Where is Your Time Going?

One of the top complains I hear is “I just don’t have the time to …” So how is it we all have the same 24 hours in a day, but Sally can manage to complete all of her tasks on her to-do list, while Susie barely finished item 3? Is Sally Superwoman? NO. Sally just knows how to manage her time better and you can, too.

1. For the next 5 days, document how you are spending your time from the time you get up until the time you go to bed. When you get up in the morning, write down how much time you spent sleeping.

Ex:

Time	Task
06:00	Got out of bed
06:30	Get kids ready for school
07:30	Eat Breakfast/Drop Kids Off/Drive to Work
09:30	Answer Phones
10:30	Make Sales Calls
11:45	Answer Phones
1:00	Lunch
1:30	Meeting
3:30	Coffee break – chat
4:00	Emails
5:00	Make Sales Calls
6:00	Drive Home
7:00	Dinner
7:30	Watched TV/Surfed Internet
11:00	Went to bed

2. At the end of five days calculate how much time you spend on each activity

Ex:

Activity	Hours spent
Sleep	47 hours
Get kids ready for school	5 hours
Eat Breakfast/Drop Kids Off/Drive to Work	10 hours
Answer Phones	14 hours
Make Sales Calls	9 hours
Lunch	2.5 hours
Coffee break – chat	2.5 hours
Meeting	4 hours
Emails	4 hours
Drive Home	6 hours
Dinner	2.5 hours
Watched TV/Surfed Internet	26 hours

This may be how a typical work week looks for you. Not every day will be the same, so your numbers may vary in each area.

What do you notice in this example? This person spends a lot of time surfing the internet and watching TV. He or she also spends a great deal of time on the road to and from work. Now what if this person were using half of that time watching TV focusing on other tasks such as exercising or working on a side business? So for the next step:

3. Make a list of other activities you could be doing with your time:

Ex:

Alternative Activity	Why? Benefit?
Gym/Workout	Lose weight, have more energy
Read Bible	Spiritual Development
Journal	Outlet for expressing feelings
Take wife on a date	Nurture marital relationship
Language Class	Learn new language, increase marketability
Gardening	Have fresh vegetables
Start a part time business	Earn extra money!

Now doesn’t it feel good to know that you have the time to do the things you want to do? Now take action and get going.