I found a Time Survey for students to help them manage their schedules to allow for enough study time.

Time management and the lack thereof, is a universal challenge. The REAL challenge is that before you can improve the use of your time you should get a more accurate estimate of how you are actually using it. Who has time for THAT?

Well, with just a bit of editing I'm sharing this survey with you here. If you make it a priority - for just a few days - this will help you estimate how much time you currently spend in typical activities.

Try keeping track of how you spend your time for a week. This will help you get a clear understanding of where you spend most of your time. It will also help you identify your time wasters.

When taking the survey, write the amount of time spent on each activity. If you haven’t tracked your time yet, make an estimate.

Once completed, multiply estimates in items #1 – 7 by seven. This will give you the total time spent on the activity in one week. After each item's weekly time has been calculated, add all these times for your grand total - #11. Subtract this (#11) from 168, the total possible hours per week. Here You Go:

1. ________ X 7 = _______Number of hours of sleep each night
2. ________ X 7 = _______Number of grooming hours per day
3. ________ X 7 = _______Number of hours for meals/snacks per day - include preparation time
4. ________ X 5 = _______Total travel time weekdays and weekends
5. ________ Number of hours per week spent getting the kids ready for school, sports, homework, bed, etc.
6. ________ Number of hours per week for regularly scheduled functions (clubs, church, get-togethers, etc.)
7. ________ X 7 = _______Number of hours per day for chores, errands, extra grooming, etc.
8. ________ Number of hours of work per week
9. ________ Number of hours in front of the TV per week
10. ________ Average number of hours per week socializing; dates, etc. Be honest!
11. ________ Now add up the totals
12. Subtract the above number from 168 - _______ = _______

The answer in #12 is the remaining, unallocated hours in your week. How’d you do? Need to find a way to save time?

Effective time management is critical to your success. In the Ocular Forum, our peer and accountability group for small business success, one of our sessions is focused on effective time management - GoldTime.

In GoldTime the first thing you do each and every day is to spend an hour on an important but not-yet-urgent task. The fires won’t burn your office down. They can wait one more hour. Focusing on urgent but not-yet-urgent tasks will reduce the number of urgent tasks you face. Otherwise all the important and not-yet-urgent tasks will eventually become urgent, which will keep you in a perpetual state of reaction.

Do you have a time saving tip? Be BOLD, focus on the GOLD and pass it on.

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