FIND OUT WHERE YOUR TIME GOES

Jun 8 2008 by Pauline Holt, Sunday Sun

TIME is fast becoming one of the most precious commodities of the 21st century, yet, if I was to ask you to describe how you spend your time, would you be able to tell me?

Everyone complains of being too busy, but what exactly are we all doing? How are we choosing to spend our precious time?

In the past couple of weeks I’ve found myself getting to the end of the working day and wondering what on earth I’ve been so busy doing all day.

Am I using my time wisely? Am I being productive? Are my activities moving me towards what I want to achieve and what I hold to be important?

If you find yourself asking the same kinds of questions, here’s an exercise which will hopefully give you some answers. . .

For the next week, try keeping a time log. Keep as accurate and detailed a record as you can of everything you do each day.

Then, at the end of each day — and the week — analyse of where your time goes. I often ask clients to do this and the results can be a real eye-opener.

The first time I tried it I was shocked to discover that I was spending two to three hours each day just on emails and, even worse, that I was typically working 10 to 12-hour days.

Well that had to stop!

The thing was, that until I did the time log and saw it in black and white I honestly didn’t realise how much time I was wasting.

Once you know exactly where all your time is going, you will be in a far better position to take control of it and make some clear choices.

V ANNABEL SUTTON is a professionally-certified life coach and author of 52 Ways to Handle It — a Life Coaching Year, available from Neal’s Yard Remedies — www.nealsyardremedies.co.uk — priced £6.50. To contact Annabel or subscribe to her free coaching tips, please email annabel@life-designs.co.uk or visit www.life-designs.co.uk