Keeping a Time Log

Do you ever wonder where the time goes? Are you a manager and wonder how your people are spending their time? A great way for self reflection or to spot check the focus of your team is to keep a time log for a week.

It is a simple project. Just take a spreadsheet and label the days of the week across the top and the time you want to track in 15 or 30 minute increments down the side (depending on how detailed you want to be). Set an alarm (cell phone alarm, egg timer, watch alarm) for the top of each hour. When the alarm goes off (We know that this is an interruption – it is just for a week), stop what you are doing and record a detail of what you have done over the last hour – an entry for each 15 or 30 minute segment. We realize that it is an annoyance and a hassle. But, the result and the information that you can gather is very telling.

At the end of the week, review the week's activities. For fun, total up the amount of time you are spending in similar activities/categories like: meetings, returning calls, email, working on the XYZ report, talking with customers, eating meals, taking breaks, etc. You may be surprised at the totals. You also might be surprised at the time that you have wasted. Be honest with yourself – look at the spreadsheet and total up the time that you feel like you have been less than productive. Have your team do the same.

Now what are you going to do about it? Ask yourself these questions:

• What activities are getting the bulk of my time? Are they the most important activities?


• How can I alter what I am doing to become more efficient as well as focused on the most important items?


• What activities can be eliminated? What activities need to be added or receive a bigger allotment of my time?


• How much time am I spending in my work ring, my self ring and my relationship ring?

If you like this activity, try it for a month. It will give you a good indicator on how effectively you are using your time. Remember the quote from Ben Franklin, "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of."

Maintenance or Excellence

According to the Random House Dictionary to "maintain" is, "to keep in existence or continuance." To "excel" is, "to be better or finer than (others)." I was thinking about the difference between maintaining and excelling as I was mowing the lawn. I can cut the grass, keep it from turning into a jungle and just maintain it. Or, I can spend some extra time and edge, fertilize, water the dry patches, dig out by hand the weeds that the "weed and feed" fertilizer didn't catch and make the lawn look a little nicer. I can go above and beyond-add that little extra effort that makes a difference. I can pursue excellence with my lawn so that it is "better or finer" than my neighbors.

What areas in our lives are we just maintaining when we should be excelling? You might not even have a lawn. You might not even care if your lawn makes it through the summer. But there are probably other areas that you care about that could use some edging, fertilizer and weeding. Think about your relationships. Are you improving, nurturing and working on your relationships or are you just maintaining-keeping them in existence? What about your job or career? Are you looking at better ways of doing things, making recommendations, improving your skills and pursing excellence? Or are you just continuing on, showing up, gathering a paycheck, doing the minimum and hoping something better comes along that will pay more?

Doing just a little more and pushing yourself towards excellence does take a little more time. There is a sacrifice and investment that comes with it. You might have to pick and choose what items you are OK with maintaining and what items you should excel in. But that should be a conscious decision that you make. In most cases, the time and energy spent in the pursuit of excellence isn't that much more than the time you are going to put in anyway. Excellence is more of a mind set. The satisfaction of a job well done is well worth the effort. Push yourself to get out of the box and do better.

Now if I could only remember who borrowed my weed eater!

See If You Saw This One Coming...

Okay. You are on a diet and you are at a restaurant for dinner (Yes, that already seems like a paradox, I know). When getting recommendations on what you should eat for dinner, whose food choice are you more likely to accept-one from an obese server or a thin server?

According to ScienceDirect, a study of the University of Columbia conducted such a study. The results? 59% accepted the recommendation from the obese server while only 36% accepted the food choice of the thin server. Why? According to Brent McFerran, one of the researchers, the dieter could more readily identify with the obese server.

I wanted to be surprised by their findings, but it's the same thing we find so often when working with the performers in our circus. We tend to more quickly trust people who we sense have the same values, beliefs and circumstances we are facing. It doesn't mean we should wear our values, beliefs and struggles on our sleeves, but the findings do reinforce that we need to find common ground with others-especially if we want them to accept an idea, feedback or other information from us.

It's The Total Performance-Not One Act

I came across this quote during my planning time the other day:

Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed.

-Corita Kent

At the end of the circus performance, most people enthusiastically clap and cheer, and may even give it a standing ovation. But have you ever thought about what they are cheering for? It's really not the closing act or an act they saw during the first half. It's the total performance-the combination of everything they have experienced during the event. Some acts were perfect, some were mediocre and some may have even gone wrong.

While one act in our lineup may not go well one day, it's vital to realize that you get another opportunity the next moment to be successful-to try again. And if we make the most of each moment, win or lose we will most likely give ourselves a standing ovation when the day is over.

Lucky Preparation

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." What a powerful quote! Read the quote over again. Do you believe it? If you do, consider the question: "What kind of luck are you preparing for?"

Another quote comes to mind: "Don't wait for your ship to come in-swim out to meet it."

I have a friend who lost his job over a year ago. He is extremely talented and should have had no trouble finding a job. Unfortunately, he allowed himself to gain a substantial amount of weight and added some facial hair (not that there's anything wrong with facial hair-but it does have a different effect on the appearance of someone). I can just see some prospective employer failing to see beyond appearances and missing the chance to hire a fantastic employee. On the other hand, this person is definitely not taking the right opportunities to present himself in the best light possible.

It is critical to prepare for when the right opportunity comes along. Your preparation should be a conscious, daily labor. If not, the danger is that the right opportunity comes along and we are not prepared. Get ready!!