Do you know how much time you’re spending on each task? I mean, really. Do you know? 

With the ever-increasing pace of life, it’s hard to keep track of how much time you’re actually spending on various tasks. 

Because of this, it’s easy to get frustrated and just give up on trying to improve yourself or get things done. 

But here’s the thing; you don’t need to be an expert in everything to know that keeping track of your time is important. 

In fact, if you don’t know how much time you’re wasting, it’s easy to set reminders or make phone calls to yourself so you can pay attention to the things that need your attention.

Have you ever been caught up in the ‘rush’ of doing something new and exciting, and then

committed to a task only to realize later that it’s taking longer than expected? 

This happens to most of us at one time or another. But it doesn’t have to be this way. 

There are some simple steps you can take to free up time and also make sure you are getting the most out of your time. This blog post is going to focus on a simple activity you can use to manage your time. 

Now, there are many ways you can spend time-tracking, and a lot of cool software options out there. 

However, at the heart of it all, there’s an idea that needs to be communicated. 

How much time do you spend on each of your important tasks and how much time do you spend on each of your less important tasks? 

These are your baseline numbers, and they’ll serve as a guide for how much time you need to allocate to each goal; and whether you’re reaching your limits.  

This will give you a sense of how strong a priority it is and establish if it’s important enough to be part of your top priorities. 

Try this exercise:

• Make a list of all the tasks that require your participation over the next week. 

If your participation is expected weekly. Identify the action each task requires and list any supporting documents. 

I’ve found that an effective way to manage your time is to write every task that needs to be done. (And even better, make a detailed description of each task on a sticky note which you can refer to frequently.) 

• Note how long you spend on each task. 

Keep a running total of how long you take to complete tasks on each project. 

When you start a new task, note the time it’ll take you to complete that task and any additional tasks that need to be done.

When you complete the tasks, note the time it took. Repeat this process each week. 

• Look for patterns for your time spent. 

Using a planner or a notebook, you can track: 

• Who did what when? 
• When was it started?
• How long did it take? 
• Did anything get done late/before the deadline? 
• Are there any loose ends that need tying up? 
• When is the best day to do this? 
• Is it useful to ask someone else to help with a project?

For example, if you typically work on your computer between 9 am and 5 pm, look at your notebook or planner and see where you spent the first hour. 

Was it sitting in bed or in your office? Did you take calls during lunch or read reports while sitting at your desk?

• Which tasks do you take the least amount of time and which tasks do you take the most? 

Once you have a handle on how much time you’re spending on various tasks, it becomes easier to identify which activities you need to prioritize. 

Let’s say you work on several activities at once and it takes 45 minutes to an hour for each one to complete. 

That means at the high end, you could spend an hour each day on tasks that aren’t specifically time-consuming. 

At the low end, you could do things like checking email or Facebook in between working on important tasks.

• Circle or highlight (or both!) your top three most important tasks and create a system to complete them first each day.

Looking at your list of top-priority tasks, look for opportunities to get started on them today. 

The system you create could be something simple, like having a stopwatch or timer set for each task. 

It could also be more involved, such as scheduling a meeting or time for an activity roundtable discussion at a certain time and place. 

You can use apps like Toggl or RescueTime, which allows you to track your time. However, there are many timekeeping apps you can download for free on your smartphone; please do your own research to see what works best for you. 

I use an app called Focus Keeper. There’s a free and paid version. The free version allows you to track the time of up to three tasks. With the paid version, you can track unlimited tasks for $5.99/year. The default timer is 25 minutes, however, you can adjust it to fit your needs. 

 Conclusion:

If you’ve been looking for a way to track your time, hopefully, we’ve given you some ideas of how to better manage your time. 

The goal is not just to see where we can cut back, but also to identify patterns that can help us better understand our strengths and weaknesses so you can carve out more free time in your own schedule without sacrificing quality work or productivity. 

What was your biggest takeaway from this blog post? Was it something specific about timing such as “I need to stop doing x” or did it prompt some other thoughts related to organization? Leave us a comment below!

