Start quickly with pen and paper

In the cost of time recording, I mentioned that if you record it full-time, you need to spend 20 minutes on the software every day.

Some students will feel that "it is really troublesome to learn the operation of the software" and give up.

It has been said before that "time recording is just a means to an end". Tools are not important, and you can start immediately with pen and paper.

You don't believe me? For example, set a goal: "what do you want to achieve with time recording?"

"I want to know what I do during my 10 hours at work every day."

Don't find this question boring, how can you not know what you are doing at work? Send and receive email, dock demand, have meetings, work overtime.

Not necessarily.

Let's try it.

Starting from tomorrow, every time you work, use a pen and paper to write down the time interval in your book, such as:

09:00-09:15—— Organize documents.

09:15-09:30——Send and receive email.

10:10-10:40——Leaders' meeting

As for going to the toilet, deserting, checking information, and chatting with colleagues, these time can not be counted, insist on 3 days.

(it's all right. Your leader won't see this form. Make sure it's true and effective.😀)

If nothing happens, your record will be similar to this table in three days.

On the first day, the working hours are 3.4 hours.

The next day, 5.2 hours of work.

On the third day, the working hours are 4.5 hours.

The statistical result is that they work an average of 4.4 hours a day.

What would you think if you really worked 10 hours a day and found that the real working time was only 4.4 hours?

Do you really think you've been at work for 10 hours, or do you just stay in the office for 10 hours?

Where did the time go? What did you use to fill in the unrecorded gaps? Chat, paddle, eat instant noodles?

Now you see, the first function of time recording is to "discover the gap between imagination and reality".

According to my experience and observation, the "time efficiency" of most people at work fluctuates from 65% to 85%. In other words, of the seven hours of work a day, only five hours may be really used for work. And productivity decreases significantly over time, not as you might think, the more time you spend, the more results you get.

In addition to the "gap between imagination and reality", we can also see two unreasonable points in this timetable:

1. The time for sending and receiving email is too fragmented, affecting work efficiency.

2. It takes too long to be a PPT.

If you want to change, there are at least two things you can do:

1. Except for email reminders set by important people, other emails are processed at a fixed time every day, and reply templates are set.

2. Catch up on PPT skills, learn to use plug-ins, or use charisma to ask co-workers to do it for you.

This is another function of time logging, "finding time-consuming blocks of time and targeted improvement".

Because in our work, we often work hard and encounter problems, even if we feel that something is wrong at that time, but when things are done, we will not think about it again. As a result, when we encounter the same scene again, it takes time to repeat it, and the problem still exists.

A black-and-white record allows you to see the problem, enhance reminders, and reduce the likelihood that the problem will be ignored.

In addition, recording an action with a pen and paper before doing something is an "attention switch" for the brain, which seems to remind yourself, "Hey, you need to start doing X, concentrate." Each switch makes you "feel more focused".

This way of invoking attention is like learning pyramids.

Listening is better than writing and learning is better than teaching. each record is a reminder, which strengthens the cognition of learning.

In this case, we just write it down and find out:

1. Real time consumption.

2. Two problems left over that are neglected every day.

3. Recording this action can actually improve your attention.

From pen and paper to software, I used about 5 days, these 5 days handwritten records, so that I really found the benefits of recording. So I don't find it troublesome to get started with TimeTrack, because I know it can significantly improve the efficiency of my records, and I have an expectation.

If you are going to start recording the time, you might as well start with pen and paper.

If you find handwriting troublesome, you can also print the following image and fill in the template:

Some students will find it inconvenient to switch from keyboard to pen and paper when recording at work. In fact, they can also use computer notepad instead.

So, tools are not a problem, pen and paper can be used quickly.

After you switch from pen and paper to TimeTrack software, you will think, Oh, my God, it's so convenient.