Time Management Log

- Don't have time for a 'hit and miss' approach to time management!

Then a time management log is for you.

But tracking your time has got a bad rap lately!

Why?

Because people are told to track their time and then not told what to do afterwards.

But tracking time is not time management!

Tracking your time with a time management log identifies ways that you can improve your time management.

Tracking your time is similar to keeping a household budget.

When you keep a household budget you know where you are spending your money.

When you want to save for something big, a budget helps you to identify those areas in which you can trim your expenditure and save more.

Well the same goes for your use of time!

A time management log is a an objective of examining how you spend your time and where you can save time.

You can't fix a time management problem until you can identify it

If you want to use your time more effectively and you don’t know how you currently spend your time, then it's like trying to 'pin the tail on the donkey' – a very hit and miss affair.

If you don’t have the time for this 'hit and miss' approach then download and photocopy this time management log.

For example, Ireen, a private banker in a major organization tracked her time and was shocked that she spent 3 hours every day on UNIMPORTANT emails.

A time management log time keeping software shows you how you really spend your time and identifies areas in which you could improve your management.

Then you can set time management goals to reduce these low-value activities that are taking your time.

Instructions for filling out your time management log

After you have downloaded your time management log, follow these instructions.

1. Record all activities as they occur. Record all interruptions, trying to give as much detail as possible. Do not rely on your memory to fill in the log at the end of the day
2. Enter a priority for each activity, A, B or C (A - important, B - somewhat important, C - not important). If the activity is ‘Urgent’ then put an * next to the letter
3. Comment on each activity. Note any suggestions for how the activities could be improved upon. The more detailed the better for analyzing your time log. Treat the time log as a challenge and record every significant event
4. Keep a log for a minimum of 3 days
5. You can keep you log for work only. However, I have found that better gains can be made by including work and home time.

Examine your time management log for effectiveness gains

Now it is time to put your use of time under the microscope and see where you can make more use of it.

Where can you improve your time management strategies?

Add up the time that you spent on priorities A, A*, B, B*, C and C* tasks.

To be most effective you want to spend most of your time in the priority A area, and most of this time should be on A priority tasks rather than A* tasks.

Why?

Well check out our explanation of proactive time management with the time management matrix.

How does your time log look?

You need to be happy with the amount of time that you're spending on the different priorities.

1. Are you spending too much time on unimportant things or too little time on important things? This is a common cause of stress for many people.
2. Are there common interruptions to your day? Can you think of ways to minimize your interruptions, either through better email etiquette or clutter control?
3. Do you procrastinate between tasks or get a coffee when you should be working on important things?

   If so, then check out these tips for overcoming procrastination

4. For each task, ask yourself, "Why am I doing this?" or "Why do I need to do this?"

   If the reasons are not clear to you then you have a number of options, such as delegation, prioritizing the task to a lower priority, or dropping the task altogether.

   See these tips on how to delegate effectively

5. What activities are you doing in high energy areas? Are you doing activities that are value-adding and important to you when you have high energy?

   If not, then why not?

Moving from analysis to change

A time log encourages you to log your time and analyze it.

Just by doing these two things you are more likely to heighten your awareness of your time-wasters and self-correct.

However, this is not guaranteed for change!

As for any plan of change, it is necessary to not only write down your plans for change but to act on them.

How can you do this!

First, it is important to understand the 'Why' before the 'Do' of the action.

Some of the more common issues that a time management log identifies are:

• Putting things off. If procrastination is something that you want to overcome, then these clear steps to overcome procrastination may be helpful
• Problems with delegating. Delegation is probably one of the most talked about yet under-utilized time management skills.

  If you want to delegate more...but find that you keep saying "Yes, but..." then these effective steps to delegation of work may be helpful

• Unclear priorities. If your time management worksheet shows that unclear priorities are a concern for you then a personal goal setting plan that links into your time management priorities can improve your time management skills.

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Related time management articles

Time Management Sheets: Conduct annual, weekly, and daily exercises to align your priorities with your life.

To Do List: See why a 'to do list' is better than nothing, but why it is not the superior time management tool in today's world of work.

Weekly Planner Tools: Download a weekly planner and plan your high impact activities first.

Time Management Worksheet: How much time are you spending on your top 5-10 projects. Find out here!

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