How often do you leave work wondering where all the time went? How often do you feel that you could have achieved more that day? If you answered ‘yes’, it might be that your day consists of putting out fires and jumping aimlessly from task to task.
Are you crystal clear exactly how you are spending your time? If you are not aware of how you are spending your time, you can’t effectively identify what you are struggling with. It is a very revealing exercise and you may be shocked when you see the facts in front of you. Studies show that we waste heaps of time, up to 40% of the work day with time wasters. That is almost more than half of your day.
If you want to take the next step in learning how to manage your time, get clear on exactly what you do with your time first. There are a few ways you can do this and it is definitely worth the time invested. When you have awareness around your behaviour and time management, you are able to identify the areas to improve. It will also make it much easier to spot negative patterns and time thieves.
Besides improving the areas you are struggling with, you can use this information to leverage your time and plan better and improve negative habits, etc
Ways to identify your time
Time log
Record exactly how you are spending your time throughout the day. Do you prefer to use a computer or paper?
Paper
• Download your time tracker here and write in every hour the activity that you did and any additional relevant comments. Ie: the task wasn’t planned.
Computer
• Create a spreadsheet on your computer and update it regularly throughout the day.
• Use your notepad on your desktop. Type LOG in the first line and every time you open the file, it will automatically insert the new time and date so it will save you time!
Once you have done this for 3 to 5 days, you can now study the information you can have collected.
• How many hours a day do you waste by….?
• What changes can you immediately make to better manage your time?
• Are you prioritizing, planning and performing effectively?, etc
Use this information to guide the new changes that you need to implement.
If you want additional information, for example; how you use your time on the computer, try rescue time. This is a program that you can download to your computer and it will show you exactly how you are spending your time on your computer.
Each week you will get a report which shows you how much time you spend on each program on average and your productivity rate. If you check your email to0 often or browse social media sites, this will help you to spot those time thieves and better manage your time.
If you ask yourself too often, where did my time go? Use this tip of the week to improve your time management skills!
To Your Success
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