How much actual productive time are you logging? I find it interesting how we sometimes kid ourselves into thinking we’re working a lot harder than we actually are.
Busy doesn’t equal productive. By productive, I mean taking actions that progressively move you toward your most cherished goals at quickly as possible. It’s difficult to be highly productive when you’re not aware of your current actions.
Have you ever run a time log on yourself? I do this every now and then and highly recommend it. I recently did it for a couple of weeks and was amazed at how much more productive I became as a result of seeing the truth about how I was spending my time.
You can use a simple data base table in Microsoft Excel to do this. Using Excel or any data base program will allow you to quickly sort and total the number of minutes and hours you’re spending on different categories.
For activity, I have two columns (referred to as fields in data bases) instead of one. Why? In one column I have general ‘global’ categories, because I like to see how much time was spent on business in general (banking activities, business phone calls, marketing, etc.), current projects I’m working on, and personal. The other column is for the activity detail.
My major ‘global’ categories:
Business
Project ABC
Project XYZ
Personal
You can create and use your own categories. I just made an Excel spreadsheet that automatically totals the times for you and has a running total at the top. Click here to download it now.
I’ve been a FileMaker Pro data base user/programmer since 1989. I created a time log database that makes the process super easy. I might make a self-contained version available to the public someday. But you don’t have to use a database or even Excel for that matter to run a time log. Good ol’ pen/pencil and paper will work just fine. Here’s a screen capture you can use to make your own:
Yes, it takes a few seconds to write down or type what you’re doing throughout your day. But the pay off will be tremendous. Don’t believe me. Try it and see for yourself.
When you can see the truth about how you’re spending your time, you will become much more productive — automatically.