Time Audit: Track to manage your time (Free Template)

Time Audit: Track to manage your time (Free Template)

How often do you find yourself losing track of time, only to find that you have run out of time in a day? Saying we need more than 24 hours in a day is no longer a joke, since everyone is feeling that these days.

Measuring is the first step to manage your time. Without knowing how we spend it, we can't control it. Let's talk about finding more time with time audit. Click To Tweet

And it is called time management for a reason, because no matter what we say there are only so many hours in a day. Measuring is the first step to managing your time. Without understanding how and where we are spending our time, we can’t try to control it. And today, let us talk about how to find more time in a day by doing a time audit, to track our day.

Time audit: track to manage your time

Why manage your time aka a time audit?

As someone who works from home, on a computer and a phone all the time (read as on the couch, in front of the TV) I know how easy it is to get distracted and lose track of time. One minute you are allowing yourself to watch ten minute of Friends re-run and before you know it is dinner time. With a bunch of deadline reminders.

Happens to all of us. But it is time to take control of our 24 hours and manage the heck out of it.

What is time audit?

Time audit means we are gonna track everything you do in a day down to the T and understand where your time flies, as we keep saying. We are going to find out what is your most time consuming activity and what is your optimized schedule like.

How to track and manage your time?

What are planning to do is: track your activities every thirty minutes every day for a week or two. You don’t have to change a thing about your schedule, but just note down what you are doing every 30 minutes.

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Sounds interesting? Let us dig ahead.

Setting up a system to track

Setting up a time tracking system is not difficult. While there are numerous (free and premium) apps that would help you track your day for you automatically, I prefer a more mindful approach.

I use spreadsheets to tackle everything going on in my blog and my life in general, and I decided to audit my time using it as well. You can get a copy of the Google sheet right here.

Set your standard schedule

In the first columns, write down what your standard day looks like. Again, it doesn’t have to be your 100% productive day, but it has to be achievable regularly.

Estimate the number of hours you plan to spend working and sleeping. Give yourself breaks and pauses to breathe.

Make it easier to track

Okay, so the goal is simple. Stop whatever you are doing and check in every 30 minutes or so to write down what you were doing. Also take “stop whatever you are doing” with a salt.

I use spreadsheets to tackle everything going on in my blog and my life in general, and I decided to audit my time using it as well. You can get a copy of the Google sheet right here. Click To Tweet

You don’t have to pause cooking in the middle but you should be noting mentally how long it takes for you to cook. Note what you are doing every 30 minutes and write them all down on the sheet as a batch.

Use your discretion

And when I say write everything down, you can be as specific as you want. Do not forget to fill in your meal times, coffee breaks, commute, and other regular activities.

You probably will be tempted to say ‘blogging’ but it is better if you write down ‘Writing post for Friday’ or ‘graphics for Friday post’. So now you will be able to see how long it actually takes for you to create a Friday post from coming up with the idea to actually scheduling or posting it.

At the same time, use your discretion when it comes to using acronyms and batching things. ‘Emails’ sounds good enough for me, rather than writing ‘replying emails and emptying inbox’. But you do, you.

Analyze the results

Here comes the most interesting part of the exercise. The result.

While it is good to wait till the end of the week or time period you have chosen to audit yourself, it is quite natural to take stock of your activities by the end of each day. It is a good way to plan for the next day, right?

So be it a week or month, once you have a list of activities and the time you spend on them on average available with you, identify the activities that are

They do absolutely nothing for you and you didn’t even know you were doing it. Well, what a waste of time. This is not to be confused with things that you do for fun (like those ‘Friends’ reruns) Example: mindless scrolling on social media, Waiting for a reply email

These activities may not give you much returns but you do them because they seemed like a good idea then. Or a great way to procrastinate what you ought to be doing. Example: Checking inbox or phone for mails and messages

Identify what kind of work or activity that you keep putting off until the last moment and why. Is it fear of failure or something else.

