We’ve all been there at some point—you look back on the week or the month—feeling that too much has been left undone. You say to yourself, “Where did the time go?” It’s a common lament. If this sounds like you, it might be useful to try a time log for a week to discover your patterns. Time logs can help uncover wasted time that can be turned into productive time. They can also show you when you tend to be most productive, so you can organize your days to take full advantage of those productive times. You’ll quickly so who is interrupting you the most. You’ll discover your bad habits and see where you let pleasurable activities take over high-priority tasks.
There are numerous logging software tools available for download on the internet. These can be useful for those who spend their entire work day at a desk in front of a computer. If you frequently travel or spend time out of the office, using the old-fashioned pen-and-paper method works well because you can easily slip it into your planner. On my site at https://theproductivitypro.com/FreeStuff/Time_Log.doc, you’ll find a simple template with instructions that you can use to log your time. Give it a shot. You might be surprised at what you discover!
Hi, This suggestion of logging the time is good. I had also worked on it sometime back. I was using a simple xls sheet for logging time but didnt find userfreidnly as entry start and end time is again manual. I had also tried finding some freewares but I am not able to get softwares that are really useful. Can you please suggest me some websites/ freeware softwares for Time logging.
Thanks in advance !!
-Raviraj
Great idea. I do this every so often to see what exavtly I am doing that I don’t realize.
Nice log to record it on !!
Here are just a couple. You can go to http://www.download.com and search by “time log” or “time tracker” and come up with a lot of various tools for different types of tracking. Many are free, some are a free trial and many are low-cost. Hope this helps!
TimeLog2 2.0 Description
“A simple system tray time logger utility that can track several tasks.”
BSEditor/ TimeLog2 is a simple, but useful, utility program for people who want to keep track of how much time they are spending on the number of different tasks or projects.
When a project is active, TimeLog keeps track of the amount of time spent on it. If the task has an allocated amount of time, TimeLog will report what percentage of that time has been used. TimeLog records the total time spent on the task, and the number of sessions that that time was split into, and also indicates the total time in the current active session in a digital stopwatch style display. you can free download TimeLog2 2.0 now.
http://www.brothersoft.com/timelog2-58855.html
USS Personal Time Tracker records time spent per project and task. Reports are included that can be exported to common formats. The interface was designed for minimum data entry. USS Personal Time Tracker uses an embedded database for ease of installation. All data entry can be exported to a CSV file.
Version 2008.7.16 added a new database and uses VistaDB for ease of installation.
http://www.download.com/USS-Personal-Time-Tracker/3000-2076_4-10798691.html?tag=mncol&cdlPid=10868868
Hi Laura – great suggestion. I’d be curious to hear how often you recommend your clients go through this exercise – is one time enough? Once a year to check up?