Welcome, spring is here again! It’s been a long, cold, and dark winter. Many of us have felt the strain of winter. 

It’s time for a rebirth! The first quarter of the year is almost gone. 

Are you on track with your goals? 

It’s been one year since I began working from home. With the changes in work styles, projects, and the struggles of work-life balance, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed. 

So, I thought I’d touch on this topic and share what’s helped me to stay balanced. 

You know that feeling when you have so much going on at work, and then you get home and there are 10 more things to do? It’s overwhelming. 

Your head is spinning, but no matter how hard you try to focus on one task, the other thoughts keep coming back in. The worst part is, it seems like nothing gets done!

Every day we come up with a plan of action for what we want to accomplish or what needs to be done – from our personal life plans down to our weekly work schedule. 

But why don’t we have an effective action plan for when we’re overwhelmed?

An effective action plan is the foundation of success in any endeavor. 

In this article, I’ll share 3 simple, but effective techniques you can follow today to make your action plan for those times when everything feels too much.

How many times today, or this week have you felt overwhelmed with work and thought, “I don’t know where to start?” Or how about when you were too busy to take care of yourself? 

Maybe it’s been a few days since you’ve exercised. Perhaps your diet has been less than stellar.

We all feel that way at one point or another, but we can’t let the feeling overwhelm us. We need an effective action plan!

Start with your short-term goals

I’m convinced that planning is the key to success. 

And there’s no better way to plan than by defining your short-term goals. Losing focus on your long-term goals can ruin your day-to-day progress.

However, short-term goals allow you to take small steps towards your ultimate goal. 

When you set short-term goals for yourself; it’s much easier to achieve them. 

Planning how to achieve today’s goals is better than never planning at all! 

Imagine how much happier you would be if you knew exactly where you were going on any day? 

Imagine hitting “go” on a project today (even if it’s not something you’ve set as a priority) and knowing it was all down to that one successful afternoon.

When you break or re-prioritize your short-term goals into manageable chunks, you eliminate most of those meetings and projects that are holding you back.  

So, start breaking down each day into attainable chunks – from morning rituals and evening routines all the way through lunchtime planning – so that everything feels less chaotic. 

Try the following tips: 

• Divide your day into morning, afternoon, evening. Plan your day the night before.
• Create a list of tasks for each chunk of the day. 
• Plan out what you want to accomplish in that time period and set goals for yourself. For example, write 3 small achievable goals for the day. 

Use a Timeline  – This will help you identify what you can tackle now vs later 

A timeline can allow you to target your projects more precisely in terms of time allocation. 

It does this by categorizing tasks by their priority and giving you a sense of when you might need to work on them. 

For example, if you’re working on a meal plan for tomorrow and you’re struggling to come up with an action item (such as “call the electrician”), then you might find it helpful to create a “priority task list” that breaks down the tasks by how much time they’re likely to take. 

Conclusion:

When you feel like there’s too much to do and not enough time, it’s difficult to know where to start. 

It’s easy for the day-to-day tasks of life to overwhelm your mind when you don’t have a plan in place. 

But once you create an actionable plan, each task is small and manageable—it feels less overwhelming and more achievable than before! 

This feeling of accomplishment will motivate you even more so that tomorrow becomes easier as well. 

You might actually look forward to tackling some things on your list because they are no longer daunting or scary but exciting challenges with clear steps towards completion. 

In order for this process to work effectively though, I recommend breaking down your goals into short-term and long-term ones. 

Then set a timeline for how much time you’re willing to spend on each goal at any point in the day or week. 

This will help you identify what should be tackled now versus later so that we don’t become paralyzed by our own overwhelm! 

What I want you to know is that there’s always time for success! The key isn’t how much time we spend working or committing; it’s in what we do with our time.

Remember, an effective action plan is the difference between being busy and being productive. 

