spanning time

Since becoming self-employed, my schedule has been all over the place. On some days (though not too often), I wake up early and put in a regular 8 or 10 hour work day. Other days (more often) I wake up late, spend most of the day on the computer, and then into the wee hours of morning. My wife is convinced that I need to come up with a set schedule - a routine of sorts to keep me on track and more productive. She may be right.

I remembered how things tended to get done when you knew you had little time to do them. I also recall that I didn't get sidetracked so easily. problem is - I am a nocturnal thinktank. At night, my brain goes crazy with ideas that need to be recorded in some way. I have tried keeping a notebook near the bed, but that doesn't seem to do it justice. Sometimes it is a coding problem that I have just solved and I need to try it out!

Perhaps another option is to try some sort of time management software. There is one called the Achieve Planer from the company Effexis. Looking at the screenshots, it reminds of the calendar function in Outlook, but on steroids. Their "standard" version sells for $49 while a "pro" version will set you back $79. Not too bad if it can really help your productivity as much as they claim. The software uses hierarchical (multi-level) outlines to plan your tasks at hand, and what lies ahead. You have "projects" and "tasks" that can be prioritized and tracked, and then you have your daily and weekly viewer (which is the part that reminds of outlook's calendar). It also interfaces with Outlook and can track your response to action-oriented emails.

The only thing that I don't see listed that I would feel is essential would be to include some sort of "automated" time tracking tool. Right now, I have a tool loaded on my computer that is supposed to track all of the time that I spend performing various tasks - like email, programming, graphic design, etc. It works based on what the active window is called and what programs are running on the computer. The problem is - you have to go in and program it to watch for those active windows, so every time that I begin working on a new web project or affiliate campaign, I have to go in and program a new tracking filter. As a result, my work still isn't getting tracked and I'm working longer hours.

I guess that I need to pretend that i am working for someone else to make sure that I'm staying on task...