These activities are best done when you have fewer distractions around. You can find out when you are at your best, based on your time tracking sheet.

How much ever you try, there would be some things that are unanticipated. Say, a new request in your work or a last minute change in your design, may have to be accommodated.

But your time audit sheet will help you know if it was becoming a trend. If so can you do something about it.

Identify the routine tasks and habits that work like a clockwork for you.

Often when we get into our to do lists and plans, we tend to forget the big picture about if we are working on the right direction and pace. Conducting an audit of our habits, routines and tasks in terms of the time spent is a perfect way to start taking control of our time.

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Have you heard time audit as a time management tool? How do you track and manage your time? What are the activities that take most of your time? Let us talk.

Time Audit: Track to manage your time (Free Template)

How to finish what you start: Stop being a serial starter

Do you often start projects/habits/hobbies passionately, and then leave them unfinished and unforgotten? Been there, done that. But what matters is do you do this too often? If yes, what are you doing to finish what you start – be it a new personal project, a business or a hobby?

What projects have you stopped abruptly and never worked to finish? What might be the reason behind it? What are your tips to finish what you start? Let us talk. Click To Tweet

Why don’t we push ourselves to finish what we started?

While there are different reasons ranging from “I forgot about it” to “life happened” for each of us giving up on various things, the underlying reasons can be only one of these

  • Found a new shiny thing to do,
  • Realized it was harder (in terms of time, efforts or resources) than you assumed, or
  • Fear of failure or perfection.

How to finish what you start

But how do we overcome these issues achieve whatever goal we started working on? Let us talk about it.

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Identify the pattern

Is there a problem or you just overthinking it?

Roughly count how many projects have you left unfinished in the past twelve months? If the number alarms you, then it should be your wake up call.

Understand that it has become a habit and commit to breaking that pattern. Every time you start a project, remind yourself of this pattern.

Identify why you want to do a project

Before starting a project, think through. Why do you want to do the project or start a new habit? Do you have the time to add in a new hobby to your life?

Envision your end result. What are you going to achieve through this additional project? Is it going to add to your portfolio or add in a new stream of revenue? Is it going to help you be a better you and if so, how?

Be choosy of your projects

Speaking of connecting the means to an end, if the project doesn’t add value to yourself, say no to it recklessly. This is very important when it comes to large projects.

elgeewrites How to finish what you start: Stop being a serial starter 5t7c
Credit: Gifer

For instance, a few of my friends wanted to started a podcast earlier this year. I joined them because, FRIENDS! We spent hours and days on perfecting it but eventually life happened and one by one we all dropped out.

The time, effort and resources we spent on it, could have better utilized elsewhere.

If you are accepting to do projects that you really want to finish, your completion will be higher.

Break into action plans with deadlines

Now that you have chosen what you want to do and don’t, let us break your large projects into size-able chunks.

You know what the end result of the project, say learning basic Korean in 60 days. Split the goal into action plans and assign timelines, say learning 50 new words each week.

You can go further and break it down to tasks for each day, if possible.

elgeewrites How to finish what you start: Stop being a serial starter 2914a34f201f4b30b4252586c2620862
Credit: Gfycat

These weekly goals will help you assess your performance and change course of action. And mainly to keep you on track.

Estimate what you need to finish

Another main reason for people quitting new projects is that they grossly underestimate the resources in terms of money, effort and time the project will demand.

So even before you start a project do a deeper investigation into the requirements. Basically, do not be me while I was in the quick BuJo phase (and let us not talk about my shelves that are not filled with pens, tapes and notebooks).

Also if you think you will need help from or have to coordinate with someone else, ensure they are available and discuss your goals and timelines with them also.

Track progress

Sometimes we lose motivation when we don’t see the ball moving. If our efforts do not turn into tangible results, why should we slog our asses off?

