Picture the scene - if you're fortunate enough to be early or ahead of schedule (let's say, having 15 minutes spare before you need to set off and drive to work), do you ever find yourself "killing" time? Picking up a magazine or paper and skim-reading it, watching TV, picking fluff off your tie... there are any number of things we do just to pass the time until an event - such as work - happens. This is a crime in time management circles, since every precious minute counts.

If we admit it, there are various moments in life where we will realise that we are either bored or have nothing to do. For some of us, these rare moments happen at work. Browsing the contents of the snack machine does not add up to a valuable way to pass the time, does it?

Nevertheless, we all catch ourselves doing this at some point during our working lives. The answer is simple multi-tasking. Note the word simple - you want things that are as easy to do as doing nothing, rather than stressing yourself out by giving yourself tasks you can't accomplish in the given time. The beauty of not 'killing time' is that you are usually faced with this conundrum in small chunks of time, which is ideal for learning new things. For example, a textbook to bring you up to date with a facet of your work can be read and digested in small parts - the best way of learning - when you really are just waiting for the world to fast-forward for 15 minutes so you can get on to the next task in hand.

There are occasions in life where killing time is something forced upon us rather than our conscious choice. A traffic jam is a classic example. What do we do? We kill the time. Listening to any old radio station, staring drearily out of the window, getting more and more worked up about our schedule. What should we be doing? How about an audio book to listen to, making some business calls when the car is stationary (mobile offices are exactly that, these days) or reading any work-related material you have with you in the car? This all adds up to effective time, rather than wasted or 'killed' time.

You should also be aware that if you kill your own time, you can start to hurt other people's schedules, too. If you wander over to the other side of the office to kill ten minutes while you chat to your colleague, you are effectively killing THEIR time too - they might be busy and feel obliged to talk. The same is if you call someone when unnecessary - they will answer the phone, and you'll use up their time as well as your own.

Be considerate with your own time - after all, there will be periods where you wish you had a lot more. Easy tasks and learning curves take a little time, often - so instead of killing time, breathe a little more life into it to make yourself more productive and on top of your self-management.