The first step in taking control of your productivity is to know how you spend your time.
Sometimes time just seems to “fly.” Time just slips away, and you can no longer account for all of it. It is where time auditing comes in. If you pay close attention to your time and track it, you will discover where all your time goes. Once you know how you spend your time, you can truly take control of it.
Starting now, track how you spend your day in a notebook you carry around or on a digital device like your phone (ATracker Pro is a fantastic app for this purpose). Go as detailed as possible, in at least 10-minute increments. Do this for at least a week.
You will probably find many inefficiencies in your life once you start tracking your time closely. Hone in on the activities that you spend a lot of time on that have no real value towards improving your lifestyle. Try to cut these time-wasteful activities out of your life.
Usual suspects are television watching, unimportant errands, checking email, reading news, and checking social networks. On the other hand, activities, like playing with your children, reading, and chatting with your spouse, might appear at the outset as a waste of time, but they have substantial long-term benefits.