WEBVTT - What time data would be useful to you?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that as you are starting to track your time,

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<v Speaker 1>figure out what you want to learn from your time tracking.

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<v Speaker 1>If you identify a few numbers that you particularly want

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<v Speaker 1>to see, you can track in a way that makes

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<v Speaker 1>sure you get them. So lots of folks are tracking

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<v Speaker 1>their time with me here in January as part of

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<v Speaker 1>my annual time tracking challenge. I think it can be

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<v Speaker 1>helpful in general to see where the one hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>sixty eight hours of the week go. When we know

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<v Speaker 1>where the time goes, we can make choices about what

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<v Speaker 1>we would like to change or celebrate. But it is

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<v Speaker 1>even more useful to track time if you have particular

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<v Speaker 1>questions you want answered. People track in more or less

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<v Speaker 1>detail in different categories, and so knowing what you want

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<v Speaker 1>to know will allow you to focus more on these aspects.

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<v Speaker 1>For instance, many people want the answers to big picture

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<v Speaker 1>questions how many hours per week do you spend working?

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<v Speaker 1>How much time do you spend with your kids? But

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<v Speaker 1>within these categories, you might also want to get more granular.

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<v Speaker 1>For instance, within the category of work. You might want

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<v Speaker 1>to know how much time you spend on email or

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<v Speaker 1>in meetings versus other things. Perhaps at home, you want

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<v Speaker 1>to know how much one on one time you have

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<v Speaker 1>with each kid, or how much time you spend on

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<v Speaker 1>caregiving tasks like helping with homework, or how much time

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<v Speaker 1>you spend driving people around. You might want to see

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<v Speaker 1>how much sleep you get each night, and also whether

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<v Speaker 1>your bedtimes and waking times are consistent. You might see

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<v Speaker 1>how many times you get up in the night and when.

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<v Speaker 1>Some people don't remember to track this, but if you

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<v Speaker 1>want to know, then you need to remind yourself for

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<v Speaker 1>make a note or aim to remember in the morning.

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<v Speaker 1>Sometimes people just note categories like leisure or personal time.

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<v Speaker 1>That is totally fine, But if you want to know

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<v Speaker 1>how much of this you spend on hobbies versus random puttering,

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<v Speaker 1>you'll want to go into these blocks of time in

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<v Speaker 1>more detail. Maybe you want to look for patterns you

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<v Speaker 1>are suspecting, like that you indulge in more low quality

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<v Speaker 1>leisure time toward the end of the week when you

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<v Speaker 1>are tired. When you know what data you want to

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<v Speaker 1>see going into your week of time tracking, that will

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<v Speaker 1>guide you in deciding what details you do and don't

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<v Speaker 1>need on your time log. For instance, if you are

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<v Speaker 1>primarily interested in how much time you spend with your kids,

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<v Speaker 1>you can probably log all your work hours as simply work.

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<v Speaker 1>On the other hand, if you want to know how

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<v Speaker 1>much time you spend in meetings or on an email,

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<v Speaker 1>you will need to log the specific activity you are

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<v Speaker 1>doing for work. At the end of a week of tracking,

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<v Speaker 1>review your log with these questions in mind. Tally the

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<v Speaker 1>categories you are interested in and see what you learn.

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<v Speaker 1>You might be surprised, or you might not be. We

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<v Speaker 1>don't know until we see the results. You can track

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<v Speaker 1>all your time in close detail, but trying to capture

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<v Speaker 1>too much detail often means people stop tracking. So if

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<v Speaker 1>you want to finish the log and get a holistic

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<v Speaker 1>picture of your week, it helps to decide what you

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<v Speaker 1>care about most and what you care about least. I

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<v Speaker 1>know this week, I am tracking my work hours slightly

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<v Speaker 1>more closely since I think I need a tune up here,

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<v Speaker 1>But my sleep is mostly fine, so that can stay broad.

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<v Speaker 1>If you identify specific data that you want from your

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<v Speaker 1>time tracking, I would love to hear what you focus

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<v Speaker 1>on and what you learn. You can reach me at

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<v Speaker 1>Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this

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<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

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<v Speaker 1>most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.