1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:06,320 Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Every day on this before 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:10,119 Speaker 1: Breakfast podcast, I share a practical tip that will help 3 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: you take your day from great to awesome. Today's tip 4 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:17,800 Speaker 1: is to track your time. You can start with twenty 5 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:21,280 Speaker 1: four hours, but I hope you'll do more. In this episode, 6 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: I'll be explaining why I write and speak about time 7 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:28,280 Speaker 1: management and so. People sometimes tell me that they want 8 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: to spend their time better. They asked me what's the 9 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: first thing they should do. My answer is always the same. 10 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: If you want to spend your time better, you need 11 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: to figure out where it's going now. Because if you 12 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 1: don't know where the time is going now, how do 13 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: you know if you're changing the right thing. Maybe something 14 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: you thought was a problem really isn't. Maybe something you've 15 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: never even considered is taking a lot more time than 16 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,400 Speaker 1: you thought. Just like when you're making a business decision, 17 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: you want to be sure you're working from good data. 18 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: The best way to get that data try tracking your time. 19 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 1: Ideally for a week, but even a few days or 20 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: just one day can be helpful. I guarantee it will 21 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: be enlightening. How do I know that, Well, it's definitely 22 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: been enlightening for me. I've had thousands of people track 23 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:24,759 Speaker 1: their time over the years. Generally people use a spreadsheet 24 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: I've designed, which you can get from my website or 25 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 1: you can build one yourself. It's got the days of 26 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: the week along the top from Monday to Sunday, and 27 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: half hour blocks running down the left hand side from 28 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: five am to four thirty am, So if you're counting, 29 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: that's three thirty six half hour cells representing the hundred 30 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: sixty eight hour week. Other people use apps. I mean, 31 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,559 Speaker 1: there's dozens of commercial time tracking apps on the market, 32 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 1: or some arts A types like to walk around with 33 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: a little notebook and keep notes, writing everything down in 34 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 1: narrative style. So since fair is fair, I've tracked my 35 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: time too. I actually began tracking my time continuously in 36 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: half hour blocks in April. No crisis or dark moment 37 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: prompted this tracking, but I had recently had my fourth child, 38 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: and I suspected that this might introduce some new challenges 39 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: into my family's already busy life. So I started tracking 40 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: in mid April and figured i'd go for a month 41 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: or so. Then after a month, I decided it was 42 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,519 Speaker 1: easy enough and interesting enough that I would just keep going, 43 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: at least for a year. Sure enough, one year in 44 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: I found out all sorts of interesting things. Even as 45 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: someone who thought she knew everything there was to know 46 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: about time. First discovery, I worked less than I thought 47 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: I did. In my mind, I was working fifty hours 48 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 1: a week or maybe more. After all, I worked all 49 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: day during the work day, I worked at night after 50 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: my kids went to bed. I often did work on 51 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:53,960 Speaker 1: the weekends. I traveled for speeches, so that's easily fifty 52 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:58,639 Speaker 1: fifty five maybe sixty hours, right ump. I rarely did 53 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: all those things in the same week. In my mind, 54 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: I was remembering my most work heavy weeks as typical 55 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,080 Speaker 1: because I wanted to see myself as the kind of 56 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: serious professional who was working long hours. When I tracked 57 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:16,519 Speaker 1: all my time, I saw that the long term average 58 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: was closer to forty hours. Forty is a different number 59 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: than fifty. It's not that I never worked fifty hours 60 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: a week, because sometimes I did. Sometimes I worked sixty 61 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 1: hours a week, but those weeks were no more typical 62 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: than the weeks I worked thirty hours. I have since 63 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: learned that this is a common blind spot. There was 64 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: once a study comparing people's estimated work weeks with time diaries. 65 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: They found that people claiming seventy five plus hour work 66 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: weeks were off by about twenty five hours. You can 67 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: guess in which direction right. It's funny, but it's important 68 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: to understand what's going on. We live in a world 69 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: where being busy is seen as a badge of honor. 