Time Audit: How to Find More Time in Your Busy Day
How much time did you spend working last week?
I’m sure a general number popped into your head, likely followed by a sentiment of “too many.”
Now, how many hours did you spend on the things you want to spend your time on?
Working out? Connecting with friends? Taking your dog on a walk? Hobbies?
Annnd…now comes the blank face staring at your screen. You probably don’t have a number to throw at this one other than an overwhelming feeling of “not enough”.
How we spend our time, is how we spend our life.
When you spend your days convinced there isn’t enough time and you don’t feel in control of where your hours go, that can create a less-than-exciting life. You may be walking around with a pit of dread of what the day might “throw at you”.
The first step to getting back in the driver’s seat of your time is to really understand where your minutes are going so you can start to direct them where you want.
If you want to lose weight, you track what you eat. If you want to save money, you track what you spend. If you want more time…you guessed it, you have to first track how you’re spending it.
What is a time audit?
A time audit is a time management tool to help you uncover exactly where your time is going.
It’s a short period of time where you keep track of and log exactly how you spend your time every day.
This tool helps you go beyond just a feeling of busy or a feeling of a lack of time because you’ll have the hard data and facts right in front of you of what’s causing those thoughts.
With this data in hand, you can start to analyze and be more aware of your time so you can be more intentional and realistic with what you spend it on.
Why should you do a time audit?
You can’t change what you don’t measure.
A time audit helps you understand exactly where your time is going so you can make a plan to find more of it.
After the audit, you’ll have the data directly in front of you to see if how you spend your time is aligned with your priorities and your goals or if there’s room for change.
You have to first know where you are so you can define where you want to be.
Now a quick reality check, a time audit is not a quick fix to help you get it all done.
Even after a perfectly conducted time audit, your to-do list is still going to be full and your calendar space is still going to be limited.
“Your imagination is bigger than your calendar. Your to-do list will always be bigger than the amount of time you have to accomplish it.”
- Jon Acuff, All it Takes is a Goal
A time audit is not the secret answer to completing every single project, goal, or whim you can dream up. Let go of that expectation. The goal of a time audit is to help you find the balance and fill more of your hours with the things you enjoy.
How to perform a time audit?
#1 Decide if you want to audit your personal time or professional time or both.
We often manage personal and professional priorities and workloads slightly differently, so it can be helpful to laser focus on just one.
If you’re specifically focused on your career and how you can get more accomplished during your 9-5, start there. But if you’re hoping to understand the overall balance of your life, you may want to consider auditing both your personal and professional time together.
#2 Perform a time audit for at least a full week, preferably two.
Each day can differ from one to the next with varying demands, so auditing a full week will give you a good picture of averages.
Auditing two weeks will help with the overall picture, even more, to start making meaningful adjustments.
And don’t forget, weekends are still worth tracking, especially if you’re prone to letting work sneak into the weekends. Two out of seven days represents a good chunk of your life.
#3 Create a tracker for you to log your time.
I like to use a spreadsheet to track. It allows you to easily capture data in an easy-to-read format. And you can make it digital so it’s easily accessible or print it out to log manually.
In your tracker, include general categories for the type of activities you typically spend time on. (I’m a spreadsheet nerd, so I love to add in some color-coding action as well to easily see from a high-level what I spent time on.)
Some example categories are:
Admin (meetings, calls, emails)
Creation (writing, coding, preparing)
Learning (reading, listening, studying)
Ideation (brainstorming, journaling, reflecting)
Avoiding (social media scrolling, internet browsing, i.e. not real work)
You can download your free tracker and step-by-step time audit guide here to see this in action.
#4 Log your activities throughout the day.
Now it’s time to log!
Don’t rely on your memory that might conveniently forget the 15 minutes you spent scrolling Instagram to avoid starting on that report. Set yourself a reminder throughout the day to stop and log what you just spent time on.
I like to log in 15-minute increments but you can use 30-minute chunks if that’s easier.
