? What's going to happen? Until when?
Read body language: Be aware of nonverbal signals. Often the body language of your counterpart already shows that something has not arrived.
Request further questions: "All right?" is not enough. Ask to repeat briefly what has been discussed. This is not control, but quality assurance for both of you.

The desk mountain: When chaos eats your time

Stacked documents, slips of paper everywhere, three coffee cups from last week – and somewhere underneath that must be an important piece of paper... A chaotic desk is a time-eater par excellence. Every search costs valuable minutes.

This is how you create order:

Banning the Unnecessary: Everything you don't need every day belongs in drawers or shelves. The desk is your cockpit – only the bare necessities remain.
Set up clipboard: For documents that you don't need right now, but can't put down for good yet.
Developing a system: Find a storage system that suits you – and use it consistently. Digital or analog, the main thing is that it works for you.

Lack of information: If you always have to wait for data

Nothing is more frustrating than finding out in the middle of a task that you are missing important information. The work stops, you have to interrupt, hook up, wait...

This is how you keep your information flowing:

Outline tasks: Make a short plan before the project starts. What information do you need when?
Clarify responsibilities: Who gets what information? Set that in the team.
Set deadlines (with buffer): If you need information from others, set clear deadlines – but build in buffer times. If someone doesn't deliver, you still have time for a second request without panicking.

Your time is yours!

Just as Momo helps people reclaim their time, you too can learn to be more aware of your most precious resource. The gray men in your office life may not be as obvious as in Michael Ende's story, but they're just as real.

The trick is not to be perfect or fight all the time thieves at once. It's also called bullshit. So pick one or two that are particularly annoying to you and start there. Develop your personal strategy, try different solutions, adapt them to your situation.

Because in the end, it's not about working more, it's about having time for what really matters. At work and in life.