Who Knows Where The Time Goes?
This is the phrase I had in my head this morning. Maybe it’s because I’ve been a fan of Judy Collins ever since my mom took me to one of her concerts way back in 1973. It’s not exactly one of my favorites among her songs (in fact, someone else wrote it) but the melody that accompanies that line is catchy. More importantly, that phrase is so captivating and it kept ringing in my head this morning. Because really…Who knows where the time goes?
Have you ever asked yourself that very question? Have you ever drifted through your day, realized it was 5:30 or 6:00 and wondered well, where did the time go? If you answered yes, you’re like several clients I have the privilege of working with that have struggled with this question. The good news is, there’s an insanely easy way to figure out exactly where your time goes! Keep a Time Awareness Log.
Southwestern Consulting, the coaching organization I work with, has one I love and share with clients. But you can make your own generic one if you like. It’s simple: Take a piece of paper. Put a horizontal line down the middle. On the top of the page, write “Start and Stop Times” on the left side and on the right side, write “Activity and Description.” You can put the date at the very top. Then, put a series of vertical lines going down the page.
I also want to make a distinction here. This is NOT the same as those time blocks you put in your Google or Outlook calendar. That process is all about your intentions. This also is NOT the schedule you make every Sunday night for the coming week (although doing that is extremely helpful too).
This IS a record of how you spend each minute of your waking hours. Literally. If you do this right, and I mean really right, this will be both the most tedious and illuminating activity you can do for yourself. To do this right, you log both the time and activity of every moment of your day. Here are a few examples of my entries today: From 5:45 to 6:00 AM, I had to spend time fixing my wifi. I then spent from 6:00 to 6:35 AM reading a work related book and from 6:45 to 7:10 AM, I worked on a book that I’m writing. In between, 6:36 to 6:44 AM, I made my coffee and breakfast.
Please know that I didn’t share the above to let you know that I’m an early riser or that I have choppy wifi service. Rather, I wanted to provide a sense of how specific to get. And yes, I am talking about 5 or 10 minutes here or there. I am talking about when you take a coffee or bio break or stop what you’re doing to discuss weekend activities with your partner if, like the growing number, you work at home. If you’re in an office, it includes that twenty minutes you spent catching up with your colleagues on Monday or the extra long lunch you took on Wednesday because it’s just so nice out.
Are you getting the picture? All these little, seemingly insignificant moments, whether 2, 3, 5 or 20 minutes add up to hours. The more exacting you are, the more you learn. What would it look like to get an hour back in your week? Better yet, how about 3 or 4 hours? What would that mean to you? More time with family? More time to explore a hobby, sport you enjoy or simply relax.
For one of my clients, it’s meant the opportunity to focus on building a better referral base. For another, they now have two more hours to spend on prospecting. One other client has added some meditation to their morning. Personally speaking, I’ve been able to have a workday that starts at 7:30, ends at 6:00 and I finish knowing I’ve completed everything I’ve wanted to.
If you’re looking to figure out both where your time goes and how to make the most of those hours you steal back, I’d love to help. Reach out to me at rgrabel@southwesternconsulting.com and we’ll talk.
So, Who Knows Where The Time Goes? You do!
