21 days of time tracking with TimeTag: Day 0
21 Days of Time Tracking
Using timetag & timetag goals: Day 0.
Time tracking is an interesting practice. For some, it's required. For others, it's optional but really helpful. For others, it's a chore.
This year, I decided I want to perform an experiment. I'm going to begin to diligently track my time every day for 21 days, and log my journey here on Capparsa's blog — specifically tracking against some goals I have for myself.
It might seem funny that I'm the creator/developer of the app, and I'm writing about how I am using the app every day, but hear me out: I struggle with time tracking and working on my goals, too. It's actually why I developed the app to begin with-- I needed something that is easy to use, quick to start & stop timers, and didn't get in the way of what I wanted to actually do (the action I'm recording). TimeTag was always about building a tool and a system to help me get back to my goals. I love the app -- and I find that I go through periods where I use it diligently, and periods where I let my habit fall by the wayside.
Since it's a new year, and this is the month of setting new resolutions/practices/goals, I figured what better goal than to rebuild my habit of time tracking. Specifically with the new feature that I'm releasing shortly: TimeTag Goals.
With Goals, I'm able to set a number of hours I want to work towards each week for categories in my app. For example, I want to spend at 3 hours a week running (about 25 minutes/day). I want to spend an hour meditating. I also want to spend more time writing for this blog -- at least thirty minutes a day, or roughly 4 hours.
When setting out to create a goal, it's important to actually think about **why** this goal matters. Creating goals for the sake of it is bound to fail -- the second it gets tough (and if it's a good goal, it will be tough), we tend to give up and go back to our life before. So for these 3 goals, here is my why:
Why Running? I want to feel good, have more energy, feel happier and less stressed, lose some of that holiday weight I gained (and 2020 weight, let's be honest), and simply I want to feel like I can identify "as a runner".
* Why Meditating? I want to feel more balanced, centered, and calmer throughout my day. I don't want to be triggered by as many ups and downs (especially the downs), and want to feel more in control of my mind and emotions. Meditation is a great way to help with that.
* Why Writing? I love to write, and it always gives me such a great sense of accomplishment and happiness to share my ideas and thoughts. I hope to inspire others with my words, even if it's just 1 person out there who suddenly finds a new habit or new way to achieve their goals. Writing is a way for me to share with the world, so I want to do it more often.
Now that I have these Whys, I'm going to set the goals in my TimeTag app, and I'll write every morning about the previous day. Today is Day 0, since I'm just starting. Tomorrow I'll write about how I did.
I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I do! If you don't already have a copy of TimeTag, I've included links to download them here. The app is totally free to use -- you can track to your heart's content. The Pro version unlocks some additional capabilities (including the goals feature), and helps support my development of it. Check it out!