Activity Log: Logging Your Time and Activities
Don’t know where your time goes? The first step is to keep an eye on it. And that means keeping an activity log – a record of how you use your time.
What gets measured, gets managed!
Watching this video is worth 2 Management Courses CPD Points*.
(See below for more details)
This video is part of course module number 1.6.2
Program 1: Managing Yourself
Course 6: Personal Productivity
Section 2: Time Management
Relevant videos in the same section as this video include:
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– The Power of Habits: Productivity through Effective Working
… https://youtu.be/kXmz_E8yUGw
– Organization: How to Enhance Your Productivity by Being Organized
… https://youtu.be/2eUYH0z2yiQ
– Planning, Preparation, and Follow-up: Effective Working for Better Productivity
… https://youtu.be/XZUCfd9xov0
– Use your Energy Cycles for More Effective Working and Greater Productivity
… https://youtu.be/q_s0FkWISLo
– Failure of Multitasking: The Multitasking Myth
… https://youtu.be/IEN_hP9dtIM
– Special Time: and How to Use it to Work Effectively
… https://youtu.be/PNN0ybt32TA
LESSON NOTES
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Throughout the working day, note your activities and the time you spend on them, as accurately as possible. This should include interruptions, conversations and breaks.
record if each activity slot is planned, unplanned, or interrupted planned and your energy levels. Also classify the types of activity you do in each time slot as A, B, C, etc. For example:
A. Core role
B. Projects
C. Planning and thinking
D. Social and pleasure
E. Reactive response
F. Time wasting
This will tell you precisely how much of your time you spend in different areas of work. However, much of the value of your time log will be in a careful inspection:
• Do the proportions of time you spend on different types of activity seem right?
• When do you most often get interrupted – and what by?
• When are the peaks and troughs of your energy – and what do you do then?
• How much time do you spend on planned or unplanned activities?
• How much time do you spend in big blocks and how much is fragmented?
• Do things seem to get done in a random order, with no sense of logic or priority
• How long do regular jobs take you – and how does it compare with the time you allow?
• Are you constantly trying to juggle lots of different things
• Do you seem to get things started and then move on to other things?
• Do you spend a lot of my time doing things for other people that are not what you want to do for yourself, nor a part of your job?
RECOMMENDED EXERCISE
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1. Create your own activity log or download our templates and customize one of them to your liking (https://gum.co/XLziD)
2. Maintain your activity log for 3 to 5 days (2 MC CPD Points per day)
3. Review the outcome of your records of how you use your time. What do you learn about your priorities for improving how you use your time and achieve more productivity and better time management? (2 MC CPD Points) The notes in our download will help you to interpret the patterns an the videos in this course will help you address the issues (https://gum.co/XLziD).
DOWNLOADS
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Free Resources
– CPD Tools – https://gum.co/MC-CPD
Paid resources
– Management Courses Onboarding Kit – https://gum.co/MC-ObK ($3)
– Download our Activity log templates – https://gum.co/XLziD ($2)
RECOMMENDED READING
=====================
I’ll be as modest as I can. I’m something of an expert on effective working, personal productivity, & time management, with 4 best-selling books by 3 international publishers:
– The Time Management Pocketbook
… https://geni.us/gHa4
– How to Manage Your Time
… https://geni.us/Cpvp
– Powerhouse: Turbo Boost Your Effectiveness and Start Making a Serious Impact
… https://geni.us/H7GDizc
– The Yes/No Book: How to do less… and achieve more
… https://geni.us/yhF90n
And here are my picks from the thousands of other books on personal productivity, effective working, & time management:
– The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
… https://geni.us/Zulp
– The Power of Habit: Why we Do what we Do, and How to Change
… https://geni.us/vNtXd4
– Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
… https://geni.us/JxTY
– Eat that Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating
… https://geni.us/48Y1LlC
Management Courses Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Points
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You can record your Management Courses CPD points on our free, downloadable CPD record log.
Download it here: https://gum.co/MC-CPD
Each video has two levels of MC CPD points. For this video:
– If you simply watched the video, record 2 MC CPD points
– If you also carried out all of the recommended exercises, score up to a total of 14 MC CPD points
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Note:
Links to our book recommendations are affiliated through Amazon
#Productivity #TimeManagement #ActivityLog
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