Comments on: How Long Did That Really Take To Do?

By: Unconventional Thinking » Blog Archive » Ugly Math

Unconventional Thinking » Blog Archive » Ugly Math — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 14:00:58 +0000

[...] salespeople producing an average of $1 million in sales annually. Management’s dream is to double the production to $2 million per rep. It’s a nice thought, but impossible to achieve. Impossible? Why? [...]

By: Does Multitasking Really Make You More Productive? : Instigator Blog

Does Multitasking Really Make You More Productive? : Instigator Blog — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 13:39:28 +0000

[...] all insanely pressed for time, working harder, working longer hours. Maybe we wouldn’t have to if we stopped multitasking [...]

By: Dawud Miracle

Dawud Miracle — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 15:15:35 +0000

Ben, I couldn't agree more. I know tht I've struggled with this from time to time. And just as I had a handle on it, I decided to begin blogging. Now I'm working out a whole new way to focus and be productive in my business day. Takes time, but huge payoff.

By: Dawud Miracle

Dawud Miracle — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:15:35 +0000

Ben, I couldn’t agree more. I know tht I’ve struggled with this from time to time. And just as I had a handle on it, I decided to begin blogging. Now I’m working out a whole new way to focus and be productive in my business day. Takes time, but huge payoff.

By: lornadoone

lornadoone — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 19:34:38 +0000

Oh, to have read this a week earlier. I just did a very large mailing for one of my jobs, and I severely underestimated how much time and energy it would take. I don't know what I was thinking, but after about five days, I finally got it in the mail and felt like I'd gone eight rounds in a boxing ring.

One tip that might be useful, though: When I make up a to-do list, I will often put a time estimate next to each item. It helps to keep me on track, and if I get something done in less time than was estimated, I feel like I'm ahead of the game as I tackle the next item. Sometimes it's disheartening to realize that my to-do list is fourteen hours long, but at least I have some sort of expectation to work with.

I try to use 15-minute increments (15 min., 30 min., 1 hr., 3 hrs., etc), so if I have a few 5-minute items, I might group them together and mark them all off the list at once.

By: lornadoone

lornadoone — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 18:34:38 +0000

Oh, to have read this a week earlier. I just did a very large mailing for one of my jobs, and I severely underestimated how much time and energy it would take. I don’t know what I was thinking, but after about five days, I finally got it in the mail and felt like I’d gone eight rounds in a boxing ring.

One tip that might be useful, though: When I make up a to-do list, I will often put a time estimate next to each item. It helps to keep me on track, and if I get something done in less time than was estimated, I feel like I’m ahead of the game as I tackle the next item. Sometimes it’s disheartening to realize that my to-do list is fourteen hours long, but at least I have some sort of expectation to work with.

I try to use 15-minute increments (15 min., 30 min., 1 hr., 3 hrs., etc), so if I have a few 5-minute items, I might group them together and mark them all off the list at once.

By: Ben Yoskovitz

Ben Yoskovitz — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:33:00 +0000

Karen – 6 minute increments is pretty extreme for most professions – but the practice of tracking your time is a good one.

I try and do it on a project by project basis, not so much on a day-to-day basis. It doesn't matter to me right now if I take 30 minutes or 60 minutes for lunch, how long it takes to respond to email, etc. – although knowing those sorts of things can be useful for productivity.

What's important is knowing how long a specific project took. If I estimate $10 of work I need to know if it took $10 of work, because I want my next quote to be more accurate than the first.

By: Ben Yoskovitz

Ben Yoskovitz — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:33:00 +0000

Karen – 6 minute increments is pretty extreme for most professions – but the practice of tracking your time is a good one.

I try and do it on a project by project basis, not so much on a day-to-day basis. It doesn’t matter to me right now if I take 30 minutes or 60 minutes for lunch, how long it takes to respond to email, etc. – although knowing those sorts of things can be useful for productivity.

What’s important is knowing how long a specific project took. If I estimate $10 of work I need to know if it took $10 of work, because I want my next quote to be more accurate than the first.

By: The Top 10 Tips For New Consultants And Freelancers : Instigator Blog

The Top 10 Tips For New Consultants And Freelancers : Instigator Blog — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 12:30:20 +0000

[...] expecting timesheets from you, track your time anyway. Do it for your own understanding of how long things take. Do it so you’ll get more accurate at pricing projects (cause you’ll probably be lousy [...]

By: Karen Wallace

Karen Wallace — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 09:28:00 +0000

Ben, you're so right. My husband is a chartered accountant, and in that profession you account for every 6 minutes of your day (10 units to each hour). And today, he was doing his timesheets, and thinking aloud about how hard it was some days to remember what he did for that day when 6pm rolled around – let alone at the end of the week when one of his staff is clamouring for his timesheets.

I thought about having to account for my work day in 6 minute increments, and I could not possibly fathom how I could do it.

Then I read your post. How synchronous! I NEED to do this – I NEED to know how long things take (maybe not down to each 6 minutes – but possibly down to each hour). You are so right – things always take longer than we think. Here's to being more productive!

Thanks!