When you first begin to undertake a time management program it is beneficial to record your daily activities for no less than one week. One option for doing this is to keep a journal or notebook with you throughout the day, for the period during which you will be doing the recording.
Using both the front and back of a plain sheet of paper in your journal draw 12 rectangles, several inches wide. (You will have 6 on each side.) Each rectangle will represent an hour of time, in a typical 12 hour day. Label each rectangle with hour increments, such as 700 to 800 am for the first, 900 to 1000 am for the second, and so on. You will do this everyday for one week.
Each block is reserved for you to record the activities that you perform during that specific time period. An example of a block of time could be;
“7:00 to 8:00 am, Monday- Showered. Brushed hair, teeth. Made and ate breakfast. Dressed for work. Applied Make-up. Balanced check book. Drove to the office.”
Make notes as often as you can, and be specific in the details that you record.
At the end of the week look back through your journal and make note of any blocks of time that you could have made better use of. Some amount of fun and free time is important to your overall health and well-being, but if you notice that there are continuous blocks of time that are not being managed wisely, this is a good place to start to make some changes in your daily time management habits.
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