Thursday, May 28, 2009

Time Track Thursday #2


This week: Where does the time really go? Putting a value on it helps you decide the best way to spend it.

I spent a week meticulously logging my time. Every time I shifted my attention, I wrote down what I was doing (as suggested by Alec Mackenzie, The Time Trap). Then I asked myself these questions:
  1. Did I achieve my goals for the day? To what extent?
  2. When was I the most productive?
  3. When was I the least productive?
  4. What were the biggest interruptions and time wasters?
  5. What have I been doing that I can delegate to someone else?
I learned a lot about myself, some of which I will go over briefly. I achieved my goals to the extend I intended when I wrote them down in the morning or night before. I am most productive with my computer time in the morning and with my crafting in the afternoon. After 5pm I don't get that much done. That's when I cook, clean, do laundry etc. After a 6 hour shift at Starbucks, I'm useless for several hours. I spend a lot of time on Twitter! Sometimes it crosses over into wasting time. I've delegated my graphic design needs to someone else. I can do it, but its icing on the cake, and it takes me too much time. Besides, I know people who make better icing than me.

Then I estimated my Time Worth using this formula by Dan Kennedy:
  1. Determine your base earnings target for the next calender year. (I added my Starbucks pay and the $200/month goal I have for my shop.)
  2. Divide by annual workday hours (220 days x 8 = 1,760 hours).
  3. Multiply that answer by 3 (He says on average we are productive 1 out of every 3 hours.)
  4. The answer is your time value per hour.
My time is worth so much more than I expected, even with my conservative numbers! Posting this value and seeing it often will definitely help me to spend my time more wisely. I hope these steps help you as well.

P.S. My new shop at mandibeads.etsy.com will be opening in 4 days!

4 comments:

KC said...

Good advice!

I think finding the time wasters in my life and eradicating them is my biggest hurdle. Thanks for sharing.

Kimmy the Craftyfroggy

Mandi said...

Thanks so much for your comment Kimmy! I'm glad to help :)

louise@fireseed said...

That's very interesting Mandi! I think I'd be scared to log my time, I know I waste too much of it, but I can see how that exercise would really help you nail things down, and give you the information needed to plan a much more productive day!

Mandi said...

You'd be surprised how just logging your time helps whip you into productivity, but I did have a few entries that read: Daydream, 7 minutes, hehe :P