Lesson 1: Time Tracking
Welcome to the first mini lesson of the fourth unit of this Time Management Mini Course!
In this lesson, we will explore how to use time tracking methods to monitor our daily activities and use the information we find to identify time wasters and find areas that can use improvement.
Time Tracking
Time tracking is great when we want to see how we spend our time throughout the day, think of it as a spending tracker, but for time.
Choose a tool: In order to track time, we must pick tool that we like. Tools can be an app, a spreadsheet, or regular pen, and paper.
Categories: Now, we need to come up with categories. Some examples of categories are: work, fun, food, appointments, maintenance, training, etc.
Record activities: In order for time tracking to work, we must actually track time and be honest. We must record our activities throughout the day in real time so we can see how times actually being used. Activities should be recorded in detail, from start to finish.
Analyzing Our Time Logs
Review the data: Look for patterns in how you spend your time. Any consistances?
Identify time wasters: What consumes the most amount of time with the least benefit?
Highlight productive hours: At what times did you get the most work done?
Look for what can be changed: Can somethings in the time logs be replaced with something better?
Benefits of Time Tracking
- Knowing how you are actually using your time
- Find areas of weakness
- Allows for improvement regarding time usage.
Time tracking and analysis are critical practices for effective time management and productivity improvement. By using time tracking methods and analyzing the data we can discover how we distribute our time and identify areas for improvement.
Below you will find a video on Clockify, a free time tracking online software that makes tracking time easy. Give it a try!
Sarah Kone's Mini Course | Unit 4 | Next: Lesson 2