Lots of people resolve to spend their time better in the new year. Whether it’s about building a morning routine, adding in more margin, or achieving a career breakthrough, anything good in life is going to require time. And one of the best ways to find that extra time is to learn where the time is going…now.
So I invite you to sign up for 2020’s Time Tracking Challenge! This involves tracking your time for one week (168 hours!). I have a program set up that will send you daily reminders and encouraging emails if you’d like to participate. Please see below. You can download time trackers in various forms at this link. And if you finish your log I’d love to see it; you can always reach me at laura at lauravanderkam dot com. The challenge resets every Monday, so you can start whatever week works for you…but how about January 6? There are no typical weeks, but it might be the first semi-typical one!
**TIME TRACKING 2020 CHALLENGE**
Kick-start your time tracking by taking the “168 Hours Time Tracking Challenge.” Sign up here and get daily emails to support you through your first week of time tracking. The challenge begins on Mondays, so you’ll receive your first email the Sunday before. [Direct link: https://lauravanderkam.com/start-here/#time-tracking-challenge — check your spam/promotions email folders if you don’t see the first email in your inbox].
Here’s to spending our time better in the new year!
Laura how do you keep your weekly/quarterly/annual summaries and notes? I printed out the 15 minute increment time log and am experimenting with filling it out manually. Do you transfer numbers for the week to another summary excel spreadsheet? Do you scroll through 52 sheets to have a year worth of information? Leslie
Laura, I started back up with the Clockify time tracker. I had experimented with it earlier last fall. I think I’ll keep the manual printed log, then transfer daily totals to Clockify (web browser https://clockify.me/tracker). I can add notes and have export my data as an excel spreadsheet. I think this may work for me without too much time involvement. I already have most of my activities set up from working in the program last fall.
Ok… I can track my food, my workouts, my finances, even my thoughts!! Why is it so dang hard for me to consistently track my time. I’ve tried multiple times to track my time and after day 3, I forget or I don’t want to anymore. Any tips or reasons you have would be appreciated. I used your spreadsheet this time and I have tried the app you recommended. I’ve tried paper and pen as well.
@Heaven – I know it’s tough! Partly because time keeps passing regardless of what you do. Whereas you have to actively choose to work out! Maybe set an alarm 3x a day for the first few days to get in the habit?
Hi Laura, I started my time for almost a year in 2018 after reading your blogs and books. It helped me so much in becoming more mindful of how I spent my time. I paused a bit in 2019 because I got into some really good routine and habits.
I started tracking time again on Jan 1 this year because I want to get into the habit of writing. I was just reflecting on my time log and wrote out some thoughts. Tracking time just for a few days already helped me figure out how to look for time outside the regular weekdays to develop new habits.
I’m a huge fan of your blog and book, so just writing to thank you!
Also congrats on your newborn! He looks absolutely adorable. I’m expecting my first child in April this year. Very inspired by your running streak too. I’ve been keeping up exercises throughout the pregnancy too. It gives me more energy and relieves stress. Wouldn’t do it any other way.
Would love it if you could give a look at my reflection on the time log and share your thoughts:)
Happy weekend!
https://www.livwu.com/2020/01/think-of-time-management-in-whole-week.html#more
I took the challenge and just reviewed last week. I’ve timetracked several times in the last two years and many things are always the same such as sleep, work, commute. After sleeping, working and getting to work I have 58 hours left in a week. It sounds a lot but considering that I also have to eat/cook/shower/get dressed etc (i.e. things that I h a v e to do) so it’s not thaaaat much, given that I don’t have to take care of kids of work more than 40 hours.