If you don’t know, you need to pay more attention. Yes, it goes quickly. But, you can do much more with it if you pay attention to it.
Two tips to improve your time use. First, take a piece of paper and jot down what you do every 5 or 15 minutes, for your whole day. Write the time and a few words. For example, 09:00 at desk, opened 10 emails, replied to five. 09:15 went for a coffee. At the end of the day, see where you could tighten things up a little.
Secondly, write out what you need to do and when, the night before. For example, 08:45 make coffee and take to my desk. 09:00 – 09:45 complete house financing. 09:45 – 10:15 make three calls to potential clients.
If you do the second one, you can compare it to the first tip. You’ll see where, when and why you are getting distracted and off track. And for how long.
With this greater awareness, you can make some adjustments to improve your timing and effectiveness.