My Time Tracking Experiment
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been tracking my time in 15 minute increments. It’s something I’ve done in the past and had the impulse to do again.
Here are some discoveries:
I’m most productive between 9 and 11:30AM.
"Productive” holds different meanings depending on the day. On task-oriented days, it’s tending to each project I’m juggling and moving them forward in useful ways. On “deep work” days it’s writing, learning and communicating meaningfully with my community. Productivity is not about piece work for me (a privilege I acknowledge). I’m only productive if I am aiming toward my life-centric goals.
Time blocking prevents me from distracting myself with compulsive email- and social media-checking. This impulse is a strong one and it takes work to embrace the discomfort that comes from denying the impulse. It is an addiction.
Acting on the next right step wins out over responding to the next urgent matter. Urgent is not always the most important. In other words, it may be more important to address how and why there are urgent matters at all.
Time tracking is not proof of busyness and should not be stressful list-making, It’s for pattern-finding.
My patterns revealed:
Morning are reserved for exercise, time with our son, and focused work. Afternoons are best for meetings and cat wrangling (Do we all have these cats?)
I go to social media to avoid feeling discomfort. Embracing the discomfort fosters curiosity and creativity. The rewards have been huge. I read much more, which makes me ridiculously happy.
I enjoy spending time preparing dinner each night. It centers me, offers creativity, and is one way I love my family.
I now create high-level goals for the week (mapped on Sunday night or Monday morning) and then time block each weekday (after coffee, meditation and exercise.) I give myself grace when the plan shifts, and appreciate the ongoing accountability I’m building for myself.
If you’d like to give it a try, I’m sharing my time tracking tool on my website. The only cost is your permission to send more missives in the future. Hats tipped to Dr. Cal Newport and Brigid Schulte for the lessons..
