Logging your daily activities is the best way to increase your productivity and manage your time better. However, you have two choices to consider before you start recording your daily activities- where and how to record them. Let's discuss both.
Where to Log Your Daily Activities?
You have two options to keep track of your daily activities: paper or digital calendar. Although there aren't many differences between them, there are still reasons why people prefer one over the other.
1. Digital Logging
Many people prefer recording their tasks in a digital schedule or productivity-tracking app for several reasons:
1.1. Accessibility
Some people prefer to access their activity plan from anywhere. You can access digital tracking tools from your phone, which is always around you. Additionally, you can edit data more precisely by working on it from your computer.
1.2. Customisation
You can use a digital calendar to view your activities as a list or calendar and organise them according to participant, type, schedule, or anything else you'd like. Almost everything in it is controlled, and you can edit anything anytime.
1.3. Cost
High-quality paper daily planners can be pricey. However, you won't need to purchase anything if you use a digital calendar. "One of the best things you can do is go shopping with a beautiful-looking planner that you can write on, feel between your hands, look at, and open whenever you want," says Jackie Reeve, a writer for the New York Times project Wirecutter.
However, most online tracking tools are totally free. Some offer paid versions with more features, but even these versions are less costly than paper planners. What makes paper planners appealing to those who don't use software to log their daily activities, though?
2. Paper Logging
Similar to how some people favour physical books over electronic ones, others prefer to keep a paper record of their everyday activities. There are benefits to this approach, including:
2.1. Memory Retention
Research indicates that writing things down helps us remember them better. So, using a paper activity planner could be the ideal option for you if you're trying to memorise a new routine.
2.2. Privacy
Even though software companies invest a lot of money in data security, hackers can still access our accounts. A paper planner might be a better choice for you if you are worried about someone else seeing your schedule or activities. Remember that writing down information increases your accountability because you have to consider how you will retrieve it later.
2.3. Visibility
To access digital tools for tracking activities, you simply need to open the app on your computer or phone, log in, and proceed. However, all you have to do is look at a paper record that is in the proper place. For this reason, many business professionals still keep a paper calendar on their desks, even though they also have a digital calendar. Nothing impacts the mind like visual reminders.
You must record and analyse your activities after determining where to do so. To get better, time how long it takes you to review the tips we will outline in this article.
How to Track Your Daily Activities?
Certain activities might be simpler to record than others because digital events like video conferences are already scheduled in your calendar based on the invitation you received, unlike spontaneous ideas like going for a walk that may require some planning and estimation.
Here's where you start:
1. Check Your Personal Calendar
Does what's in your calendar align with how you spend your time?
Breakout Blueprint author Doug Foley says, “If you learn to own your calendar instead of letting it own you, that's the first step to building the life you want.”
If your calendar doesn't reflect your desires, you need to make changes. Clean it up by eliminating events and activities that don't suit you anymore, saying no to things you don't want or care about, and packing your schedule with things that will help you achieve your objectives.
2. Use Time Tracking Tools
Use time-tracking apps like Harvest or Toggl to track your digital activities. These apps allow you to pull event details from your calendar and record the time you've already spent on each activity.
These tools are easiest to use with a widget, a miniature version of the app that only displays its most essential features. Time-tracking widgets let you start, pause, and stop the activity timer as you work.
If you prefer using a physical standalone activity log, you can use a stopwatch - your mobile may have one built-in, or you can carry one in your pocket if you prefer a race-like experience. In both cases, remember to hit "Start" and "Stop" following every training-related task, and budget a minimum of two weeks to form and solidify this habit fully.
3. Track Time Precisely
When tracking your time, you may forget to click the start button on the timer, so you end up putting 3:25 PM instead of 3:23 PM, or there may be a gap in yesterday's record at 4 PM, leading you to assume that you started the next task listed at that time.
While this may not seem like a big deal at first glance, it can distort your activity log over time. Not only will your time for that task be off, but it may also result in changing the start and end times of subsequent tasks.
This recording error becomes more problematic when you have to analyse how you spend your time. If tasks that should take five minutes - like checking emails - end up taking two minutes, you might think you're spending only half the time you actually are on your emails.
4. Take Notes
Was your child distracting you while you were finishing the mentioned emails? It makes sense why it took twice as long as usual, so note this in your activity log.
If you're using a paper log, don't do this in pen, as hardly a day goes by without some kind of adjustment to your plan.
Digital tracking devices allow you to attach notes to each activity. Also, they enable you to update and edit them as you see fit.
When it comes to tracking your time, knowing the reason behind every wasted minute is just as important as knowing how to do it. You must comprehend why certain tasks take longer or shorter than anticipated to manage your time as effectively as possible.
5. Seek Corrections
No matter how accurate you are, everyone makes mistakes occasionally. Ask other group members to regularly review your activity log if you're tracking group activities, such as preparing dinner at home or running a marketing campaign at work. Your time log may differ slightly from your partners' logs.
What’s important isn’t whose time is more accurate but identifying the types of tasks where discrepancies are common. Tasks that aren’t being logged correctly can’t be analysed or dealt with precisely.
6. You Need to Backup
No matter how strong your memory is, you won't be able to remember the last month's activities log if it gets lost or stolen. If you use a paper activity tracker, take a picture of it weekly and upload it to a cloud storage platform like Google Drive.
Make a backup copy of your activity log on a local or cloud storage device if you are using a digital device, as you never know when the business that makes your tracking device might file for bankruptcy.
7. Analyse the Data
When you have a month or more of activity data and are confident that it is logged accurately, you can better utilise your time by analysing how you were spending it. Base your data analysis on your goals.
Maybe all you really need is the adjustable hours at the end of every month. That's simple: just include all the activities you have done for your clients in the past four weeks. Using your activity log to improve your personal life requires considering your interests and values.
You might have to wake up earlier if your morning schedule doesn't allow for breakfast, or you might have to start looking for a new job if your job forces you to work more than 40 hours a week.
Increase Your Effort to Get Better Results
Even though your daily routine might not seem noteworthy, you will discover that you achieve a lot daily if you log your daily activities. You need to track your time to manage it better by eliminating unnecessary tasks or completing current ones more efficiently.
You just need to start seeing the improvement opportunities that are there.
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