Day 14…

Track Your Time…

I was surprised when I started tracking my time.

Some things I thought I was doing more of, I was actually doing less of.

And some things that I thought were relatively minor parts of my daily schedule added up to gobs of time when looked at from a weekly and monthly viewpoint.

I’ll be you’d be surprised where your time goes, too, if you started tracking what you’re doing, when, and how much.

So, let’s do it.

Your assignment is to start keeping track of what you do every day.  Luckily, there are some free and inexpensive ways to do that these days.

Based on what you find, you can start adjusting your activities to better focus on just the stuff that is productive.

HOW

A free way to start tracking what you’re doing on your computer is with Rescue Time.  The free version will do everything you need to keep track of what you’re doing on your computer.

An app that I like a bit better than Rescue Time is called HOURS.  This is a manual time tracking app where you have to tell it what you’re doing, but I think it’s more accurate and gives better information in the long run.

Another way to keep track of your time is by setting a countdown clock for 45 minutes and then doing a task, uninterrupted, for that entire time.  Sometimes I am shocked at how fast that 45 minutes goes by.  When it’s over, I always get up to stretch even if I still have more work to complete on that project.  It’s good to get up every 45 minutes or so.  You can use a kitchen timer or your phone clock or a fancy free app.  It doesn’t need to be difficult.

By tracking what you’re doing and being cognizant of how long projects are taking you, you can start to figure out better ways to use your time.  Some items you can spend more time on because they’re important.  Some will make you realize that you need to have better systems so you can get rid of stuff that takes a bunch of time but really isn’t productive for you.

Your assignment: start tracking your time.  Ok, go!

Previous Lessons:

Day 1 – Start With Why

Day 2- Goal Identification

Day 3 – Goal Actions

Day 4 – Vision Board

Day 5 – One Word

Day 6 – Affirmations

Day 7 – Gratitudes

Day 8 – Day Off

Day 9 – Webinar Day

Day 10 – Just Say No

Day 11 – Get Up Early

Day 12 – Start With You

Day 13 – Filter Communication