Write down what you did in as much detail as you want. “Project Work” and “Completed Presentation Deck” are both fine. One just gives you more information to evaluate later on.
#5 Keep it business as usual and avoid perfectionism.
While you’re logging, don’t try to make any major adjustments to how you’re spending your time just because you’re tracking it.
You’ll likely become hyper-aware of where you’re letting the hours go during this time. But you want to be honest about what your default behaviors and actions are so you can make lasting changes later.
Also, don’t let perfectionism take over. You don’t have to log the 60-second break you took to let your dog out or overanalyze whether the phone call with a coworker belongs in the Admin category or Ideation. Generalities are perfectly okay.
The process may feel a little daunting or overwhelming. Just have fun with it. Make it a game of research and science. Don’t overthink it. You are simply collecting data!
What now?
Now the hard part.
You’ve taken the effort to collect all the data and tirelessly logged each minute. You have reality looking you straight in the eyes. What do you do now?
#1 Review your audit and note any patterns.
Put on your scientist hat and ask yourself things like:
Do you see a lot of unintentional breaks such as Instagram scrolling or mindlessly browsing the internet? When is that happening and why?
Are you spending more or less time on things than you originally thought you did?
Are there certain times of the day where you seem to be more focused and have less interruptions?
Is there anything that surprised you?
#2 Evaluate the overall balance of your time.
This is where the color-coding fun can come in. From a high-level, evaluate the percentage of time you spend in each category.
How do you feel about what you accomplished?
What would you like to spend more time doing?
What would you like to spend less time doing?
Is it possible you can find 1% of your time to divert from one category to another?
Are there activities you could batch together to avoid context-switching and interruptions?
#3 Notice where you have some control.
Many of us might feel like we aren’t in control of where our time is going as you jump from one fire drill to the next. Take a moment to review your log and note areas where you did actually have some control over what you were prioritizing to spend time on.
#4 Pick one thing you want to change.
Once you’ve identified some patterns, found areas you might want to change, and recognized the moments you have full control over, it’s time to try something a little different.
Choose one thing to adjust for next week.
For example: Do you want to spend more time creating and ideating and less time in meetings? Look at your meetings for the following week. Find one or two you don’t really need to be in. Decline and replace that time with scheduled focus time to brainstorm.
Or, do you find you’re wasting hours in the week scrolling your phone? Anytime you find yourself searching for your phone as a distraction, commit to redirecting your focus back to the project you’re avoiding and pick a 5-minute task to get started on. Just 5 minutes. That will help get you back some momentum and into the flow of work, without being overwhelmed by the full project.
These changes don’t have to be big. Try out one change; see how it goes. Build some momentum and confidence that you are in the driver’s seat of your day then try another schedule tweak, until you get closer and closer to that ideal schedule.
#5 Plan and schedule your time.
Now that you have a good idea of what you spend your time on and what you’d like to spend your time on, it will be easier to create a plan for the week ahead of time.
Schedule a day to chart out your upcoming week.
As you plan your upcoming week, think about what you’d like to look back and see that you’ve done. Create a schedule that accomplishes those things but is balanced with a day you would actually enjoy showing up for. Focus on not only what you want to spend less time doing, but also what you want to spend more time doing. Then build out the schedule puzzle to bring it together.
If you need some planning help, check out the 6 Time Management Essentials post for more tips on scheduling for success.
Conclusion
The biggest time waster is a lack of intentionality.
A time audit brings more awareness to your time and where your minutes are going.
It helps you find those pockets you’re letting slip away with unfocused busy work and also helps you see where you truly have control.
A time audit does require some commitment and focus. And you may even be overwhelmed or frustrated seeing where your time is going. But having the actual data to identify where your feelings of busy or overworked are stemming from is the first step to making real, meaningful change.
The time and energy you invest in this process will come back to you tenfold as you improve your time management, productivity, and begin to take control over your schedule.
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About Me
Hi, I’m Kara. I’m a former workaholic turned time-management expert. I help women stressed out in their 9-5 get more done, in less time, so they can get back in the driver’s seat and start living a life they love.