This is why I insist on tracking and rewarding progress towards a goal and just completion. Read 10 pages in a book? Give yourself a pat on the back, even if you have not finished the book yet. Now you have an incentive to read at least ten pages each day.

Announce your goals, or don’t

When you start a project, commit to completion. When that doesn’t seem good enough, get an accountability partner, maybe a friend, family or announce via social media.

elgeewrites How to finish what you start: Stop being a serial starter tumblr plln01b3eV1taguch 400
Credit: Tumblr

Ask them specifically to hold you to your commitment by frequently checking on you.

But for some people, like me, just talking about their goals to others is enough satisfaction that they never go back to working on it.

Figure out what works best for you and use that strategy to keep yourself accountable.

Understand YOU play the major role

But understand that you are working for yourself. It is YOU who wants to finish the project. And it is YOU who wants to break the pattern of not finishing what you start.

And that motivation should be coming within YOU, not from others holding you responsible. Or the peer pressure about it.

Just think about how YOU would feel after you finish the project and how it would help YOU in terms of your larger goal in life.

Perfection is not enough

One excuse people often give when they don’t get to doing what they started is that they are waiting for it to be perfect or the fear that the result won’t be as perfect as they imagined it to be.

elgeewrites How to finish what you start: Stop being a serial starter tumblr oj8fulROJk1vjvo5go1 r3 540
Credit: Wifflegif

First of all, STOP THAT.

Realize while you are waiting for perfection, others are doing something about it and you are missing out on the lead.

And you can always edit, change and perfect it once you are done. All you have to aim is for “good”. It need not be perfect, right now.

Perfection is the enemy of the good!

Also, unless you keep doing good enough work repeatedly, you will not become best or even better.

It is okay to quit

When all is said and done, it is okay to fail and okay to let go.

Our interests change and our priorities shuffle. And it is quite normal to drop the projects once in a while. You are a mere human, for that matter.

And I know this might happen after you have spent a considerable time working on the project, but all is not lost, right? Whatever you have worked on should have been a learning experience and who knows, maybe some day you might pick it up again.

But just ensure to study why and what made you leave the business unfinished, and that it is a rational decision.

Previously on similar topics

How To Be More Productive In Life: Tips To Getting Things Done

Feeling Overwhelmed With Work? – Things To Help You Out

Things To Do Without Leaving Your House

How do you manage your writing slump? (& ten tips to survive)

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What projects have you stopped abruptly and never worked to finish? Do you know the reason behind it? What are your tips to finish what you start? Let us talk.

Time Audit: Track to manage your time (Free Template)

How to be more productive in life: 8 Tips to getting things done

Do you ever feel that you are working for such a long time but the work never gets completed? Or you wish you had 27 hours in a day just so you can breathe a bit more? If you are constantly looking to be more productive in life and getting things done you are in the right place.

And also I know that feeling and I use to run like a headless chicken trying get my things in order, until a year or two ago. But then I started doing a few small changes to my routines, and then some. 

If you are constantly worrying about being more productive in life and getting things done you are in the right place. Here are few tips to help you do just that – be more productive. Click To Tweet

Okay, now I don’t want to be a brag but I have been posting consistently on my social media and blogs for a while, am I not? I am calling that a win!

How to be more productive in life

Here are few things that I have learnt during this journey and they have been working perfectly for me. 

  1. Choose three most important things
  2. Do not evade deep work
  3. Create a vision and break it to action plans
  4. Reward progress, not just completion
  5. Better your systems and environment 
  6. Habit stacking
  7. 2 Minute rule for beating procrastination
  8. Find yourself an accountability partner

Choose three most important things

You guys know that I love my lists and I probably cannot get through a day without a to do list or two. And yes, those lists usually have about 10-20 things to do each day. Quite out of control, to be honest.

to do lists be more productive in life
Credit: Tenor

But then I made a small change to my to do list and that has brought a great change.

I started adding three most important things that I had to do, each day.

