Considering What You Have Read: Weekly Planner

Many people are not truly aware of how they actually spend their time. They make assumptions about how much time it takes to do certain things, but they never really take an accurate account.

In this activity, create a weekly planner (using the provided template or one of your own). Include all of the things that you will do for the week on the day that you will do them, and estimate the time you will spend doing each. Then track each thing you have written down to see how accurate your estimates were.

Obviously, you will not want to get caught up in too much tedious detail, but you will want to cover the main activities of your day—for example, working, eating, driving, shopping, gaming, being engaged in entertainment, etc.

After you have completed this activity for a single day, you may consider doing it for an entire week so that you are certain to include all of your activities.

Many people that take this sort of personal assessment of their time are often surprised by the results. Some even make lifestyle changes based on it.

1. Download the Weekly Planner Template file (feel free to use your own template if you like).
2. Create a weekly schedule or time budget that will inform you how you spend your time.

Submit your planner for review.