70 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: We feel like we're working hard, heard, and we feel 71 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: like we're working long, so we put a high number 72 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: on it. You know how these conversations go. I worked 73 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: sixty hours last week. Sixty. I wish I worked sixty. 74 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: I worked seventy. Seventy, Oh, seventy is my light season, 75 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: so on it goes. I once met a young man 76 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: at a party who told me he was working a 77 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: hundred eighty hours a week at his startup, which is 78 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 1: very impressive if you multiply by seven. Keeping track of 79 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,160 Speaker 1: time gives us a more accurate picture of our life. 80 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 1: When we know where the time really goes, we can 81 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:33,840 Speaker 1: make better choices. I could make sure that I spent 82 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: the forty hours I was working wisely, and that I 83 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:39,599 Speaker 1: made good choices with those ten other hours that I 84 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: didn't know. We're there. I also learned that I spent 85 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: a lot of time in the car since I run 86 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: my business out of a home office. I don't have 87 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 1: a daily commute, so in my mind, time in the 88 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: car was this negligible number. Except it wasn't. I soon 89 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: learned that I spent more than an hour a day 90 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: in the car, mostly on short trips. This is actually 91 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: one of the reasons I got into podcasts. I realized 92 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:07,360 Speaker 1: I needed something constructive to do at this time, and 93 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: maybe other people did too. Just to give you a 94 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: sense of how far off my estimation was, I was 95 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: spending way more time in the car than I was exercising. 96 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,359 Speaker 1: But in my mind I was exercising a lot and 97 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: I was rarely in the car. But what was most 98 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: interesting to me is that I still had space in 99 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:29,359 Speaker 1: my life. My husband and I both work, we have 100 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,679 Speaker 1: four active children. Yet I could see on my time 101 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: log that there was space I could redeploy to new 102 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: activities if I chose so. For instance, I joined a 103 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: choir that rehearsed on Thursday nights during the school year. 104 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:45,359 Speaker 1: I had been saying how much I missed singing. It 105 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 1: turned out I did have time to sing. Time tracking 106 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: showed me that I promised that time tracking is easy. 107 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 1: I just go in three to four times per day, 108 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: writing down what I've done since the last check in. 109 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:02,719 Speaker 1: Broad categories are okay, we're sleep, drive, run, cooked, dinner, 110 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: play with kids. Consistency is more important than getting bogged 111 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:09,040 Speaker 1: down in the details. Each check in takes me less 112 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: than a minute, so time tracking takes me about three 113 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,159 Speaker 1: minutes a day. That's the same amount of time I 114 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: spend brushing my teeth, and that's an activity I've yet 115 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: to declare myself too busy to do. I hope you'll 116 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 1: give it a try. You can start now. In fact, 117 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:25,159 Speaker 1: here's a way to feel like you've got a head. 118 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: Start starting now, write down how you've spent the past 119 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: twenty four hours. It turns out most of us can 120 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: remember the past twenty four hours with reasonable accuracy. Now 121 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,599 Speaker 1: just keep going for the next twenty four hours, and wow, 122 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: you've got two days of data to work with. That's great. 123 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:46,360 Speaker 1: You may already be seeing patterns. Make sure you track 124 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,400 Speaker 1: at least one weekend day, because weekends are real days too, 125 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 1: and this time really counts. After a week. Add up 126 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: the major categories. Ask yourself what you like, ask yourself 127 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: what you want to change, No judgment. This is just 128 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: about data and learning. More about yourself. But I can 129 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:11,320 Speaker 1: tell you this, Knowing where the time goes has been 130 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: life changing for me, and I promise it will be 131 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: for you too. If you track your time, I'd love 132 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: to know what you find out. You can email me 133 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com. 134 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making 135 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to 136 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions, 137 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook 138 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the 139 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also 140 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i 141 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out 142 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,239 Speaker 1: with all the letters. Thanks so much. I look forward 143 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: to staying in touch.