As a young nerd I have experimented with time-logs. Time-logs are what productivity buffs often use to measure their productivity in a day. To do this you must record every single thing you do every 15 minutes. This includes; restroom break, checking facebook, email, etc. By the end of the day you are left with a record of every single thing that you did that day.
If its your first time experimenting with time-logs, it can be a real eye opener. As for my case, what I thought was an 8 hour session of studying is really only a little over 1 hour and 30 minutes. The rest of the time I was either talking to someone on facebook, texting, or grabing a bite to eat. This is when I started to really pin point where my time is really being spent. Before then, I thought I needed 8 hours of study session just to keep up with my classes. I envied people who seemed to have all the time in the world while maintaining very good grades in class. It never occurred to me that all I had to do is turn off my cell phone, turn off my computer, and go to an isolated place alone for just 1 hour and 30 minutes and all I need to accomplished would have been accomplished. I could then enjoy the rest of my day after that.
I found that chunking task for short intervals of time where in those intervals I devote complete focus to my work is much more effective than spending 8 hours in the library with choppy concentration fluctuations. Soon after I discovered this phenomena, I found that most people who live a healthy balance happy life incorporate this in their daily routine.
So if you find yourself constantly meeting deadlines feeling like you never have enough time, here are a few tips on productivity.
Productivity Tips
- Take a week to fill out a time-log: This way you can see for yourself what you are spending your time on. Analyze your time-logs. Do them every couple of months or so to see if you’ve improved. There are a couple effective ways of analyzing your time-logs, I will post a different post about that in the future.
- Count how much time you spent focusing not how much time you spent total: Counting how much time total you spent on a project is like only counting how much total sales you sold without subtracting the profit. It would be impossible to gauge improvements this way.
- Give yourself time to relax properly each day: It seems to have no use in productivity, but really this is critical in a persons productivity output. Although it may not seem like it, taking the time to relax keeps motivations fresh so you are ready to go on intense focus each day. Notice I said relax properly. Spending the rest of your day on your facebook after your productivity session only fills your mind with self-destructive confusion. For most, facebook is an oppurtunity to compare their life with their peers facebook statuses causing them stress rather than fulfillment. I personally love to walk on the beach before sunset. Jogging is perfect for those looking to get in shape. Whichever works for you.
- Put yourself in a position where you wont get distracted: When concentration is broken it takes time to gain it back again, so you must discipline yourself to focus for blocks of hours at the time. This could mean turning off any electronic devices nearby until 1 hour or so has past so you can completely focus all your efforts into your work. Most productivity experts suggest only putting 45 minutes to an hour of focus each time. Anything longer than that is just a waste of time since after about an hour the level of concentration for most people seems to fade.
- Don’t take time for granted: Realize that their are only 24 hours in a day and 50-80%(depending on the individual) of those hours is spent just to survive, i.e eating, sleeping, hygiene etc. So prioritize efficient use of time. I agree with the saying “time is money”.
For a free pdf time-log visit my website at: http://www.lesterdc.com
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