Today we have so many potential distractions like Facebook and Twitter, it’s easy to lose track of time and get caught up in reading posts or tweets. Even e-mail can be a “time suck” if it’s not used with discipline.

I decided to start a little experiment and track my entire day for two weeks in 15 minute blocks. This may seem granular, but what I want to find out is how much time all of those “little distractions” actually accumulate to. I have a suspicion that the sum total will be pretty high until I become more self aware of my tasks.

I also want to hear how others keep track of time? What tools or tactics do you use to stay on task? I’m providing the Time Use Matrix that I’ll be using for the next two weeks for those interested in also doing the experiment with me. I’m interested in hearing about your experience with it and if it helped or hindered you.

Previously, I wrote about Rules and Productivity which are core components to my how I feel about time management. Feel free to read those if you want to see where I’m coming from.

I will post my results after two weeks.

Good luck!

Download the Matrix Here:

time-use-matrix.xlsx

Remember the movie Short Circuit from the mid-80’s? An experimental robot (#5) gets electrocuted and becomes “intelligent”. It escapes from the Army base where it was designed and instead of destroying everything in its path, it looks for “inputs”. “Number 5 needs more inpuuuuts!”

Often times we focus on inputs. We read far more than we write. We watch far more YouTube videos than we upload. And we read more tweets than we post. Most of us probably fall into the 80/20 camp—80% inputs, 20% outputs (or worse!).

What if we all were to up or outputs by 10%, so 70/30? Or more?

If we focused on what we output rather than what we consume, then we are better participants, right? Think about the areas in your life were you can up your participation by 10%. Your blog, your school, your business, your social network, your friends, and your family.

If you want to make a difference, maybe you can focus more on your outputs while being more selective about your inputs?

Working 9-5 or any other similar schedule is the norm in America. It’s when America wakes up and when America comes home. It’s also happens to be the worst time of day  to be productive. Here’s why:

Traffic: Everyone needs the roadway, subway, train, or bus at the same time everyday. These are peak commute hours that cause frustration and anxiety in our culture. Look how people drive in the morning and afternoon Monday thru Friday and compare that to 1:00pm on the weekend. It’s shocking. See if you can start earlier and leave earlier to avoid the congestion. If you work from home try not to schedule meetings before 10:00am or after 2:00pm, if you do, you’ll quickly realize why you love working from home.

Noise: If you work in an office environment you are probably constantly dealing with distractions and interruptions including phone and e-mail. If you need get things done, work from home and come in late. The last thing you need is to hear about what an awful weekend your co-worker had.

Jet-stream: I like to stay, “Don’t get caught in someone else’s jet-stream, get up early and get in your own”. This is one of the most important lessons I’ve learned. It’s crucial to create your own momentum every day. Sometimes it means getting up early before everyone else and doing what’s important to you. This is your jet-stream and because you’re at 40,000 feet and moving at mach 2+, no one can pull you out of it! Set your morning goals the night before so you can jump right in come morning.

E-mail: A lot of people have written great articles about the problems with e-mail today and how to simplify your usage. We all know the problems of e-mail and its over-usage and inefficiency, but the problems go deeper. Many of us rely on e-mail to set our schedule for the day. We sit idle until a “fire” breaks out and then we have our marching orders for the day. It sets the tone and usually in a negative way. The solution is simple but takes a lot of discipline: Check e-mail only twice a day. I check it at around 11:00am and 4:00pm and that is it. No longer am I marching to someone else’s beat, I have my own jet-stream and I’m not going to let an early morning e-mail pull me out of it. I will write more about this topic in future post as it is one of the more critical elements and designing your work day.

Turn Filters On: I’ve been a big advocate for limiting your information intake everyday. This also took at lot of discipline at first but also paid huge dividends as far as time-savings. Here is what I don’t do anymore: I don’t read the newspapers or watch evening or local news. Most local news is very negative and almost 100% of it is sensationalized and not important to my day-to-day life. I’ll spend 5 minutes skimming the major headlines and that is it. I very rarely read a news article unless it’s related to my business, and guess what, “the world spins madly on”! I have only three magazine subscriptions; one business (Fast Company), one trade (Graphic Design), one pleasure (Gourmet). By limiting your daily information intake, you can keep more focused on what is important. Don’t worry about missing something, someone will tell you if a meteor is falling towards earth. Then again, maybe it’s better that you don’t know?

Chill Sessions: Get out of your work environment at least once a day. It can be hard during the 9-5 schedule to take some time to chill and recharge your batteries, but it is essential. Go grab a coffee (without work people) and while you’re at it. put the headphones on and listen to your favorite “chill” music (more on chill music in a future post). This 15 minute break will do wonders for your mind and spirit. It’s a free restart without having to go to sleep.

Avoid Debbie Downers: Remember the co-worker who has to tell you about how awful her weekend was or about how her boss is treating her? Stay away! These people are vampires and love sucking the good energy out of us to help raise their meters. Don’t let it happen. If you do get blind-sided by one of them, tell them you have a meeting or phone call and you can catch up with them later. Remember, don’t allow people to get up in your jet-stream.