Tuesday
Feb172009
Day 2 of 15 Days of Work/Life Balance: Where Does Time REALLY Go?
Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 8:35AM
I don't know about you but it is darn HARD to only check email a few times a day! I did set up some filters though to folder my social media emails (ie. friend requests, group invites, LinkedIn invitations, DMs) so I feel like I'm making some headway. But wow...I literally have to sit on my hands not to check my inbox!
Now that I've come to the realization that I need better work/life balance, I need to get a realistic view of where all my time is going. There are some web applications out there that will measure the time you spend in each application and on the web browser. However, since I usually have at least 30 tabs open and 3-4 applications running at once, I don't think those are going to do me much good.
I found one web app that looks pretty promising for what I need. It's called BubbleTimer.
Check it out. I don't know about you but at first glance it took me back to high school and those scantron exams we used to take (do kids still have scantron exams? And am I even spelling scantron right?)
Either way, it lets you set up all the things you do during the day that take up time and then track it, manually, by fifteen minute increments. You can set daily and/or weekly goals of how you want to spend your time and while I haven't completed a full week using it yet, the reporting looks pretty sweet.
My goal in using this is so I can see where I've got surplus where it shouldn't be and see what activities I'm neglecting. Deep down inside I know I don't want to face the reality of the results but I know that in order to achieve work/life balance I need to face it head on. BubbleTimer looks like it will keep me on my toes and if anything should allow me to self-correct if I see my schedule going awry. What I love about Bubbletimer is that it is exactly what I was looking for without any extra fluff. I'm willing to bet my sentiment is shared by others and it's comforting to know I'm not alone in my quest for work/life balance.
Yesterday, I didn't assign any homework. Today? So totally assigning it!
HOMEWORK
Figure out your own system for checking email. If it's not an issue, don't try to fix what's not broken. If you're like me and find yourself at the end of the week with your head spinning, wondering where the time went...check out Bubbletimer. You can share your Bubbletimer stats with those you trust. I'll be sharing mine with my husband so hopefully he'll celebrate with me as I improve.
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Reader Comments (9)
So for my 'real' jobs I have to track my time by the 15min. so that I can bill my hours per client correctly. It definitely makes me conscious of where that time goes when I'm on that job. I guess I need to implement the same thing when I'm at my blog job, and my house-cleaning job. The mom job I can track by the hour :).
Janine (@twincident)s last blog post..http://twoferthepriceofone.blogspot.com/2009/02/tips-for-your-first-blog-conference.html" rel="nofollow">Tips for Your First Blog Conference
No you didn't just say "scantron"! LOL! That could be a regional thing that only we DC gals know about but you never know. Thanks for the tips...as usual!
Christie-A Work In Progresss last blog post..http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/christiecrowder/~3/541472513/thank-you-for-being-friend.html" rel="nofollow">Thank You for Being a Friend
"Scantron" oh boy do I remember those back in grade school. Yup, even across the country, over here in California... we had "scantron" testing days. =)
Since I seem to have a system that works, so that I am only checking email 3-5 times a day, I'm not going to try to fix what is not broken. But the BubbleTimer app looks quite interesting, so I might just check it out... just in case it could come in handy later. Thanks for the tip!
Gail - MicroBlogginMoms last blog post..http://microblogginmom.blogspot.com/2009/02/wordless-wednesday-5.html" rel="nofollow">Wordless Wednesday - #5
Thanks for this - sometimes I wonder where the heck my day has gone, and I really think I would benefit from tracking my time more.
And I totally remember scantrons, I wrote many an exam using them!
Tinas last blog post..http://blog.christinakeightley.ca/?p=35" rel="nofollow">Main Site Under Construction
[...] post, Day 2 of 15 Days of Work/Life Balance: Where Does Time REALLY Go?, mentions the web app BubbleTimer, a time-recording tool that can help monitor what you’re [...]
I actually have to turn off the e-mail program in order to get anything done. Out of sight out of mind works well for me :)
The BubbleTimer looks like a great idea to track and manage your time - thanks for the tip!
Maritas last blog post..http://www.fundraisingip.com/fundraising/raise-funds-for-yourself/" rel="nofollow">Raise Funds For Yourself?
I've been at the place where the online is the only time you see people....it also effected me big time! Then made a huge effort to get together with the girls and my life is so much better! YA for knitting and wine night!
I so am reading all your posts like this weekend! I love this one..I so can relate!!! Hugs, brandy
Jessica,
Thanks so much for mentioning BubbleTimer. I wrote it and I certainly took more than my fair share of tests on scantrons (that was the brand used in Florida where I grew up). We also had a term called "Christmas Tree'ing". Does everyone know that one? It was purposefully filling out random answers on a scantron (usually one that didn't count for a grade). The Christmas tree name came from filling out a pattern so the bubbles would look like a Christmas Tree.
Thanks,
Sean