I’m going to measure how I spend my time.
If I successfully do this, I’ll be impressed. I tend to start projects like this and then stop after the first day. Perhaps if I tell you what I’m doing, you can hold me accountable.
I have mentioned the Before Breakfast podcast before. Laura Vanderkam is a time management expert, and her short, daily podcast provides real-life ideas for making the most of our time. She suggests that people track their time for a week to see how it is actually being used.
It’s easy to say, “I have no time,” but that probably isn’t true. You’re probably spending your time on things that don’t matter to you. One way to find out where your time is going is to write down everything you do for a week. I decided to attempt this because I want to manage my time better.
Laura has a free spreadsheet on her website, so I didn’t have to create my own. (Click here if you want to try this exercise for yourself.) I chose to measure my time in 15-minute chunks. I could have done thirty, but I wanted to be as accurate as possible.
I’ve been recording my time for just a few hours, and I’ve already learned something. I’m a flitter. I flit from task to task, often before anything is finished. For example, while I wrote this blog, I trimmed Hela’s nails, talked to my hubby, answered an email, and changed the kitty litter. I’ve read a lot of self-help books, so I know I’m not being productive. Or maybe I am. I’ll finish the chart and see.
As I stated above, I’m horrible at filling out charts on a long term basis. This is why I don’t record what I eat. I occasionally download a food app and use it for a day or two, and then I forget. I’d like to fill out my time chart for the whole week, so I set my phone timer to ding every half hour. Hopefully, that will keep me going.
If I actually fill out this chart, I’ll let you know what I learned. Ideally, I’ll see where I’m wasting time and make some changes, but that is a whole different focus. Right now, I’m just going to write down my activities. It shouldn’t take too much time.