July, 2009

Do you feel like you were busy all day long, but at the end of the day can’t point to one specific task that you completed?

One way to quantify how you spend your time is to keep track of your activities for one week.  An easy way to do this is with a timer you can set for a fifteen minute interval. A kitchen timer will do.  Draw three columns on a sheet of paper and title these “Activity”, “Time Blocks”, and “Notes”.  Activities should be general categories like – eating, exercising, writing, on phone, marketing, networking, data entry, housework, playing, watching TV, etc.

Beginning with the time you wake up, continually set the timer, note the activity and put an X  in the next column for  each 15 minute block you spend doing that.  In the Notes column, you can remind yourself of the particular project or reason for extended period of time spent. The timer is essential because reconstructing your day after the fact is not always a true picture.  At the end of the day, add up the time spent on each activity.  After your 7 days or work week ends, evaluate where you spent the major portion of your days.

Two things happen while you are doing this exercise.  First, you are more conscious of the passage of time when you find yourself doing mindless activities.  Checking your e-mail can stretch into a three hour marathon of web surfing otherwise.  Second, you will discern how much time you are actually spending on those activities you claim as  priorities personally or on the job.  Will you readjust your priorities or purpose to honor those decisions with a time commitment?

Finding the leak is helpful only if you make an attempt to stop the leak and take preventative measures to avoid puncture scenarios in the future.