If you value money, you’ll budget and track it. Why not treat your time the same?

When I worked at a large engineering consulting firm, every minute of my working day had to be attributed to a current project. I worked on various large projects for different clients throughout the day, but by 5 PM my time had to add to 8.0 hours. If a project had too many hours it would go over budget.

Since there was no category for ‘walking around’, ‘chatting it up’, or even ‘misc work’, it encouraged a productive, task-oriented mindset.

Hey you have projects too? Then why not give the system a whirl… I’ve even attached my blank 2009 calendar to make it easy! It’s based on the calendar template from the good folks at www.vertex42.com. The best time-management tools I’ve found yet is a simple to-do list. This spreadsheet marries a to-do list with a daily scheduler, and a monthly planner.

Quickly jot down the task you're working on (or plan to work on), and block it off with cell colour formatting.

Through 2008 it not only helped me plan (budget), it also showed me the truth about how many hours I actually work in the day (time spent entirely on my priority projects). Although I try to work all day, it turns out I only mange to hit 8 hours (my target) two or three days per week. I don’t feel too bad about it since various studies show that many employees only work 2 to 6 hours in an 8-hour day. And apparnetly actually ‘working at work’ improves productivity also!

In the lower frame is the to-do list. Crossing off tasks (ctrl + 5) gives a fuzzy warm feeling.

Excel file: 2009-calendar