Do you ever get to the end of your day, and you cannot think of what you did, or you couldn’t do the work you needed to get done because of fire drills, crises, or interruptions that arose?
If this happens to you often and you want to gain greater control of how you spend your time each day, do a time log for a few weeks to see where you spend your time. A time log captures every activity you do in that time span, including the interruptions you have (by whom), and crises/unplanned items that arise (by whom and when).
Keeping a time log can be incredibly beneficial for personal and professional well-being. Here are some key benefits:
- Increased Awareness: A time log helps you become more aware of how you spend your time. This awareness is the first step toward making more informed decisions about allocating your time more effectively.
- Identify Time Wasters: By logging your activities, you can easily spot time-wasting habits or activities not aligned with your goals. This allows you to eliminate or reduce these activities, freeing time for more important tasks.
- Improved Productivity: Understanding where your time goes can help you find ways to be more efficient. You can identify peak productivity times and adjust your schedule to take advantage of these periods.
- Better Time Management: A time log helps you plan your day more effectively. Knowing how long certain tasks take allows you to allocate appropriate amounts of time to them and avoid overcommitting.
- Enhanced Focus: Logging time can help you stay focused by encouraging you to stick to your schedule. Knowing you’re tracking your time can deter procrastination and keep you on task.
- Goal Achievement: A time log can reveal whether you spend enough time on activities that align with your long-term goals. This insight can motivate you to adjust your priorities.
- Stress Reduction: By managing your time more effectively and having a clear picture of your tasks, you can reduce the stress from feeling overwhelmed or disorganized.
- Data for Improvement: A time log provides data that can be analyzed to identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement. This information can be used to make long-term changes to your routine.
- Accountability: A time log provides some accountability if you’re trying to build new habits or change your behavior. You can see if you’re sticking to your new routines or if adjustments are needed.
- Work-life Balance: Tracking your time can reveal if you’re dedicating too much time to work at the expense of your personal life, allowing you to make adjustments for a healthier balance.
We have a simple form for you to log your time. Click here for the word document version and click here for the excel document version. Here are a few suggestions for getting the best return on your effort.
- We’ve provided both an Excel and a Word document. Some individuals prefer to print the sheet out, keep it close by, and notate their activities. Others prefer to keep a window open on their computer and enter their activities in the Excel spreadsheet. What not to do is wait until the end of the day to log your activities. That defeats the purpose of the exercise – capturing what happens in your day and how you have spent your time.
- You can chunk similar activities together. For instance, if you are checking your emails, just enter “checking email” and note how much time you spent on this activity.
- If interrupted during that activity, note how long it took, what it was about, and who interrupted you. This will be valuable information when you are reviewing your time logs.\
- Log times when you take yourself off task and what you do to interrupt yourself. Some examples might be reading an article on the Internet when you need to finish a task, getting up to talk to others or allowing yourself to get drawn into a conversation for too long. Remember, no one is going to look at your time logs. You are doing this for yourself, and by capturing your work habits over a specified period, you’ll gain valuable insights and be able to make the adjustments you desire to feel more in control of your time.
While doing time logs seems to be a bother, it is an effective tool for gaining more control of your time, feeling more organized and productive, and leaving every day feeling good about what you accomplished.
We challenge you to give it a try! Stay tuned for Part II, where we’ll give you tips for reviewing your time logs and possible changes you might make to take more control of your time.
