Questioning my own productivity

[Alice P.]

Lately I am feeling like I am always busy but not producing much.  I think I am going to write down everything I do for a week, how long I work on each project and journal the interruptions.  Has anyone tried this exercise?  I am hoping to see what is wasting my time, what I spend too much time on, that could be allocated to better projects.   Has anyone else.. just evaluated what they were doing?

[gee4]

If you read my previous postings on Extra Work v Remuneration you will know the secretaries in my company went through this exercise about a year ago.

It was a waste of time as the exercise got caught up in another company re-org.  However it did give me some insight how I spend my time.

I have to say I seem to manage my time better than most and I believe it's because -

a) I get into work early and get things done before others arrive and interrupt me
b) I don't spend time hanging about other people's desk gossiping
c) I don't take my breaks in the canteen

What is it you think you aren't doing very productively?

[Alice P.]

Thanks, I will have to go look at that post.  This is just for "me" not a company wide thing.  I feel I work work work, but when I look at some of the projects on going, some that I think should be done, just aren't.  I have started my list today (including 10 minutes to look at DeskDemon, I am including everything).

[gee4]

Alice,

Here is the link http://www.deskdemon.com/dnet/index.php?topic=10432.0

If you pm me your email address I can show you the template I used.  Because secertaries in my company don't book their time to a programme, we found it extremely difficult to monitor what we did, even by the hour.  In the end it was a guessing exercise for some, although I did try and complete is as accurately as I could.

[Atlanta Z3]

I've done this several times as a time management exercise.  I have days where I felt like I haven't accomplished anything, but I try to look at the big picture.  We are required to turn in a monthly report.  I open a draft email at the begining of each month and type in tasks or projects.  I start by copying the previous months email and leaving in the repeat items which gives me a review of what I completed last month.  Sometimes as I'm reading through my  notes and expanding I wonder how I was able to accomplish as much as a I did!

[misslynn]

There is a free webinar from the American Management Association that you may find helpful, it's called 'Mastering the Art of Working for Multiple Bosses'. Even if you're not working for multiple bosses, there are good resources included in there for improving time management. Not sure if I'm allowed to post the link here, but you can find it easily by looking up the name on AMA's website.

The one I found most helpful is the one that charts tasks in 4 categories:
High urgency, high importance (firedrills - we know these happen!)
Low urgency, high importance (proactive work, training, etc.)
High urgency, low importance (phone calls, last-minute copy requests, etc.)
Low urgency, low importance (chatting with co-workers, and other unproductive things)