1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, 2 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:16,600 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:19,920 Speaker 1: tip is that time tracking doesn't have to be all 4 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: or nothing. If you are not up for tracking all 5 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty eight hours in the week, you 6 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: can track just some of your time. This partial tracking 7 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: can still provide insights about the parts of the week 8 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:38,159 Speaker 1: that you are most curious about or most want to improve. 9 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: I know some people are somewhat interested in time tracking, 10 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,160 Speaker 1: but are also not that enthusiastic about tracking their time 11 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:51,239 Speaker 1: for an entire week. Perhaps they think it will be tedious. 12 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: Perhaps they think they know how certain things look, which 13 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: may be true. For instance, for work, if you do 14 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,320 Speaker 1: set shifts, set a job, or punch in and out 15 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: at set times. Perhaps people are busy and feel it 16 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: is just one more thing to do. But that doesn't 17 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:14,279 Speaker 1: mean that time tracking absolutely can't happen. You can track 18 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: just a part of your day, or any part of 19 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: the week that you would like to improve. For instance, 20 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: if your mornings tend to feel rushed and inefficient, you 21 00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 1: could track from the time you wake up until the 22 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:30,479 Speaker 1: time you get to work. If you want to learn 23 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:32,840 Speaker 1: more about where your work time goes, or why you 24 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: feel you are never making progress on your professional priorities. 25 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 1: You could track just your work time, or maybe you 26 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 1: feel like your evenings have the potential to be a 27 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: lot better than they are. You could track from the 28 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: time you stop work or the time your kids get 29 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: home from school until the time you go to bed. 30 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: Some people feel disappointed by their weekends. Maybe you feel 31 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: like your weekends are consumed by chores and driving, or 32 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: maybe you feel like you never get time for life 33 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: maintenance tasks on the weekend and so they just stack up. 34 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: Perhaps your weekends are full of adventures for your kids, 35 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:14,239 Speaker 1: but you're wondering if you could fit in something memorable 36 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: for yourself. Tracking your weekend time could provide insight and 37 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: to where your time is currently going. Practically speaking, if 38 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: you do decide to track just some of your time, 39 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: you can still use a weekly spreadsheet. You simply leave 40 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: the blocks blank for the periods you are not tracking. 41 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: After you track part of your time, you can analyze 42 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,080 Speaker 1: and reflect on it just as you would if you 43 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: had tracked the whole week. You can look for patterns 44 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: time that could be repurposed for something else. Activities you 45 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: could do more efficiently and so forth. Now, to be sure, 46 00:02:57,400 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 1: there is a lot of value in tracking your whole 47 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: week and seeing how your whole week fits together. Sometimes 48 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: spending time better is about shifting time from one activity 49 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: to another, so seeing the whole week laid out can 50 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: be valuable. Sometimes good time management really is about looking 51 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 1: at all the puzzle pieces. Your mornings are going to 52 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 1: be rough. If you are not going to bed on 53 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:25,079 Speaker 1: time the night before, maybe you're not going to bet 54 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: on time because you're trying to score some leasure time. 55 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: Maybe that's because evenings feel unfocused until late at night. 56 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: Maybe that's because you don't know exactly when work will 57 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: be done. So we're looking back at the variable of 58 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: quitting time to find out why you can't seem to 59 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:47,760 Speaker 1: run at six am. But that said, if you know 60 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: you are not going to track all your time, tracking 61 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: some of your time could still offer some insights, and 62 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: who knows, maybe in tracking some of your time, you 63 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: may realize that time tracking isn't so hard after all. 64 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: You might just decide to track a whole week in 65 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: the future. In the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks for listening, 66 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:23,839 Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks 67 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, 68 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura 69 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 1: vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. 70 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, 71 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.