Have you ever dreaded a task because it felt like it would take too much time? Then once you finally tackled it, it wasn’t as bad as you thought? Let’s talk about why timing your tasks can help save you time!

I used to feel like laundry was a big time suck (don’t we all?!)

So I decided to time myself one day. And I learned something valuable.

I realized it was taking me too long to fold laundry because my kid’s clothes are often inside out. I was spending too much time turning everything right side out.

So I stopped.

My daughter has worn pants the wrong side out because that’s how they came out of the drawer.

I’m not taking the time to fix that and apparently, my kids don’t care! And next time they’ll be correct because they turned right side out again when she took them off!

It seems to only bother the adults when kids wear something wrong-side out or backward. Let’s let it go!

And now I know that it takes me less than 10 minutes to fold a load of laundry. I can make that happen. Especially when I think about how much time we’ll spend digging through the laundry trying to find something if I don’t deal with it!

(Side note: My kids now sort and put away their laundry. One of my kids essentially lives out of her clean laundry basket.)

I’m sharing this story because your task list is long. And it could likely be shorter. But you’ve said yes to too many things. And you’re doing too much.

Do you know where your time goes? Not just guessing, but truly knowing?

And have you ever timed your tasks so that you know how long a recurring task takes?

Even if you think you know where your time goes, it’s helpful to track your time. Over a week, document each task, in 30-minute increments. This doesn’t mean that you sit down at the end of the day and write down what you think you did. You stop what you’re doing every 30 minutes and write it down. Use these resources to help with this.

Then go back and review your week. How much time was spent on social media? What time was wasted on activities that were unnecessary? How much time are you spending on work tasks? Were there any surprises or did it make sense to you?

Or, if tracking your time sounds like too much work, identify the tasks you do most often, for work or at home. And time them. How long does writing your weekly newsletter or monthly report take? How long does it take to empty the dishwasher, take out the trash, or plan your dinners for the week?

Use this information to change your future scheduling. Identify what’s working and what’s not.

I promise you that timing your tasks will save you time. You never know until you try!

Your future self will thank you.