Time Awareness Exercises 1

TIME AWARENESS
E X E R C I S E
At the end of everyday we usually have one of two feelings; either a feeling of satisfaction
because we had a productive day or a feeling of dissatisfaction because we had a very
unproductive day. I believe every human being wants to feel productive; the secret to
obtaining this feeling rests within what we do with our time.
Fundamental concepts of time
Everyday consists of 24 hours; the phrase “there is not enough time in the day” is a way for
us to justify our lack of productivity. What matters is not the amount of time we have, it is what
we do with the time we are given. Time is perishable; we cannot stop it, slow it down or speed
it up (although at times it may feel like). As human beings we must embrace the fact that time
is a valuable and limited resource.
To be more productive in a particular area of our personal or professional life, we must be
selective, almost protective, of our time. To become more productive in our business (earn
more money) we must spend more time in dollar productive activities. To become a better
parent or grandparent we must spend more time with our children and grandchildren. The key
is not to focus on time management but rather behavior management. Time cannot be
manipulated or managed but we can manage our behaviors and our actions.
“What we measure, gets improved.”
- Peter Drucker
In order to dramatically increase our productivity, we need to track, review, adjust and monitor
what we do with our time. The following exercise is one of the most powerful exercises
available to assist you in becoming a highly productive person in every area of your life.
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TIME AWARENESS EXERCISE
T R A C K
a) Using a stopwatch, your calendar alerts on email, or a sport watch with an alarm,
set an alarm for every 30 minutes.

b) When the alarm goes off, stop what you are doing and write down in point form
what you did in the previous 30 minutes. (If you have an appointment that lasts

longer than 30 minutes, wait until after the appointment and then track how long
your appointment lasted - XXX minutes.)
c) Complete this for a full day from the time you wake up until the time you retire for
the evening.
R E V I E W
Review the activities you recorded and ask yourself the following powerful questions:
• What did I do today that was not productive; that did not move me in the direction
of my goals and did not make me feel good?
• What did I do today that was my most productive activity?
• What is the one thing I did today that if I had not done it would have made the
greatest positive difference in my day? (Do this for both your personal and
professional life)
• What could I have delegated today that would have increased my productivity?
• What did I do that did not need to be done and should be eliminated from my life?
• What activities did I participate in that were not in line with my values and goals?
• What did I do that caused me to feel guilty?
• What did I do today that gave me my greatest satisfaction and joy?
A D J U S T
Readjust your next day’s schedule based on your findings.
M O N I T OR
Do this Time Awareness Exercise for 7 days in a row and repeat it a minimum of
4 times per year.
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STEP 4
STEP 3
STEP1
STEP 2
TIME AWARENESS TRACKER WORKSHEET
Name: Date:
Start

Time
Stop
Time
Description of Activity – detailed and specific Adjustment
needed
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
                       
© RICHARD ROBBINS INTERNATIONAL INC. | TOLL FREE 1.800.298.9587 | WWW.RICHARDROBBINS.COM