This post was originally published on Mindful Decluttering & Organizing’s blog on August 23rd, 2016.
Once upon a time, I had no idea where my hours went. I knew I spent eight+ hours working, and eight+ hours doing other things besides work, and the remainder sleeping. But I couldn’t tell where the time went. I’d tell you I was busy, but with what? I had a full schedule, but what was I doing? I didn’t know. I wasn’t tracking my time, and as a result, my time awareness was low, and it made me feel bad.
Then I was introduced to Laura Vanderkam, an author and time management expert, whose simple time log can be used by business owners and stay-at-home parents alike. Her time tracking system uses a spreadsheet, divided into thirty minute increments, to show precisely what you spend your time doing. Simply fill out the spreadsheet with what you are doing each half hour of the day. It takes some discipline and mindfulness (setting a timer to go off every half hour can help you get in the habit!), but the rewards are great. The spreadsheet cells show, in a more accurate way than our imperfect minds ever can, exactly where we spend our time, and on what.
Read the rest of the post on Mindful Decluttering and Organizing’s blog!
