The Benefit of Tracking Time

Of late, I’ve had the feeling that my mornings or afternoons have been swallowed up. I don’t have a clue about what has been accomplished or completed. I’m not sure whether this is from being too busy or not busy enough, but no matter, I’ve got to get a handle on it!

In the past I’ve always turned to paper time sheets etc., but this time I’ve decided to go “cyber” and so I searched for an iPhone app that would track tasks, and more importantly in “real” time. The reason for using an iPhone app versus a web-based system is mobility. During the day, I may go from point A to point B and I don’t want to have to constantly login, logout, go to a different room or computer to enter my data. I want my system to move with me and be quick and fairly easy to learn.

What I found was a cool little tool appropriately called the Time Tracker by Nonlinear Ideas, Inc. I originally downloaded the “free” version, but today I upgraded because the pie charts are pretty nice plus it offers more control overall.

Today is day two and I’m already getting a visual of how the hours in my day have been spent: coaching, assisting clients, prospecting and then there are those peripheral little things like changing the laundry or checking social media accounts.

I probably won’t use this tracker every day or for every task. In fact, I forgot to enter “writing” to start the tracker when I began this post, so I’m flying untracked at present – uh-oh ;-). What I do know, I feel like I have a great start to clearing my mind and helping me see exactly where all those hours in my day go. That’s an excellent start to my week!

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