I keep track of my time by logging in and out of my activities. I give each session a value rating from 1-5, based on whether it felt like a good use of my time – except when I’m signed into working on an artwork, then the value rating is based on my confidence level for the work in progress. I do this on my desktop and on my phone, and the interface looks like this:
Once the session is open, I use the >Now button to sign out, enter a rating by selecting one of the five dots, sometimes type a note in the next field, and then click the Submit button. The system will not let me submit without a rating, but typing a note is optional. I use the notes to add information, like what exactly I did to my artwork, or what book/article I was reading.
When I look back at how I’ve been spending my time, I see this color coded chart with one line per day:
The colors represent groupings of similar activities so that I can read them at a glance. They break down like this:
red = painting
pinks = administrative or studio work that is not painting
dark blue = family time (meals, conversations, bedtime, outings, etc)
green = housework (cooking, cleaning, shopping, gardening, etc)
yellow = reading (books or on the internet)
orange = exercise (walking, working out, playing ping pong)
teal = other random things (napping, watching videos)
purple = socializing (visits, phone calls, messages, etc)
This week last year, I can see that I spent a lot more time doing studio work (building/stretching canvases) than painting, and I also had longer socializing sessions (in person!!!):
Before I tracked my time digitally, I kept a written log. Here are some examples from previous years:
Why do I do this? Because being self employed is hard. Without a boss, a teacher, or even a coworker, I am the only person who will ever know (or care) what I am doing to meet my goals. Tracking my time keeps me motivated, keeps me working, and (most importantly) keeps me honest. If I didn’t get into the studio, or didn’t finish that grant application, at least I know exactly what it was I did instead. I then have a choice: I can adjust my behavior to match my perception of myself as someone working hard to meet my goals, or I can adjust my perception of myself to match my true behavior.
Thankfully, I haven’t had to change my perception of myself in relation to how I spend my time. One thing that works to my advantage is that the very act of tracking changes behavior. It happens to everyone to some extent – start tracking your steps and you will favor the stairs over the elevator, start tracking your calories and you will think twice about eating that doughnut, start tracking your time and you will probably get to work.