What I learned from tracking my time for 9 years (part 1)

Observations on what happens when you know where the time really goes

Time is a nebulous thing. It passes no matter what we do. Yet our lives are made up of hours, and what our lives look like is a function of how we spend those hours. It’s a little strange that many of us have no idea how we spend this precious resource.

So, back in April 2015, I decided to start recording how I spent my time. I used weekly spreadsheets that contained 336 cells representing each 168 hour week. I checked in roughly 3 times per day and wrote down what I had done since the last time I checked in. I made it through a few weeks…and then decided to just keep going.

I’m now nine years in to this habit. Over the next few weeks, in a few posts, I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned from all this time-tracking, and why you might want to give it a try to. For instance, I have learned….