I’ll never forget the first time I did a time-tracking exercise with a friend (who just happened to be a professional organizer). She challenged me to track my time for a few days in an effort to better understand where my time was going. I could tell by the tone and the challenge in her voice that she thought I was wasting more time than I realized. And I was absolutely determined to prove her wrong.
So I did it. I tracked my tasks for an entire week.
The result: I learned that I was wasting more time than I ever imagined. And it was especially obvious when I compared my daily activities, and the amount of time they were taking, with my stated goals and priorities. As my little niece and nephew are now fond of saying: I was making bad choices. Gulp!
The other interesting thing about the week I spent tracking my time was how much better I became at eliminating some of those bad habits. Time-tracking immediately raised my awareness because I didn’t want to report that I’d made the same bad choice two or three days in a row! And even if I didn’t share that time log with anyone else, I didn’t want that result for myself. My time log became a way of holding myself accountable to… myself!
That’s where I learned the immense value of keeping a time log. It may not be something you need to do all day, every day. But from time to time, keeping a log serves as a great refresher on how you can improve the way you spend one of your most valuable assets – your time! It’s also a great exercise in helping you document procedures and develop systems around your tasks, so you can be even more efficient in the way you do your job.
In this week’s feature article, I share some of the key benefits of tracking your tasks, as well as some free templates to help you get started. We’re also sharing some excellent tips and ideas on our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn sites, so be sure to check those out! Then, take the time- and task-tracking challenge yourself and let us know what you discover. I think you’ll be surprised at what you learn. And I’m certain it will help you plug some productivity holes in your day!
Supporting your administrative success,
Julie
P.S. Are you losing valuable time managing office emergencies and other crises throughout the day? Learn how to prepare for, manage, and recover from unscheduled events and unexpected emergencies that attack your productivity with this training on demand webinar!
