The first step is to find where all your time is going, especially to identify wasted time

Keep a log of where you spent your time for a week. You can use a fancy app, or go old school with a paper log (here’s an alternative log with 15-minute intervals). Be wary of the Hawthorne effect, and try to carry on as usual.

Once you see where your time is going, you can:

  • Categorize your time using the Covey matrix and prioritize your activities
  • Eliminate time-wasters and low-value tasks
    • Show your supervisor how much of your time is being wasted on low-value tasks that don’t require your specific skills or knowledge
  • Look for things to delegate, or to do less often, less well, or not at all
  • Look to minimize task-switching between activities
  • Look for places to minimize interruptions, distractions, and procrastination
  • Look for areas where a one-time investment in organization or attaining skills or technology could help you become more efficient
  • Find your “peace and quiet” time of day when you can accomplish something important without interruptions, e.g. exercise, writing, meditating, relationship-building
    • For some, this means getting up earlier in the morning before everyone else
    • But for non-morning people, this can be late at night when everyone’s gone to bed, or any other time that works for you
  • Identify personal patterns of when / where / why you’re most and least productive
  • Reorganize your day so that you do your most important tasks when you are at your best
  • Better budget your time by not under/overestimating how long a particular activity takes
  • See what you are missing: sleep, self-care, family & relationships