Are you working too much, or too little?

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No, it’s not just about how much time you put in, it’s about the results you get and how happy you are about them

You may be killing it with a four-day (or four-hour) work-week. Or you may be working like a dog and barely keeping up with inflation.

It’s not just about the amount of time you spend doing what you do. But clearly, time is a factor.

Which is why I suggest you track how you spend it. Not just your work-day or billable hours. All of your time.

For one week, write down everything you do and for how long you do it. How you spend your 24.

You might learn some very useful (and surprising) things about yourself, some of which could be invaluable.

You might learn that you spend a lot of time doing things that contribute little (or nothing) to your income and/or well-being.

I don’t goof off that much, you say? Yeah, that’s what I said.

You might find you spend 90 minutes to do something that shouldn’t take more than an hour. I did that, too.

Tracking your time will help you prioritize that time and focus on what’s important and aligned with your goals.

You might see how much time you spend looking over the shoulders of your employees or outside vendors, time you could use doing other things. Or you might see how much time you spend doing things yourself that could be delegated to someone else.

Track your time for a week. You might not like what you find, or believe some of it. But the numbers don’t lie.

And admitting the truth is the first step towards change.

Even if this exercise allows you to “only” reclaim ten minutes a day, that’s an extra hour per week you can spend as you see fit.

Which is why you should consider doing this exercise regularly, perhaps once or twice a year.

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