THE TALLYPACE FIELD GUIDE · 5 MIN READ
Where did your week go? Start with a time audit.
A personal time audit is a short record of how you actually spend your time. It helps you compare your intentions with your days, without turning every minute into a productivity score.
Try this for seven ordinary days. Include rest, household responsibilities, and time with other people—not just paid work.
1. Decide what you want to understand
Start with one question: “How much uninterrupted time do I have for my side project?” or “Why do my afternoons feel so full?” A specific question makes your review more useful than simply trying to be more productive.
2. Pick a small set of categories
Use categories that describe your life. For example: Work, Business, Home, Personal, and Rest. Add a subcategory only when it helps answer your question: Work / Meetings and Work / Focused work may be enough.
3. Log activities as you go
Record the activity, start and end time, and category. Use a timer or write the entry afterwards. If you forget a period, mark it as an estimate rather than pretending it is precise. Avoid double-counting overlapping activities.
| Time | Activity | Category | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00–10:00 | Project planning | Work / Focused work | 60 |
| 10:00–10:30 | Team check-in | Work / Meetings | 30 |
| 10:30–10:45 | Break | Rest | 15 |
Download the free time audit CSV template to use in your spreadsheet, or record your activities in Tallypace.
4. Review the week, not just your busiest day
Total the time in each category. Divide a category’s hours by all tracked hours to find its share. For example, 6 hours of meetings out of 30 tracked hours is 20% of tracked time—not 20% of your entire week.
- Which activities received more time than you expected?
- Where did interruptions split a task into smaller sessions?
- What necessary work did you overlook when planning?
- Did you leave room for recovery and things you enjoy?
Missing entries and estimates limit what your report can tell you. A week with travel, illness, or a deadline may not represent a typical week. Repeat the audit later before making a big change.
5. Choose one small adjustment
Make a concrete experiment: “Protect 30 minutes for project work before opening messages on Tuesday and Thursday.” Check it next week. More hours logged does not automatically mean better work, and rest is not wasted time.
Keep the habit light.
Tallypace lets you log activities, organize categories, and export a report for your review. Start locally without an account; cloud backups and auto-sync are optional.