Comments on: Insights from time tracking

By: Donna Maurer

Donna Maurer — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 02:34:35 +0000

Pat - in seriousness, I think skipping is a way of fitting a lot in. I get tired when working on one thing for too long, so do something that uses a different set of brain skills.

By: Pat

Pat — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 09:15:16 +0000

I too am a metaphorical skipper. I always suspected ADHD or something worse, but maybe it has more to do with having a had a TV remote control from a very early age

Whadayathink?

By: Perry

Perry — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 16:52:06 +0000

The time tracking made a huge difference for me when I started about five years back. It’s easy to over- and underestimate the time tasks can take, but for me the biggest win was understanding utilization rates for myself and the folks I work with. Being able to predict utilization to a degree informs the time we can dedicate to internal work (such as evaluating new work tools), speaking, writing, etc.

By: Donna Maurer

Donna Maurer — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 07:23:49 +0000

I don’t switch off the timer to make coffee - whoever happens to be on the clock at the time can pay for me to get a drink (and I only have to walk to the kitchen and back) - after all, that’s how it would be if I were in-house. But yes, I don’t record email and shopping!

By: Kay

Kay — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 01:49:25 +0000

Hey Donna - I always had to track my time at my previous employer, but found when I started working for myself I had to be more brutally honest about what I was actually doing at all times! Coffee, blog reading and eBay aren’t *really* “research for internal projects”
Having a good tool to track your time is really helpful. We’ve been using 88miles.net - because it’s good and because it was developed locally

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:25:56 +0000

I always found lecturing or tutoring wiped my day out too.

By: Lou Rosenfeld

Lou Rosenfeld — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 12:28:14 +0000

Well hey, you’ve made Lou’s day!