Workplace

If you can’t get your job done in 10 hours a day, there’s something wrong with you or with your job, said Sharon Meers in BusinessWeek. Endless ­workdays not only wreak havoc on personal lives, they impair judgment and hurt performance. So listen up, bosses: “Motivating people to spend ever-more hours at work is bad for the bottom line.” Instead, help employees get the most out of their workday. Give them concrete goals, and call an end to useless meetings and unnecessary business travel.

You’d be surprised at how much time is squandered in a typical day, said Tyler Cowen in Money. The average American worker wastes two hours a day, according to Salary.com. How? “Excessive BlackBerrying is one of the worst time-sucks around.” To break that habit, vow to let “marginally important” e-mails go unanswered. Many people also ease into a workday, putting off the “biggest, most stressful tasks.” Inevitably, as the day goes on, ­distractions keep us from doing the one thing we really needed to do. The ­best remedy: “Always tackle your most important task first thing in the morning.”

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