how do you balance caring about time vs not caring about time

[foggy]

i am really curious, how do you personally balance it

 

[POB]

1) have clear goals
2) have a proven system where you track everything you do with your time
3) start analyzing in depth where your time is going
4) adjust and improve
5) allocate slots of time where you don't have to think about it (usually when you are doing a social activity)

 

[DoWhatWorks]

2) have a proven system where you track everything you do with your time

Would love to hear more on this... Doing a "time audit" for a week has been on my list for a while and I've just avoided it.

Is an old school pen and paper carried with me and a timer the way to go?

 

[POB]

Would love to hear more on this... Doing a "time audit" for a week has been on my list for a while and I've just avoided it.

Is an old school pen and paper carried with me and a timer the way to go?

I use a 15-day cycle called self-sprint (don't bother googling it, it's not on the web).
What it means is every 15-days I take everything related to work and plan ahead using a google drive excel spreadsheet, and focus on one major goal I want to achieve.

To do it I first create a backlog where I write down every activity I need to do.
(including fun time, friends, reading, studying, workouts, family, women, etc)

Then I assign blocks of time to do those activities, prioritizing them by order of importance.
If I take more time than what I slotted to complete it, I write it down. The same if I take less.

All activities that are not completed go into their own columns were I either postpone, or reassign them for later.
I also write down ALL interruptions, and the block of time I had to use to take care of them.

At the end of the cycle I start over, carrying over the activities I haven't finished and merging them with the new activities that pop up for a fresh 15-day cycle. Then I look back and access my overall productivity (hours worked vs tasks completed).

It's the best system I've ever followed and you can use mostly any virtual tool with it (like trello, asana, etc).
It also boosts your productivity while decreasing the amount of time you need to work.

 

[DoWhatWorks]

I use a 15-day cycle called self-sprint (don't bother googling it, it's not on the web).
What it means is every 15-days I take everything related to work and plan ahead using a google drive excel spreadsheet, and focus on one major goal I want to achieve.

To do it I first create a backlog where I write down every activity I need to do.
(including fun time, friends, reading, studying, workouts, family, women, etc)

Then I assign blocks of time to do those activities, prioritizing them by order of importance.
If I take more time than what I slotted to complete it, I write it down. The same if I take less.

All activities that are not completed go into their own columns were I either postpone, or reassign them for later.
I also write down ALL interruptions, and the block of time I had to use to take care of them.

At the end of the cycle I start over, carrying over the activities I haven't finished and merging them with the new activities that pop up for a fresh 15-day cycle. Then I look back and access my overall productivity (hours worked vs tasks completed).

It's the best system I've ever followed and you can use mostly any virtual tool with it (like trello, asana, etc).
It also boosts your productivity while decreasing the amount of time you need to work.

Thank you for taking the time out to write such a thorough response.

I'm a geek for this sort of stuff and I've never come across this! Can see how it would be very effective.

 

[POB]

@DoWhatWorks
DM me if you need more details.
I have access to the founder of this system.
He has almost 30 years of experience in this field!
He also has worked with major companies boosting their team productivity.