Comments on: 2022 Time Tracking Challenge: Wrap-up thread

By: Maryam

Maryam — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 02:49:32 +0000

In reply to MK. Me too. I also find myself doing the same

By: MK

MK — Sat, 22 Jan 2022 04:10:40 +0000

Really enjoying my tracking (doing it one week late!) and love your blog, newsletters and books. I’ve recommended TNCO to so many people on my team and others since it came out. One thing I’m finding is that on days when I have time set aside for deep work I squander it. Almost like having the time pressure finally removed, instead of seizing the moment to do meaningful work, I focus on mindless tasks like hacking through non-urgent emails. Are there any posts or specific chapters of books that speak to this literal waste of time and how to counteract it? Thanks for all you do!!

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 15:57:04 +0000

I’ve learned so much from time tracking–both my own, and reading about other people’s! I track one week per quarter usually, and so decided to join in the “official” time tracking week with you and your readers to start off 2022. I loved how you reviewed every day, and focused on highlights. I didn’t do that this time, but am jotting it down for next quarter. I usually review at the end of the week, or not at all!

One thing I find is that when I’m tracking my time, I tend to work harder! I want to be able to write down something “worthwhile,” probably because one of my personal issues is feeling like I don’t contribute enough. I take care of our home, our pets, and our meals (for myself, my husband, and my mother-in-law who lives with us) and work as a freelancer, so work tends to bleed into all days of the week and all hours of the day. I would like to spend more time doing deep work (to use Cal Newport’s phrase) instead of scattering my attention so much. I started by closing the tabs for my email and my blog feed reader while I’m working so I’m not distracted by notifications. This is a work in progress, but the time logs help be be more aware of this habit.

And even though I’m sure I’ve heard you say this before, I appreciated the observation that mid-week is actually mid-day Thursday. I feel less behind than usual!

Two things in response to your post: 1. Yes, I think that a few smaller adventures can add up to a big adventure, because sometimes it’s simply not possible to have a big adventure every week. It’s better to have a bunch of small ones than nothing at all.
2. You generally have an accepting attitude towards what you accomplish and what you can’t, but just in case you’re feeling a little frustrated by the upheaval of the move, remember progress, not perfection! It will eventually all get done, and your lives will settle back into routine after the big change of moving.

Thank you as always for your insights and for sponsoring this challenge.

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 20:42:48 +0000

In reply to Lonnie McNeill.

@Lonnie – it happens to all of us – it is so easy to just have it on when we have no energy!

By: Lonnie McNeill

Lonnie McNeill — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 20:34:12 +0000

Biggest take away – way too much TV in the evening!

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 18:59:39 +0000

In reply to Lisa of Lisa’s Yarns.

@Lisa- thanks for posting about your time logs! I liked the blog post – yep, time up with babies in the middle of the night can feel like forever. Here’s hoping that next year’s challenge shows that number at zero…

By: Lisa of Lisa's Yarns

Lisa of Lisa's Yarns — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 18:34:23 +0000

Long time reader, first time tracker! I posted about it on my blog this morning. I was pretty broad with my categories (work, kids, meals, personal time, read, etc). I know you say there is no normal week, but last week was really abnormal as our baby got tubes on Monday and then was home sick with us on Thur/Fri. So my # of hours worked was so low, even though I traded off caring for him with my husband on Thur/Fri. I took Monday off since our day started so dang early and our other son was home quarantining due to a covid exposure at school. But when I was working, dang I was focused, so it’s almost like I got twice the amount of work done during those hours than I would have during a normal week as I really put my head down. I spent so many hours at the hospital/doctor’s office, though. And I was up alot during the night with the baby. But it aligned with how I feel I spend my time and supported that I have a reason to feel so dang tired since I was up with the baby so much. I think I’d like to do this annually to get a sense for how the way I spend time shifts. I feel like life is very much in “groundhog’s day” mode, outside of surgeries and kids being home sick. We aren’t doing much thanks to covid and me being high risk so the days feel pretty much the same, over and over. But year-over-year, things will likely/hopefully look a lot different!

http://lisasyarns.blogspot.com/2022/01/i-tracked-my-time-for-week-and-this-is.html

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 18:17:51 +0000

In reply to Pauline.

@Pauline – congrats on doing the challenge! It’s a good idea to look at any category that you think you’d like to study more in depth. So if there’s something you feel you spend too much time on or too little time on, figure that out. Then look at your schedule and see how you could scale up the stuff you’d like to do more of. It doesn’t have to be much. Often, finding another 30-60 minutes per week can make a big difference! Same with chucking stuff. If you can claw back 30 minutes over the course of a week from something you don’t like doing that can honestly change the entire experience.

By: Pauline

Pauline — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 13:47:32 +0000

Hello! This is the first time I’m doing it in earnest (although not very detailed). The first takeaway is that my days out of the weekend are very similar (very boring?), especially since Covid and WFH (no office days due to Omicron since mid-December). Logging activities made me more aware of the time I’m spending on my phone, but also the need of making breaks in my workday. I am an analytical person so I want to do more breakdown between time alone / time with husband / kids / friends / colleagues / other people. Due to WFH I think this has gone totally out of balance and I miss it. Can you suggest other ways to analyze the results for the newbies?

By: Caroline Kempster

Caroline Kempster — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 19:13:45 +0000

Hi Laura thanks for running the time tracking challenge I always really enjoy it! I compared my findings for 2022 to 2021 and have a few wins including cutting down my weekly TV watching time from 20 to 12 hours!
One of my aims from last year was cutting down my screen time doing emails socials etc which I have successfully done. In this year’s challenge I also found time for an evening art class and an online book club webinar so I’m glad about that. This year I would like to work on sleeping more (I also got about 7 hours daily last week but am feeling tired so think I need more!) I like your idea of having a set weekday bedtime and pushing it only a little later at weekends so will try that!