[Libby Huffman]

Here you will find an activity log. This is an account of how you spend each and every minute of your day.

Without altering any behavior, write down what each minute of your day is spent on. Once you've done this for a few days, analyze your log to determine what jobs are time wasters and use it to help you better manage your activities throughout the day.

[Patricia]

An activity log is definitely useful to document what you do all day. It is a good way to identify areas where you might be able to make better use of your time.

I wrote an article on my blog about my experiences using a time log that I thought related to this article and wanted to share it.

Laughing All the Way to Work: A Survival Blog for Today's Administrative Assistant: I feel like I’ve done nothing all day, but I was busy. How come?

[LisaOlsen]

I did this for a week about five years ago when my boss scored me low on an evaluation for time management. I was absolutely amazed how many "time wasters" I was guilty of! I used a form exactly like your suggestion and it worked miracles!! I would highly recommend admins doing this valuable exercise on a regular basis and make adjustments where necessary. I realized I was focusing on those non-essential "urgent but not-important" tasks that Covey refers to in the time management quadrant. After a week of tracking my time and how I spent it, I was able to pin point specific things - even the time of day - that were time wasters and kept me from focusing on the "non-urgent but important" tasks. Thanks for the great reminder. Even working from home now, the Activity Log will be very helpful!