Friday, January 1, 2010

Where Did the Time Go?

A new year, right? Where did last year go?

For that matter, here it is Friday; next Monday everyone goes back to work, but in practice they'll all spend the day wading through a two-week backlog of voicemail and email.

So I will recommence phoning my contacts on Tuesday.

So I have left Saturday, Sunday and Monday to complete those tasks which I figured would easily be done over this two-week break.

OK, so I pretty well wrote off Tuesday December 29th . And spent Christmas day in bed reading books.

Luckily for me I have my own billing system that reports where my time went.

Luckily for you, you can see how you feel about keeping track of your time without downloading my system.

1: Open up Windows Notepad

2: On the first line type ".LOG" without the quotes.

3: Save the file in a regular folder (C:\Greaves\Admin\2010\ will do fine) with the name "201001.TXT"; that's the 4-digit year and the 2-digit month number.

4: Create a shortcut to this file on your Quick Launch bar.

When you sit down at the computer, click the icon and type in the client code and whatever you plan to do for them. If it is your own finances you're working on "Admin Month-end" will do. When I'm prospecting "Prospect" does me fine, as does "Phones" or "Email".

When I'm developing a template for Able Engineering "Able Template".

Close the file.

When the phone rings, click the icon before picking up the phone; the time is recorded. If it is a 2-minute lunch arrangement, close the file without saving; I don't track 2-minute phone calls. But if it is Able Engineering and a 20-minute discussion of the project, type "Able Phone" alongside the date/time from the file opening, and on the next line tap the F5 function key to record the end of the conversation.

At lunch time, click the icon and close the file.

You get the idea.

And if you don't, Talk to Me !

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