The last few weeks have been ridiculously busy, with way more drama than I usually like to let enter my life, so unfortunately maintaining this site hasn’t been a priority recently. I’m pleased to report, however, that things have settled down a bit and therefore I can now refocus my attention on working on some improvements to this site…I have several ideas that have been percolating in my mind for quite a while now – it’s just a matter of finding the time to actually make it happen. So anyway…watch this space: there will be soon be many more product reviews, advocacy alerts, special features and much more. Now I just need to find the time to execute all these great plans of mine…
Posts Tagged ‘time management
16
Apr
10
Back on track
I’m always looking for tools to help me manage my time more effectively and one of my current favorites is Toggl. Toggl is a simple and straight-forward Internet-based time tracking tool that makes it easy to track time spent on various projects. It is flexible enough for a wide range of uses but it is particularly well-suited to the needs of freelancers and small groups. It is so simple and intuitive that you can easily have it set up and ready to use in just a few minutes.
All of the basic time tracking and reporting features of Toggl can be used for free by individuals or teams of up to 20 members. Toggl also offers a Premium plan that gives users access to additional features however I don’t have any personal experience with the Premium version – the free version has been more than adequate for my needs.
Besides the fact that it is free, my favorite thing about Toggl is how easy it is to use. You can log in to the website to access your personal workspace where you can click on the timer to track time on various projects or use the reporting feature to run customized reports on your activity. There are also downloadable timer widgets, gadgets that integrate with Gmail or iGoogle, and an embeddable version of the timer that you can place on your website. Since it is Internet-based, it has the added advantage of giving you the ability to access your information anytime and from any computer.
If you are looking for a way to simply and easily track time spent on multiple projects, I highly recommend giving Toggl a try.
It has been a hectic week and although I feel like I am on the go all day every day, I’m frustrated because very often I find that despite all the activity, I have very few actual accomplishments to my credit. Where does all this time go? What is it that I am actually spending my time doing? A week or so ago I decided to start monitoring my time online with Rescue Time, a tool that tracks which websites and applications you use. I knew that I spend more time than I should on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter but taking a look at my Rescue Time report was an eye-opener.
Now that I realize just how much time I am wasting, I’m trying to implement strategies to help me overcome my natural laziness and spend my time more productively. One of the things I’ve done is a simple strategy I should have implemented ages ago: I’m putting myself on a schedule. Since I work at home doing freelance work, I rarely have a set schedule. Sure, I have deadlines and such but I don’t have anyone around to tell me which hours to work – which means I often get distracted and waste time. After all, it’s far more interesting to spend the day shopping or watching The Closer marathon than knuckling down and working on a project. So since I don’t have some external entity setting a schedule for me, I’m doing it myself. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been scheduling which hours I’ll work and when I’ll allow myself a break. I recently started scheduling time for workouts as well. It’s been a little difficult getting in to the swing of things but I’m finally starting to get the hang of it. Of course, things come up on occasion that require me to make adjustments to the schedule but when that happens, I try my best to get back on track as quickly as possible. It’s still a work in progress but I feel like I’m finally starting to replace some of my old unproductive habits with better, more productive ones…and as that happens, I’m not only getting more work done but I’m also feeling better about myself. I’m still lazy but I’m learning to curb those tendencies and get things done…most of the time anyway.
