Where did the time go?

Presented by Jim Linn During your commute home, do you ever feel that you did not get as much accomplished this week as you would have liked?  That you definitely put in the “time” but did not achieve what you set out to do in your personal and/or professional life.  There are only 24 hours in a day and unless you know how to create your own time space continuum, that’s the way it’s going to stay.  So how do you accomplish the goals/activities you set out to do and on your commute home feel a sense of accomplishment?  There are many books, online resources and organizations that provide insight to achieving this but, if you don’t have time to do what you need or want to do how are you going to find time to utilize these resources?  Herein lies the problem: “TIME”.  I have an exercise I would like to ask you to try and, no, it will not take up any significant amount of time to accomplish:

1. Get a copy of a daily planner page or just write out the hours of your typical day (if the time is broken down in 15 or 30 minute intervals, all the better).
2. Make 5 copies of this page and title each one with the day of the week.

Each day when you start your day, log what you did during the time intervals (drive time, checking emails, administrative, prospecting, marketing, personal time, surfing the web, etc.)  This is just for you, so honesty is the best policy.  If you spend 30 minutes reading the paper, put it on the planner.  Continue this throughout your day for the full 5 days.  When you have completed the 5 days, add up the time you have spent over the last week by category (client presentations, surfing the web, administrative duties, prospecting, etc). Once totaled, this will give you a clear idea where your time is being spent and perhaps allow you to make adjustments as necessary to utilize your time in the most effective manner possible.