TIP 31
TRACK YOUR TIME
We spend, I am very certain, the half of our time among people that we do not particularly like and on things that do not particularly amuse us, and consequently have no time for the people and things that do really matter to us.
When you can’t figure out where all the money goes, it helps to do a spending log for a month and see exactly where it is going. The same goes for time. Do you work like crazy, come in early and leave late, and still don’t have time to do all there is to do? Do you feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done? Do you spend too much time managing the routine tasks and don’t have time for the big important projects at work and at home?
If you have the feeling that time is going by too quickly and you just don’t know where it is all going, it is time to take a closer look. Take one week and track your time in 15-minute increments. Write down everything you are doing from the moment you get up until you go to bed at night, from phone calls to coffee and bathroom breaks. Yes, I realize this is a tedious assignment, but you only need to do it for one week, and then you can extrapolate the data and rearrange your life accordingly. To make this assignment easier, get an inexpensive diary that already has a schedule in 15-minute intervals so you can just write in the activity. Also, pick an ordinary week that reflects your typical schedule, not a vacation week. Now you are ready to start tracking.
You are the only one who will see this time log, so don’t change your schedule to try to make it look good. Just record as accurately as possible what you really do during a regular week. This will include things such as shower, dress, blow-dry hair, prepare breakfast for the family, eat breakfast, read the paper, drive to work, chat with colleagues, plan the day, answer e-mails, meet with clients, go out to lunch, read memos, write reports, return phone calls, send a fax, and so on. Write it all down. At the end of the week you will have a precise record of where your time is going, and you will be able to make some intelligent decisions based on reality. Most people are appalled to discover how much of their time is spent in seemingly important tasks that in the end are not fulfilling or could be easily delegated.
Here is what one client, Michael, a human resources manager, discovered after reviewing his time log: Michael lived with his wife and two kids in a lovely home in the outskirts of London and had a commute of 1 hour and 40 minutes each way. That totaled 16.6 hours a week just to get to work—almost enough for a part-time job. Michael talked to his boss about the lost time and was able to negotiate working from home two days a week, saving himself 6.6 hours a week. In order to maximize his commute time in the car, Michael played audiobooks or listened to self-improvement programs that he checked out from the local library.
Another big time-waster for Michael was phone calls. He spent 11 hours a week on the phone. Michael realized that a big part of his job entailed being on the phone, but he also discovered that he was repeating the same information to employees. He also noticed that he spent a lot of time on small talk and personal calls. Michael found that the two-minute conversations were often more productive than the twelve-minute calls. He decided to start advising his callers right from the start that he only had a few minutes. This eliminated the chitchat and people got right to the point.
Michael was also amazed to discover that he spent 2 hours and 15 minutes a day (over 11 hours a week) answering e-mails. He decided to check e-mails twice a day to reduce time spent on e-mail conversations. If something needed more than a few lines to reply, he picked up the phone and called the person instead.
Michael was mortified to find that he spent a good three hours a week looking for memos or e-mails that he needed. He had Post-it notes plastered all over his desk and computer and so many stacks of paper that there was only a small space left on his desk for working. He thought he was pretty organized because he could find things quickly, but the time log revealed that he wasn’t quite as organized as he thought. Michael decided to put this three hours to use and spent an hour each day eliminating the piles on his desk, setting up hanging files to keep projects in, and sending old documents to the archives or discarding them (Tip 17). He took down all the Post-it notes and decided to use his computer to keep a running to-do list.
Another big chunk of wasted time was the result of interruptions from his boss and his coworkers. He was a well-liked manager and prided himself on having an open-door policy, so his staff was in the habit of popping in at any time during the day. This added up to 4 hours and 15 minutes a week. Michael decided that he wanted to keep the open-door policy but that he would also implement a closed-door policy. When he was working on a project that demanded his focused concentration, he closed the door and put up a “work in progress” sign. He told his staff that when the door was closed he would prefer not to be disturbed unless it was an emergency. He got so much accomplished in the two hours his door was closed that he encouraged his staff to do the same. Productivity in the department increased by 25 percent.
As for his boss, Michael began a file called “Meet with Boss” in which he would jot down any questions or issues to discuss. If he had a question about something in a memo, he would just write the question directly on the memo, slip it in the file, and bring the whole file to the meeting. He requested a weekly half-hour phone meeting and during this time would address everything in the file. He saved 2.5 hours a week by doing this. He also encouraged his staff to do the same to avoid constant interruptions during the week.
On the home front, Michael realized that he would come home exhausted, flick on the TV, and watch about a half-hour before dinner and then another two and a half hours after for a total of fifteen hours a week (see Tip 32). A huge time-waster! He decided he would rather spend his time doing something more fulfilling and satisfying. He decided that after dinner, he would take a walk with his wife and kids for some exercise. Then they would read books, play chess, or start a game of Scrabble with the kids when their homework was done. This turned out to be much more relaxing and fun for the whole family.
Track your time and see what you are really doing. Ask yourself whether this is how you want to be spending your life or not. Then start automating, delegating, and deleting the time-wasters and start using that time for working on one of your big lifetime goals (Tip 51).