Keep a Detailed Time Log

Couple of years ago, for a week or so, I wrote down every 30 minutes what I was doing at the moment in order to find out where my time went. It was very useful for me.

Still very difficult going, part psychological (I’ve been doing WHAT for most of the day/week?), and part technical (spreadsheet I was using is clunky. I need to get a PDA again, that had excellent timesheet sofware).

I still want to keep this goal, focus on it. I’ll see if simple notes on index cards work.

Badly needed.
Will try out the Time Map first – http://www.lifehacker.com/software/top/geek-to-live—map-your-time-188894.php

http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/triple-your-personal-productivity.htm

The first step to better managing your time is to find out how you’re currently spending your time. Keeping a time log is a very effective way to do this, and after trying it for just one day, you’ll immediately gain tremendous insight into where your time is actually going. The very act of measuring is often enough to raise your unconscious habits into your consciousness, where you then have a chance to scrutinize and change them.

You may be surprised to discover you’re spending only a small fraction of your working time doing what you’d consider to be actual work.

Keep a detailed time log. Analyze your results. Calculate your personal efficiency ratio. Variate total hours to increase efficiency.

The clock is ticking.