How Are You Spending Your Time?

“Time is flying by”.

“I never seem to have enough hours in the day”.

Just two comments I hear on a regular basis from some of the clients I work with. It’s completely understandable. Our modern work place is hectic and it seems that every week and month, the expectation of having to respond rapidly is ever increasing.

A time management exercise my clients find helpful is to start to record how they are spending their time during the working day. Some use a journal, others record details on a spreadsheet and some invest in an app. Whatever method works best for you, go with that one. If you spend a few weeks honestly recording how you spend your time, it will gives you lots to think about. You will see trends and patterns around how you are investing your time.

Incidentally, most clients admit that their time management improves even before any analysis takes place, simply because they become more aware of how they are spending their time (and consciousness around someone else will be looking at it!). When the time analysis starts, peoples reaction to how much time they actually spend on certain activities is very revealing

“I cant believe how much time I spend clearing my inbox every day”

The Time Matrix model is a great looking glass through which we can analyse and categorize how we are spending our time. There are 4 sections based on levels of Importance and Urgency

Important and Urgent

Unforeseen emergencies, crisis problems, non negotiable report or project deadlines, genuinely urgent correspondence and HR issues are commonly seen here. As they are urgent and important, they need to be addressed right away. Accept its the way it is for now and carry out the tasks without delay.

Important but Not Urgent

Time in this key sector is taken up with strategy, planning, meetings, developing relationships and alliances and other important proactive tasks that can reduce the amount of firefighting needed at a later date. Its best to spend as much time here as possible.

Important But Not Urgent

This is where self discipline and managing your time really starts to comes in to play. Time spent on phone calls, emails, other communication, (non critical) meetings and reporting all need to be looked at. These tasks need to be completed but it’s the timing of them that’s crucial. In many cases, some of the tasks could be scheduled for a later time or in some cases delegated.

Not Important & Not Urgent

Here is the time consuming “black hole” where excessive time spent on junk emails, unimportant telephone calls, unnecessary tasks etc happens. Its amazing how much time can be saved in a week when you are very disciplined in this sector and that comes through time tracking, reflection and awareness.

Some questions to ask yourself about how you are spending your time.

Once you have spent a few weeks capturing how you are actually spending your time, ask yourself a few questions when you are looking at the data in front of you.

• Is anything jumping out at you in terms of how long or short you are spending on an activity?
• Are there any immediate quick wins where you can claw back some time?
• Are you spending an appropriate amount of time working on the activities that are moving you towards your desired future state and goals?
• What three things could you change today to free up more time for your important and not urgent activities?

Examining how you are spending your time might just be one of the best ways of spending some of your time