Where Does Your Time Really Go?

By Author: Sam Sander
Total Articles: 60
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Do you never seem to have enough time in your day but don't seem to know where it all went? Do you seem to spend all day doing a job that you thought would only take you an hour or two? Well, you're not alone. It's easy to lose track of where your time goes, but for effective time management, you need to.

Completing an activity log is the first step in managing your time, because in order to manage your time, you first need to know where all your time goes.

And because you can't buy time, save it for a rainy day or create more hours in a day, the only way you can get more out of your day is to eliminate the time thiefs and make the most of the time you've got.

So to do an activity log, just list everything you do during the course of a day, and do this every day for a week. As well as documenting what you do, it's also worth noting the priority of the task, how long it took and how you felt about the task.

Also use the activity log to keep track of your energy levels throughout the day. We all have a natural energy cycle. Some people are morning people, some have a second wind mid afternoon and ...
... some are night owls.

Understanding your natural energy cycle and using this to your advantage can have a huge impact on how effective you are, and how much time you save.

Once you've done your activity log, it's time to start the evaluation. So what do you look for?

1. Time thieves. Which tasks take up time, but don't actually accomplish anything productive? Gossip around the water cooler? Reading junk mail and spam? Identify these and ditch them!

2. Interruptions. How much time did you waste as a result of interruptions? Urgent emails, phone calls, visitors? Some of these interruptions are probably important too, but can distract you from your train of thought, and it takes time to get back on track.

3. Poor planning. How many of your tasks weren't planned? While some unplanned tasks can be called interruptions, some are just things you need to do but didn't plan to do. Or perhaps they were someone else's task that you inherited? Can any of these be better managed by better planning? Or by saying 'No'?

4. Your energy cycle. When is your power time? When are you sluggish and slow? What do you do to boost your energy levels? What type of task coincides with your high and low energy levels? Use your high energy cycles for important tasks and your sluggish times for routine, but necessary, activities.

5. Tasks that interest you. You'll always have some things you enjoy more than others. Which ones do you seem to enjoy the most?

Based on the evaluation of your activity log, you can look at how you can change your scheduling and your habits to get the most out of your time.

The key thing to remember is that how you manage your time needs to reflect you and your lifestyle. So use the activity log as a way to understand where your time goes and how you can make the most out of it.
You can learn more about how to manage your time to achieve all your dreams by reading this FREE ebook - "The Time Management Secrets that will Set You Free". You'll also find lots of free tips and tools on a range of self-improvement topics from goal setting to people skills.