I Tracked My Work Hours for a Month. Here's What I Found

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1. 01I Tracked My Work Hours for a Month

   Hello, everyone. I'm a junior accountant in Manila. I always felt busy, but I didn't know where my time went. So, for one month, I wrote down everything I did at work.

2. 02How I Did It

   My method was simple. I used a spreadsheet and updated it every hour. I put each task into one of four groups: real accounting work, meetings, email, and small interruptions.

   The numbers on this slide are made up for practice. They are not real data.

3. 03The Results

   The results surprised me. Only about forty percent of my time went to real accounting work. The other sixty percent went to meetings, email, and interruptions.

   The numbers on this slide are made up for practice. They are not real data.

4. 04The Biggest Surprise

   The biggest surprise was email. I checked it more than thirty times a day, and each time it took me a few minutes to focus again.

   The numbers on this slide are made up for practice. They are not real data.

5. 05What I Changed

   Based on this, I made three changes. I now check email only three times a day, I asked for shorter meetings, and I block one quiet hour every morning for deep work.

6. 06One Month Later

   One month later, I tracked my time again. My real work went up from forty to fifty-five percent, and I left the office on time more often.

   The numbers on this slide are made up for practice. They are not real data.

7. 07Conclusion

   In short, I couldn't fix my time until I measured it. Try tracking your own day for just one week. You might be surprised, too. Thank you.