Screencap from Google Chrome.
I'VE USED SEVERAL time-tracking methods over the years but think one of the best ways to measure efficiency is to analyse browser activities since most of my paid work happens through browsers. The screenshot snapped during a typical weekday (above) offers telltale signs about my work process.
I communicate more via Twitter Direct Messaging, Skype chat and Facebook Messenger than through e-mail, SMS and voice telephony. The DMs on the screen capture directly relate to student assignments delivered via OneDrive and tracked on Moodle.
My most efficient workflow always involves the preparation, presentation and review of a slide deck. Most of my decks are stored inside Powerpoint Online. Before a 2PM class, I pulled up a PPTX file both on my laptop and on my Lumia 1520. I can use the Lumia 1520 to wirelessly present the slide deck to an overhead data projector via the online browser attached to the data projector--I don't have to be in the room where the slides display. Alternatively, I can plug the phone direclty into the data projector (or into its attached laptop) and present with the phone attached by USB cable.
I review OneDrive locations once a day to check out the progress of uploads required by specific modules. I can also automatically sync those OneDrive folders onto any of my Windows devices and check out the work later when offline.
The screenshot suggests I was teaching from 2PM to 6PM, the time period when I did not access a Chrome browser. It shows me going into Socrative around the time I launched a new quiz for a group of students.
To truly capture all information in a comprehensive way, I should lay down a distinct trail on a single network. The most persistent method I use involves my cameraphone. I snap pictures of my day--an exercise in banality. Those time-stamped shots often show preparation areas, lecture halls, books, whiteboards and interactive touchscreens. I've started pulling the best of those collections together into personal weekly reports powered by Sway. Knowing that I want to maintain a tighter grip on my time by analysing small increments of productivity will probably keep me harvesting the screenshots, images and rich media elements.
I'm interested in hearing how readers of my blog keep track of their own weekly flows--any specific recommendations that involve ruthless time-motion analysis?
[Bernie Goldbach is the senior pilot creative multimedia lecturer in the Limerick School of Art & Design.]
