Managing your time, managing yourself: Track time spent on activities
Last week I met with one of my students who asked me how do I get everything done and how does my calendar look like. I have always scheduled myself to the every last minute, but since this past week I have actually been tracking my every minute as well. So, for example, if I am spending time on blog-related matters, that time is subtracted from the time I can assign to read scholarly articles, teach, do research or do consulting stuff.
The other improvement I have done is adding what contests I’m running on Hummingbird604.com. This enables me to keep track (given that I no longer have interns and I still get pitched quite a lot) of the contests I am running.
When a contest turns pink, it means it’s passed and I should have drawn tickets already. And because I have my Google Calendars synchronized with my iPhone, I get instant notifications of when the contest is about to expire. One thing I can tell you is – once you start tracking minute by minute the time you spend on activities, you realize how much of your time is actually wasted, and how little productivity you have. And sad as this sounds – social media is one of those distractors that makes me lose productivity!
Time management is really necessary for us as we juggle between our family, professional career and social life. How to download this organizer? Thank you for sharing. A lot of busy people will surely benefit from this.
Mike
Very impressive time management chart. Like Mike, I would also like to know what tools you are using to keep so organized. I see Google in the bottom panel, what about the top graphic?
Thanks, Jonathan
I love how you schedule exercise and social activities into your life. Seems like you’re managing to be well-balanced. Thanks for sharing, this is inspiring!
Thanks, everyone (and especially Sara who noticed that I do schedule exercise and my social activities). Not everything is work! I do work really hard, but not all the time!