In his book, Hot Prospects, Bill Good talks of his Time Analysis experiment – he gave a group of brokers a little gadget and asked them to punch in their start and end times for any activity they did during their working day.

When he collected the data, it turned out he hadn’t been measuring the periods of activity at all. He’d been measuring the amount of time in-between those activities – the time where the brokers were not actively doing something meaningful or productive towards their working goals.

Bill found that out of a typical 9 hour day, the brokers were spending 4 hours “off” and that less than one hour a day was being spent in their most vital role of meeting with interested and qualified prospects.

The Language Challenge I am undertaking at the moment has highlighted my issues with time – I know lots of us feel there’s not enough time in the day and rather than get stressed and implement changes willy-nilly, I think it’s useful to get some data in to find out how time is currently being used.

So for the last week I have been doing a time analysis experiment of my own. It’s very basic – an Excel spreadsheet with the time marked in 15 minute increments down the side and the days across the top. I fill in the cells with the activity I have just completed and then I colour-code it:

• Green = Time well spent / Obligations & commitments / unavoidable travel time
• Orange = Could have been better
• Red =  Time not spent well at all

Because nobody else sees this spreadsheet, it’s easier to be frank with myself when it comes to colour-coding it. I mark social and relaxation activities as green – they’re important for well-being!

So far I average 1 red hour a day and 2 orange hours a day. Potentially, this gives me 21 extra hours a week and I don’t have to do much to access them! The Time Analysis has told me exactly where I can be more efficient and because I know this, I can now do something about it.

I’ve already made one very simple change that has turned out to have an incredible effect – I switched off the sound notification when a new email comes in. Now I am not forever being summoned to switch screens, read the latest and get side-tracked.

Take a week to do your own time analysis. Create your own colour coding and have it so that your equivalent of my red and orange stands out. Remember that this exercise is not about beating yourself up. It’s just research that shows you what you are currently doing. Knowledge gives you the power to gain control.

Mine is a very simple spreadsheet  - if you want mine as a template, let me know in a comment and I’ll make it available for download.

Do you have any tips and strategies for time analysis or time management? Share them below.

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image: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/resignent
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This is the first in a series of postings covering my language challenge. The rest of the series is filed in the “Language Challenge” category.

A friend claims that it is impossible for adults to learn a brand new language in two months because their brains aren’t adaptable enough.

I agree that as people get older, they can settle into habits that do not prioritise learning BUT (and it’s a very big but) this doesn’t mean that their brains lose the ability to be adaptable and learn new things.  

So I disagreed with my friend and said that I could learn a brand new language in two months – he grinned widely and said “prove it”. It was an impulsive response based more on indignation  and less on any proven ability to learn a new language. Apart from French lessons at school, I’ve not given myself too much exposure to languages!

The language I have decided to learn is Arabic. I have no knowledge of Arabic at the moment but I travel often to the UAE so it will certainly come in handy.

Now that I have taken on this challenge, it occurs to me that it might be useful to document my journey from the viewpoint of Peak Performance.

Abraham Lincolm said “Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality”.  I have made two physical commitments towards my goal:

1. Blogging about it allows me to demonstrate some peak performance techniques and it also provides me with accountability.
2. I have scoured Amazon and based on user reviews, have ordered Mastering Arabic, Mastering Arabic Script and Mastering Arabic Grammar.

Peak Performance in any given area occurs with a context specific balance of the following four states:

1. Physical : How does your environment or physical condition impact what you are doing?
2. Emotional : How does your emotional state impact the decisions that need to be made and your overall attitude? 
3. Mental : Do you have access to the knowledge you will need and is it stimulating in the right way?
4. Spiritual : How does the goal fit in with your perceptions of yourself? Is it supporting the way you want to be?

My problem areas are…

1. Physical – I have many pre-existing business and social commitments. Also, I have many leisure interests and my focus can drift between them. I’m wondering if I can physically do this.
2. Emotional – I’m quite conscious about the time. Not so much about the two month target – more how am I going to fit it in with everything else I do. I am reluctant to “give up” any of my other activities.
3. Mental – Again, the time aspects. Am I going to give up in a blind panic because I have too much else to fit in.
4. Spiritual – I feel a bit nervous about documenting this activity in a public blog. It’s going to look a tad silly if I fail.

Because achieving a balance in these areas is so important, I need to address them before I continue.  

The next post in this series covers how I deal with these issues and progress to the next stage.  Remember to subscribe by RSS or email if you’d like to receive updates.

In the meantime, it would be great to hear your thoughts. Have you done something like this? Do you think it’s achievable? Do you want to join me and take up a language challenge of your own?

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image: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/lusi
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