Timing is the accounting and categorization of time costs. The so-called time audit. It is practiced both in work and in everyday life in order to understand what precious hours are spent on. As the pace of life increases, attention to this technique is growing, and it is increasingly recommended in trainings for business and personal growth. These instructions refer to the use of timekeeping techniques for personal use. It is recommended to carry it out for at least two weeks.
It is necessary
- clock
- notebook and pen / computer with Excel program or other optional / mobile phone with timing application / computer with any browser and Internet access
Instructions
Step 1
Choose the categories according to which you will distribute the time spent. For example, such:
1) sleep is just a dream and nothing else;
2) personal - everyday life, hygiene, eating and other necessary matters;
3) road - time spent in transport;
4) work - time spent on professional tasks (that is, for work and only for work);
5) development - everything you do for professional and personal growth;
6) rest - something that brings you pleasure and relaxation (here, as well as in the category of "work", only "involved" rest falls, watching TV "with nothing to do", alas, falls into the last category);
7) communication - communication "for the soul", everything related to work - in the fourth category, useless chatter, unconstructive arguments and bickering - in the last;
8) waste of time - everything that you did uninvolved, as well as what you could not do at all.
Step 2
Choose a way of keeping time. Prepare a template: install and configure an application for a mobile phone, create a spreadsheet in Excel, draw notebook sheets for 14 days in advance, or come up with and implement your own way of recording cases.
Step 3
Starting the next morning, as soon as you wake up, start writing down all your activities with an accuracy of 5-10 minutes and assign them to the appropriate category.
For example:
00.0 - 06.50 - sleeping (1)
06.51 - 07.02 - lying, worried about the upcoming presentation (8)
07.03 - 07.15 - washed, took a shower (2), etc.
Step 4
Calculate the total time for each category (if the selected program does not do it for you). Counting can be done, for example, the next day.
Step 5
After 14 days, take stock and draw conclusions about where your time is going. You may want to repeat the exercise, for example highlighting other categories. Or you just go to see a different result.
Analyze the dynamics. Many people notice that the very need to fix all cases and refer them to one category or another mobilizes. Every day fewer and fewer hours go into the shameful "Waste of time" category.
