It will help you manage your time well if you know where your time actually gets spent. One very helpful way of determining your actual usage of time is to track your time. The process here is like making a schedule, but it works in reverse. Instead of writing things in that you are planning to do, time logging is a process of writing down the things that you have already done. Doing this is sort of a get-to-know-yourself exercise because this procedure will highlight many of your habits that you might selectively ignore currently.
For instance, some people find that every time they plan to make sales calls they end up watching television or socializing on Twitter or Facebook. Instead of making sales calls, they play Internet poker. Other people just can’t seem to follow their schedule until the end of the month and they are in a time crunch for sales.
Whatever your time habits, time tracking will help you adjust and fine-tune your time management practices. Having accurate information about your time usage patterns can serve as another important point of reference for self-monitoring. Following are a few ways to track your time. Take a moment to do this – it will truly help you open your eyes and take control of your time.
Time tracking is fairly straightforward. At the end of every hour jot yourself a quick note about how you actually spent your time for that hour. The note needn’t be long – one sentence or less should suffice. If how you spent your time doesn’t match an already planned activity, simply enter a comment as to what you really did during that time. This way you will be able to review patterns that emerge in your use of time and make adjustments to improve your productivity.
Some people find it helpful to modify the planning page to facilitate tracking time. The modifications are easy enough: make two columns on your paper for each day of the week. In one column, write down the plan you are trying to follow; in the second column, make notes on what you actually did with your time. The side-by-side comparison is very telling and an excellent way to figure our where you’re not using time in the way you intend.
Another effective way to make changes and get results from your time management strategies is to summarize your time use by time category such as: sleep, client time, marketing, sales calls, travel and so on.
Tomorrow we’ll be discussing alittle about “Your Planner is Your Friend”.
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3 Responses
Kim, thanks for some great points to consider! I look forward to reading more of your posts.
Love the idea of adding a column to show actual vs planned. That’s something I need to do to help me focus on more productive tasks.
Thanks for sharing.
Lynn
Thanks Lynn, I am glad you saw some value in my tips. Have an amazing day!