When I woke up on Monday morning, I felt friction with my schedule that I haven't felt in a very long time. Since starting the Bubble Planner over three years ago, it seems that I've been able to cope with whatever comes my way even if the activity level goes way up.
So, I went back to a form that I haven't needed in some time -- The Activity Log (The Activity Log is included in both the Original and Big Bubble Planners). While recording the activities throughout the day, it quickly became clear why I was feeling friction. The amount of Administrative Time had increased. I consider Administrative Time anything that is not bringing me closer to my goals. It is different from a time waster in that it is something that is necessary just not value added on it's own. Administrative Activities are things like booking flights, completing expense reports, and sorting through non-productive e-mails.
While completing the form, it dawned on me that a quick way to analyze the results was to code the activities with colors (Red, Yellow, and Green or whatever you want) to determine whether it was a Time Waster, an Administrative Activity, or a Value Added Activity. Fortunately, I had very little Red, but the Yellow was more than a third of my day. Needless to say, I was shocked.
The good news is that I have diagnosed the issue and have given it a name. Now, I'm addressing the root causes and rapidly changing that ratio. Try it yourself and let me know if it works for you as well.
On another note, I have had a couple of people whom I highly respect tell me that someone mentioned the Bubble Planner and how much they love it. This is really gratifying. It's one thing when we hear from customers directly or from a blog reviewer; however, when we hear something completely unsolicited, it is quite touching. We are tremendously grateful for our customers and their amazing support for our products.
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