Time tracking is a powerful tool for improving productivity and organizing personal and professional life.
It helps keep our work lives balanced, focused and on track. Knowing how much time you spend on tasks and activities allows you to prioritize your time better and get more out of each day.
Furthermore, it can provide insight into the most effective ways to complete tasks, ensuring that nothing slips through the cracks.
Where is My Time Going?
Do you ever feel you have too much to do and need more time? If so, you are not alone. Procrastination is a common issue for many people in the modern world.
Trying to manage multiple tasks simultaneously and the constant distraction of social media can make it difficult to focus on one task or project simultaneously.
The desire to multitask can be strong, but it often leads us astray and leaves our productivity suffering. We may think we are getting more done by trying to tackle several things at once, but in reality, we are just creating more stress and procrastinating even further.
If you want to get your work done faster and become more productive, try focusing on one task at a time instead of multitasking.
Get the Most Out of Your Day with a Time Tracker
Sitting in front of your computer doesn’t get your work done. You might feel you are busy with work, but you can do so many distracting things on your computer.
If you own a Mac, you can check out the Screen Time in the settings, which will give you an idea of how much time you spend on different apps. Mine doesn’t look good, either.
This is why it is crucial to use a time tracker to know where you are spending your time. And this is why techniques like pomodoro are common amongst productivity freaks.
You can use a Chrome extension like Otter, which gives you a 25-minute timer to focus on work and a 5-minute break to start another block of 25 minutes.
Aside from giving you a timer, it also blocks Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter that can help you focus on your work. You can also add or remove the websites from the block list if you need a particular Social Media site for work.
Tips for Effective Time Tracking
After reading n number of books about Producutvitiy and Procrastination, I have found different things work for different people, and there is no set of rules for having a foolproof workflow. You need to find what works for you and then stick to it.
These tools, like Time trackers, can be helpful only if you put them into practice to use it.
What is the point of having a time tracker on your computer when you need to remember to use it to track the time? It will take a while to get used to it. You can only expect it to happen on day one.
You can also use Timemator, an automatic time tracker that can somewhat automate the time tracking process. I’ve done a review of this app here.
It runs without your interference, yet it is in your face all the time, letting you know it’s tracking your time.
Once you have used it long enough, you can check the reports and compare them with the Screen time on your computer to check how much you work when you are on your computer.
This will improve productivity once you can see where your time goes. You will know how much time you work and whether you should be working more. Things like these will help you plan your day accordingly.
