When Are You Most Productive?

I've been feeling pressed for time lately -- no big surprise, given that I have a full-time job, a part-time job, five kids, and no staff -- but it occurred to me that I don't really know what I do with all my time. So I kept track for a while, and discovered that, like most people, I have windows of energy and productivity. Now, the trick is to schedule my tasks for those times, and cut back on the distractions, according to the experts.

“The first time I kept a time log, I only finished 15 hours worth of real work in a week where I spent about 60 hours in my office,” Steve Pavlina writes on his website. “Even though I was technically about twice as productive as the average office worker, I was still disturbed by the results. Where did those other 45 hours go?”

Using his time log, he could see that he was spending too much time checking email, doing tasks that didn’t need to be done, lingering over meals during the workday, and catching up on the news, among other things.

Sound familiar? It did to me. ... [More]

So now I have a plan of action -- sort of. Read more at The 36-Hour Day, and check out the discussions and articles about organization and productivity over at Work It, Mom!