When I came across a list of the 15 biggest ever lies told by major advertisers, I was amazed at how many lies on the list had me swayed!

Skechers once claimed that by simply putting on a pair of their shoes you’d magically get buns of steel. Skechers used celebrities like Kim Kardashian to sell its Shape-up sneakers, claiming that you only had to tie your shoes to lose weight. The USA’s Federal Trade Commission disagreed, and the shoe company ended up paying a $40 million settlement. Ouch!

All this got me thinking about the biggest and most commonly used time management ‘lies’ we have all heard in the workplace at some point or other.

Does it sometimes seem that no matter what you do, there’s always someone or something that takes up a lot more of your time that you’d planned? Why is that? It’s probably because you’ve fallen victim to one of the 5 most well-known management ‘lies’.

In Time Management, we accept many things as truth and act accordingly. Yet sometimes they’re not truths – but lies – and as we believe them, they waste our time!

Here are the Top 5 time management lies from which to shield yourself:-

1. “This will just take a minute.”

Has anyone grabbed you with that line? Does it ever “just take a minute”? Rarely.

What typically does “just take a minute”, generally consumes several minutes… and more!

Next time, when someone asks you for your time and assures you “this will just take a minute”, tell them, “You’re lying. You may not raise that you’re lying, but you are. I’ll give you five minutes. You may being now.”

2. “It’s not about the money”

It’s a lie. When people say, “It’s not about the money” it’s nearly always about the money!

And if it’s not always about the money, then it will almost certainly be about your time.

3. “I can get this done in an hour”

It’s a fib! Ever notice how it almost always takes twice as long to get something done as what you thought it would?

That’s because few of us have a very accurate internal clock to estimate the time required to complete most tasks.

4. “He’s a ‘late’ person”

Most people who are “late” have a consistency about their behaviour.

Some people are 10 minutes late all the time.

If you need to meet them tomorrow, it will take them 24 hours and 10 minutes to get there.

They’re not “late” – they’re “on time” – just 10 minutes later!

5. “Free, no cost”

You don’t get something done for nothing. In reality nothing is ever free. Everything has a cost.

It may not cost you your money, but more often your time and more of it than you’re getting back in return for the promise of “no cost.”