To get started today:

1. Take a deep breath 
2. Write a list of your goals both short and long-term
3. Divide them into broader categories
4. Brainstorm all the tasks you want to accomplish in a day
5. Define the time and order of importance for each task so it’s clear how much time each task will take and when it should be completed.
6. Create a timeline to keep track of your progress
7. Follow your plan!

Have you ever been stuck in your work and had a hard time focusing? It can be having more on your plate, having long hours at the office or even getting frustrated in the morning. 

Sometimes you feel unmotivated and devoid of ideas. You can stop the feeling by learning how to prioritize your tasks.

Prioritizing is a pivotal step in keeping our minds focused on our work. 

A task at hand doesn’t always mean that it deserves top priority over another task, such as saving for a new car. 

The key to thinking strategically about your daily tasks is practicing taking small steps toward completing a task instead of jumping straight to the next thing. 

By taking small steps toward completing small tasks throughout the day, you’ll feel more accomplished.

Here are a few ways you can prioritize if you have trouble focusing on your work and time management. It’s time to stop losing sleep and prioritize solving problems.

Make a to-do list

One challenge that goes hand in hand with having a very busy schedule is being able to prioritize your tasks. This can also be difficult when you’re forced to juggle more than one thing at a time.

So, before you work on your projects, get rid of all the other things on your mind. 

Leftovers from a previous project, or unfinished projects from the past; these unhelpful items clutter your brain which makes it difficult to concentrate on your work.

Getting a head start on anything takes discipline. And here’s why having a to-do list makes you more productive: I’ve learned that your ability to focus is very much linked to your ability to get organized. 

It’s the same reason I write everything you need to do in advance so you have no excuse not to do it. 

As the saying goes, “if you can’t concentrate, you won’t accomplish anything.” Therefore, being organized can help you stay focused and get things done.

When you keep a list of your tasks, it is easier to stay motivated and maintain good work habits. It can also help you get the most out of your day, which increases the quality of your work.

Use the ‘rule of three’ to focus on your top three priorities.

The rule of three is a productivity hack that helps you get stuff done and makes it easier to prioritize tasks in your life.

The rule says you should tackle tasks in increasing order of difficulty: (1) easiest first, (2) harder but more important tasks and finally (3) the ones that give you less energy and enthusiasm. 

For example, if you have a hard time focusing on that email, it’s probably best to shift your focus to something else – like writing an article or enter that data  – and then wrestling back the motivation to finish the email.

I’ve found that although we’re all guilty of multitasking, sometimes we can get caught up in the “I have to do this and then that” thinking and end up neglecting other important tasks. 

I recently experienced this at work where I had to clear my calendar for almost two weeks, and work from Monday to Saturday lacking sleep. 

I could not successfully tackle my most important projects during those scheduled working hours. 

However, by implementing the “rule of three” I could focus on my vital tasks instead of allowing them to fall through the cracks.

Determine the level of focus needed to complete each task

Prioritization is more important for tasks that demand your full attention. Here are some things to keep in mind. 

Paying attention to details may reduce stress while also helping you form better habits – staying on task, staying focused. 

If you find you are struggling to focus and commit to a task, try looking at your commitments over a two-day window. 

Deciding early on which tasks should be part of your day will help you become more productive and perform at your best every time you work on a project. 

For example, if you’re working at the office on Monday and have to go to the gym on Wednesday, the second task might be to write the tasks you need to complete on Friday. This strategy may feel more manageable if you have some tasks completed by Thursday and Friday. 

Conclusion:

If you’re having trouble focusing, it’s time to stop losing sleep and prioritize solving the problem. 

Prioritizing is a skill that’s extremely useful for anyone who works in an environment where interruptions are common and deadlines are looming.

Schedules, appointments, emails and other daily distractions can become overwhelming quickly. 

We’ve provided a few ways for you to get started with prioritizing your work so that nothing falls through the cracks and everything gets done efficiently. 

We recommend you try the three methods mentioned above. You can also use our free time-management checklist if you need help to get started!

Have any of these methods worked for you? Let us know in the comments section!