And How Measuring How Much You Get Done Already Can Help You Get Even More Done

Mouse Potato’s log, entry 2, yamdate 54.230.

If you are like I was – and still am at times, but not nearly as much – you probably feel like you don’t get anything done despite trying your best.

This feeling reached its peak while writing my MSc thesis. I felt like I was getting nothing done, wasting my limited time until the deadline.

And then I started tracking my time – and I didn’t try using some complicated time-tracking system right off the bat.

No – I started with tally marks.

Most of you are familiar with tally marks made by prisoners to track for how long they have been inside, and how long they have left. Ironically enough, these same tally marks were the key to my liberation from self-doubt, and they could be yours as well.

For every 10-15 minutes of work done, I marked a tally in a small notebook. (I’ve actually started with 30, but that wasn’t granular enough. I recommend experimenting a little to find out what interval fits you best.)
At first, I didn’t make a lot of marks every day. But that was okay because I now knew I was making non-zero progress every day.
I have, however, managed to increase this amount slowly but surely over time. Yesterday’s peak became today’s average, and today’s average became tomorrow’s low.

Eventually, I replaced a tally system with a color-coded table in which I roughly marked what I did and when I did it. And this helped me finish my MSc thesis and graduate.
I’m not currently using this system because I’m taking it relatively easy on my well-deserved summer break, but I intend to pick it back up soon.

What time management system would you recommend, if you have one?
Let me know in the comments!