Basically if I am done with those three things, I can slack a bit. Usually that means I can binge watch Netflix just after I tick them off and get to those other things on my to do list at my leisure. 

Guess what, I usually want to finish those three important things as the first thing in the morning, CUZ NETFLIX AWAITS.

You can not evade deep work

Speaking of most important things, make sure you are doing something meaningful in terms of your goal each day. It is easy to do 10 little things every day and still not moved towards your goals. Trust me, been there, done that. 

Instead schedule an hour each day to work on things that are hard and demand your full attention- be it writing or studying.

Distractions be more productive in life
Credit: Tenor

Cut out all distractions, keep your phones away and focus on the work in hand. 

Create a vision and break it to action plans

We all have too many things going on in different part of our lives and we are all running towards a lot of things. Sounds overwhelming right? Maybe this is the right time to be strategic about your long term goals. 

What are your projects for, say, the month? Be it decluttering your closet or churning out that 5000 word post, either way you need to be S.M.A.R.T about the goals AKA Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant and Time bound goals.

Vision goals be more productive in life
Credit: Southpark.cc

So break that post into smaller sections and set a deadline to get that written. Mark on your calendar how long it is going to take for you to declutter each shelf and ensure you get it done by then.

Reward progress, not just completion

Your task is taking too long to complete in a day? That is okay, just recognize the progress you made today, instead of waiting for the completion of entire task.

You wrote five pages of you twenty page essay? Wowza, you did a great job and treat yourself with a cup of coffee or a ten min walk. Acknowledging and rewarding the progress and just not completion can act as a huge motivation.

Better your systems and environment 

If something keeps tripping you from achieving your goals, check your system rather than being hard on yourself. 

Are you filling yourself with junk food while you binge watch? Keep unhealthy snacks out of your reach aka near your couch. Now you have to walk all the way to the kitchen to eat anything which will automatically reduce your consumption.

Snacks be more productive in life
Credit: Dlink

Too many snoozes? Keep your alarm away from the bed. Hate the huge pile of clothes on your chair? Change the place of the chair.

Ensure your system is not failing you, despite your good efforts. 

Habit stacking

Another cool method I found to get things done, even tasks that you are not fond of is habit stacking, otherwise called as creating a routine. 

The idea is to put a bunch of activities one after the other in a sequence. This way you can “hide” a habit you need to do but you are not interested to between habits you like to do anyway.

For instance, I love my morning coffee and posting on my Instagram stories, but I procrastinate clearing up my coffee table until it becomes an eye sore. 
So now, as soon as I fill my morning coffee cup, I clear my coffee table, which hardly takes 2-3 minutes. And then proceed to post on Instagram while I drink my coffee. 

Pick coffee – clear table – post on Instagram- drink coffee. Habits stacked! 

2 Minute rule for beating procrastination

As someone who is well versed in procrastination, here is a trick that has helped me time and again called the 2 minute rule. 

While preparing the to do list, if you come across a task that takes less than 2 minutes, do not add it on your to do list, just do it right away. 

Answer a mail in brief? Will it take less than 2 minute to send it? Do it now, don’t wait for later. At the least, your to do list will be under control, unlike mine.

Find yourself an accountability partner

When all else fails, do not hesitate to get a partner who will hold you accountable. That is right, tell someone what you will accomplish each day and then share what you have done. 

partner be more productive in life
Credit: Tenor

I know it might sound weird at first but it is effective.

Charvi from Not Just Fiction and I do this quite regularly. We send each other our to do lists each morning and then assess our day before we go to sleep. 

To be honest, just imagining how she might judge me if I don’t do at least half my to do list is what keeps me running most days. In her defense, she is the best and she never ever judges the weird things I put on my to do list. 

These are some of the things that I learned out of experience and have made my life easier. If you feel them useful, I would appreciate if you could share the post on social media. 

