Time.

Everyone has the same amount of it, but some people seems to manage to get more from it than others.

Have you ever timed how long it takes for you to do a task?

Not just estimated, really timed it. You can do this by just using a timer on your phone or if you want to take it further, using a time tracker software.

It is important to know how long some tasks are taking you. We all know that we can sit down to a job that we think is only going to take us 5 or 10 minutes but an hour later we are still working on it. We lose so much time during the day doing tasks that shouldn’t take as long as they do.

So how do you get back in control of your time?

Start by tracking it and here are some tips to help:

• Start with 5 main tasks that you do each day and write them down on a piece of paper or put in a spreadsheet, whatever works for you.
• Decide on how you are going to track it. Are you simply going to use the timer on your phone or will you download a time tracker? There are many available and you can start using them for free if you are a single user. In the office here, we use a paid version of Harvest which we find excellent and it provides us with the ability of reporting that we can forward to our clients. Harvest also provides a free tracking option to see how it works for you. If you don’t like Harvest or it doesn’t work for you, there are many other options available by just Googling ‘time tracking’ software.
• Focus on your task and get the job done. This will give you a clear indication on how long it takes you to get this task completed. However, when you do that task are you always that focused on it or do you procrastinate until the task is completed? If so, then maybe you need to consider outsourcing that job as that isn’t the best use of your time.

Once you have tracked a few tasks you can continue to track others to see where your time goes throughout the day. I would do this for at least a few days depending on your workload and if you have repetitive tasks that will give you a good indicator of where your time goes.

Now that you have your tracked information, are you using your time on tasks that are productive for your business and the income it brings in or are you just wasting valuable time?

How much is it costing you to waste that valuable time if you are?

Would it be better to outsource that time to someone else while you are completing the productive and income producing tasks?

Just think about it.

If you want to chat to someone about how to be more productive and get your time back then feel free to contact us on [email protected] and we can offer you a free consultation to see how you can use your time more effectively.

Paula is a Virtual Assistant and coach. She is passionate about assisting other business owners to grow their business by focusing on the tasks that are more valuable and interesting to the business owner.

If you want more information on how to work with Paula and her team, feel free to contact Paula at [email protected]