OK everyone, the core of time management is to know what you're currently doing so you can then improve the situation!

For one week - heck just start with ONE DAY - write down how you spend your time. Don't judge, just write. Is it four hours watching TV? An hour stuck in a traffic jam? Write it all down. The only way you can make things better is to know what you are currently doing!

Post here and we can help!

I've been doing this for three days now and it really does help! It's not a "typical week" because I'm just back from vacation and am doing a lot of catching up, but even so it's eye opening how much time certain tasks take me.

I had nose surgery so there was a big pause in my time management inventories but I am back at it again. I really do find it a valuable task. Seeing what I'm doing - and prioritizing the activities - has allowed me to plow through a number of tasks fairly quickly.

How do you guys feel your days are spent? With things you find of value? Or do you get distracted by random things?

I have to do something similiar to this already at work. We have a task list that is broken down into 15 minute time slots. Not only does this see what client work we do all day, it shows where could have been more productive or where we should take a breather for a few minutes. I find it to be a helpful tool.

It definitely does help to take short breaks, stretch, walk around and reset your brain. It means you go back to work much more efficiently!

My days depend on whether or not they are traveling days, as i live in an RV. On non-travel days, this is what I do:

-Sleep until I wake naturally, usually 9 or 10 am
-Care for the dogs and myself, make my decaf coffee
-Get on the laptop and check emails
-Start working on RunPee.com (blogging, marketing, social media management, and much more). This usually takes me all day, every day, and usually long into the night.
-Sometimes I get up to eat, walk the dogs, clean "house" and other life tasks
-When I am too tired to do any more work, I work out on my TwistBoard while watching the Aussie Biggest Loser episodes (or whatever i am watching serially at that time)
-then i read and go to sleep, often at 2am

I have been pouring all my energies into RunPee as I am banking on making some income from that eventually. Right now hubby and I are getting huge fees from the bank with all the Insufficient Funds notices...over and over and over. It's a huge stressor and we have no money to live on. My mom is helping me with cash to buy food and dan's previous client work has run out. We know that Apple will be giving us some okay money from the RunPee application on iTunes but we probably won't see it until some point in September.

It is hard to stay positive, but I have to. I know this will work out for us and that I need to just throw everything I have into managing RunPee and the RunPee blog right now, so that it can start to bring us the best income possible.

It feels very good to be this focused on one project for once. I normally have a gazillion projects going on at once and none ever get the proper time given to them to be a real success.

I need help deciding what projects besides RunPee to return to and keep. I really am in a quandary about some of them.

Right now a good portion of my day is ruled by work. I have a three hour round trip back and forth from work from Springfield, Mass to Troy, N.Y.. I work the third shift from 10pm to 8am. I get home about 10am, am up for a couple of hours, go to bed, get up aound 5, have dinner, shower and out the door by 8pm. At least I have weekends off and that is spent with family.

Lisa,

I enjoyed the mail about NO! Along those similar lines, how about someone like me who isn't comfortable being in a management position because I would rather do something myself
than tell someone else to do something.

Have you ever heard of anything like this?

Vance,

Are you in a management position now or in the "doer" position now, being offered a management position? I think if you are already in management, it is difficult to get back to being a "doer".

But, you can and should delegate if you are a manager. That could be a very positive alternative to saying no.

If you are handed a task from a peer, direct or indirect boss, delegate to your staff. They learn new functions/capabilities, grow into the next level up, and can take pride in their accomplishments. I always try to work myself out of a job by finding one or two high potential employees on my team and then teaching and coaching them. Eventually, I can move on to different challenges because they are now capable of filling my shoes.

In addition, when you are a manager, employees like to throw their unresolved issues onto your back. Don't take them! Give them some advice/guidance/direction/contacts and tell them to come back with alternative solutions. Then either choose the best solution or coach the employee into choosing the best solution.

And if you are a "doer" and want to stay that way, you don't always have a choice about saying no, especially if it is to your boss. But there are ways to handle that too. Like letting your boss choose which tasks are your priority.

That is my 1.49�.

Tracie

Now for my comment about the "no" article...

I have a friend here, who always says she can meet me for a break and a chat. Then when it gets closer to the time, she often makes me feel like I am imposing on her time. It really makes me feel like doo-doo (avoiding censors). I would much prefer that she tell me she would like to but doesn't have time. And she is so direct that her comments really cut (intercultural difference I think). At times I think it is just too hard to deal with ... Sad but true.

So I think that when we say no, we should be clear but sensitive.