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What are your tricks to be more productive in general and getting things done? Do you ever feel the slump and how do you get out of it? Let us talk

Time Audit: Track to manage your time (Free Template)

Feeling overwhelmed with work – things to help you out

Are you feeling overwhelmed with work aka the never ending to do lists and work that would not stop piling? You are not alone in this. Especially during this dire time, we are all juggling multiple roles at the same time and it takes a toll on us.

I've days when none of my usual routines work and I can't put a word on the paper. What are your go to techniques when you are feeling overwhelmed with work? Click To Tweet

Are you feeling overwhelmed with work?

Here are some tips on recovering from the feeling of being helpless and getting things done.

White noise

Despite our best efforts, life gets us down. I have days when none of my usual routines work and I cannot put a word on the paper or get the household chores done. There are phone calls to make, Zoom meetings to attend and there is something always burning in the kitchen. Well, these are getting commoner these days. 

One thing that has always worked during those hard days is Stop, Drop and Breathe. And I usually put on my earphone with on some white noise (say, airplane noise or sleep noise) and I just focus on that. White noise are proved to be effective in calming down our nerves. Hey if the science says so, I am up for it. 

Here is a Spotify list of White noise background for you. 

Take a stock of things aka to do list

I know it sounds counter intuitive. But trust me, I am a total list freak. Almost every day I start the day with a to do list and I would be quite lost without them. 

Writing up a to do list and jotting down everything that is weighing on your mind is therapeutic.

to do list - feeling overwhelmed with work
Credit: Giphy

Pick up a paper or a mobile app whichever you feel comfortable with (both are equally effective), and list down the things to be done. Once you have written down everything, just mark them based on their urgency and priority.

Start it slow

Once your nerves are calm and you have identified your priorities, all your gut might say is jump right into it. Sure do it, but take things slow. Do not try to do all at once. I repeat do not overwhelm yourself by attempting to do everything at once. 

Even better, find the one thing that is the quickest to complete in your list and finish that one off. Just striking that one thing off the list would give your dopamine aka the motivation to work on the other things. 

Pomodoro technique

Don’t you hate it when you have to clean an entire room but Netflix is calling out to you? Choosing between number crunching on a spreadsheet and filling those Buzzfeed quizzes seems hard right?

I know it is easy to get sidetracked by other shiny little things when you have to do a serious chore, especially when that said chore is boring and difficult. It happens to me. A lot. 

Distracted - feeling overwhelmed with work
Credit: Giphy

Whenever I have to do any hard tasks I hate, I set my handy little timer app for 25 minutes and get to work. At the end of the twenty five minute slot, I take a five minute compulsory break to do something I like – perfect for a quiz don’t you think? 

A walk around the room, refill your water or do whatever you want to. But essentially, do not do that hard work you hated. Once the five minute is up, get back to your work or the next item on the to do list. You can substitute the 25/5 ratio with 40/10, as in forty minute of focused work and a ten minute break as well. 

The reward system works perfectly and keeps you productive consistently. And mainly keeps you off from feeling overwhelmed with work overload. 

Emotional time out

These uncertain times have got us all in a bunch. Having to live and work alongside family 24*7 may be a double edged sword. The fear of the pandemic and the new normalcy are all scaling up high against us and it is okay to be emotional about it.

Take a break each day from the chaos of the new normalcy and do something that you love. If you paint or do some kinda art, break a leg. Read a book. Write stuff out. Meditate. For me, cleaning around the house or just rearranging the furniture makes me feel better. 

time out - feeling overwhelmed with work
Credit: Giphy

Choose your own weapon. Do what you love, at least for a few minutes and take some time out. 

Feeling overwhelmed with work is common thing, given the uncertain situation and the number of changes that are happening so fast around us. But if it is happening regularly and coupled with other issues, please consult a doctor. The mental health is nothing to be ashamed of.

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What are your go to calming techniques when you are feeling overwhelmed with work and everything? Share it in the comments below. Let us talk.