If you have time management issues then time tracking is a must-have.
Have you ever found yourself in hurry? Have you ever been late? If you answered yes on those questions, then this is perfect place for you.
This article will solve your problems! Just follow next steps.
So, first of all, create a matrix. Make ten columns for ten days. Also create 48 rows, one row equals 30 minutes.
Here is a short explanation. First, experience says that 10 days are optimal for measuring your time management because less would give us incorrect information and more than 10 days would delay our results too much. Also, we divided time into pieces of 30 minutes because we think that's logical period of time that can be measured.
After you've done that, start tracking your time. Write in each cell what are you doing. Time that you've spent doing nothing leave blank.
It's important that you stay consistent in making your notes. Your attitude will play a big role. Bear in mind that you have to be accurate no matter what results you see because we all tend to become defensive when we don't see what we want.
When you finish your time tracking, try to observe results. Ask yourself: "What can I do to improve my matrix?"
But be careful.
If you track your time, it doesn't mean that you are improving your time management. It is just a preliminary step to effective management of time.
This is where most people fail. They tend to rearrange their activities but in the end, everything ends up the same. They eliminate some of their activities, prioritize other tasks etc. Result of that is even more frustration because they are trying hard to improve but problems are still there.
So to sum it up, time management isn't keeping track of how you spend your time. Time management is making real changes to the way you spend your time. It's improving quality of spent time. Time tracking isn't essential for that, but it can certainly help you.