7月20日
Using Your Work Time Well
Do constant distractions or wasted time cut down on your productivity at work?
Workday Distractions
The average American worker admits to wasting 2.09hours per day at work, not counting lunch. While most human-resource managers expect the average employee to waste about an hour a day, the results of a recent Web survey were startling.
Of the 10,044 people who responded, 44.7 percent cited personal Internet use as the No. 1 time-waster at work.
“Part of the reason for this is that the Internet is so irresistible.” Says Bill Coleman, senior vice president at Salary.com. “It’s so easy to get distracted by personal e-mails or surfing. And the bottom line is that it looks like real work, it’s harder to get caught so it’s easier to rationalize.”
Why are you wasting time?
If you find yourself wasting a lot of time at work, ask yourself some questions:
1. Do you need more job responsibilities?
“There is an obligation on the part of the employee to tell his or her manager or boss that he or she has available time and needs more work to do,” says Coleman. “If you’re sitting at your desk planning your next vacation, then you’re not really doing your job as an employee because you’re looking like you’re working, but you’re not.”
2. Are you being watched?
“Employers definitely watch productivity and know who is doing the job and who isn’t,” says Coleman. If you value your job, get back in the game and make amends. Admit to your boss that you have been underperforming, and ask what you can do to be given more challenges.
3. Is it time to start looking for a new job?
Wasting time at work could be a signal of your unhappiness at your job. If you notice yourself increasingly wasting time, ask yourself how valuable that time is to you; perhaps it’s time to start putting your time and energy towards work you’ll enjoy, rather than suffering through work you do not.
Vocabulary Focus
Irresistible (adj) too attractive to refuse
Rationalize (v) to try to find reasons to explain one’s behavior
Obligation (n) something that one must do
Make amends (idiom) compensate sb (for an insult or injury given in the past)
Discussion Question
Would you quit your job when you find yourself wasting lots of time at work? Why or why not?
Extra Exercise
1. Translate the following sentence into Chinese, ‘perhaps it’s time to start putting your time and energy towards work you’ll enjoy, rather than suffering through work you do not.’
2. Did you find any conversation in today’s recording is difficult? Write down the starting time spot and ending time spot, I will do my best to answer it.
说明：
1.文本摘自《Advanced 彭蒙惠英语》，由chandler30亲自录入。
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3.参考答案在二楼，回复可见。
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