time_log_spreadsheet_june_2015.xls |
The biggest chunk of my time was spent working - nearly 26 hours. This is the time I spent actually working, not at work (which was rather higher), as one of my goals was to track how much of my work time I spend not working. I also spent over five hours on trains going to and from work, plus another seven hours of exercise - most of which was cycling or walking to and from train stations for work. My job is officially 30 hours a week, but it seems I spent 38 hours working or getting to work - plus the extra that I was in the office but not actually working.
My next biggest chunk of time was spent in the rather vaguely titled 'food and necessary prep' category. This is making and eating food, getting clothes ready for the next day etc - a total of just over 16 hours. This is interesting because I don't mentally allow for this time at all, meaning I often end up rushed and not eating properly. Definitely an area for me to work on.
What keeps me occupied
The area I was most interested in was my activities - the things I do outside of work, which keep me away from my partner, and away from our goal of moving house. I wasn't surprised at what I found. Nearly four hours of voluntary work, six hours working on my diploma, seven hours socialising, four hours at support group meetings... Twenty one hours just on those things alone - that's the equivalent of almost three working days! It's no wonder I'm tired quite a lot of the time.
Some surprising things
I was surprised at some of what I found. I spent over 15 hours just hanging around with my partner, not doing anything in particular - we went out for the day on Saturday which was a big part of that, but the rest was just an hour or two here and there in the evenings. I often feel like we don't spend any time together at all, so perhaps I need to look at how we're spending that time to make the most of it.
I also spent nine hours just on my own, doing whatever took my fancy at the time. Again, I was surprised - I often feel like I have no time to myself at all (although I suspect I was more conscious of putting time aside after the exercises I did last Tuesday so this might not be representative of the last few weeks). I spent this time on things like reading in bed, crocheting in front of a film, and making jam - things I love to do but that I'd never schedule time for.
And some not surprising things
Not even two hours on housework - which included putting the recycling out, hoovering the bathroom, giving the kitchen a good clean, putting all the washing away and reconciling our finances. I did spent a bit more time washing dishes throughout the week, but I've counted that in food prep time as I tend to do most of it while I'm cooking. I've never been particularly enthusiastic about house work, and I suppose this just illustrates why our house has not yet featured in one of those glossy magazines...
The final thing that struck me (although I'm not remotely surprised) was that I spent nine hours on a category that can only be described as 'wasting time on the internet'. Some of that was lying in bed looking at twitter on my phone before getting up, and I'm ashamed to say quite a bit of it was while I was supposed to be working. I've not counted blog posts in this, or looking up how to do something useful (like grout the shower). This is purely checking social media, pottering around forums, chasing interesting threads, reading other people's blogs. Now, some of that I could count as socialising (I've made good friends through forums, who I now know well in real life), and some of it as simple relaxation, but all nine hours of it was spent in front of a screen when I spend all of my working days in front of a screen already.
So...
Tracking my time has made me a lot more conscious of what I do with it. I've noticed that, when I'm at work, I tend to swap activities pretty much every fifteen minutes, and often get distracted in the middle of a task and end up on the internet. I'm trying to be more mindful and focused. I 'wasted' a lot of time on the internet - but probably less than I would have done if I hadn't been writing it down. I've been crocheting a blanket for a friend's baby, which has made me sit down more often than I might have done otherwise too.
I'm going to carry on tracking my time this week and see if I notice any changes. It's been a really useful exercise to illustrate that I'm not spending my time on the things that I've identified as my goals. After that, I might make it a regular thing, maybe four times a year for a week or so, just to check I'm spend my time as I want to be.