Using The Outlook Journal To Your Advantage
Making use of the Outlook journal to analyze your time spent on specific tasks.
Published May 31, 2007 by mjkunzAt one time or another you or your employer will want to analyze time spent on day to day tasks and what tasks were performed. This action is needed from time to make sure time is spent on the appropriate tasks and that it is done efficiently. On an individual level 
you can track this information easily with the Outlook Journal. Also since Outlook is probably already being used for your email you already have the Journal so there is no additional expense to track this information. Let's look a two important things we can track and how to track them.
Track Time Spent On Individual Tasks
Typically you would track at least a weeks worth of activity to get sufficient data to analyze. The Journal is simple to use. Before work is started on a task quickly go to the journal view and start a new journal entry. On the journal entry form keep it simple and only use what is necessary. I recommend using the subject, entry type and especially the timer. The timer is the key as it will keep track of the time spent on that task. Quickly add a short description of the task, choose an entry type from the drop down and start the timer. Now minimize the open journal entry window and start working on your task. As you end a task or switch to another one simply save and close the journal entry window and open and start a new one as start your next task. The timer has been silently keeping track of the time so all you have to do is remember to open and close the journal entry as you go from task to task.
Analyze the Time Spent and What It Was Spent On
The Journal has kept track of time spent on each task so now we can utilize its time-line view to quickly analyze the data. It's important to look at the time spent on different tasks and weigh that time according to the task and how much time was planned for it. You should be able to quickly determine where you might be wasting some time and what changes could be made to work more efficiently.
Besides just looking at how much time is spent on individual tasks one needs to look at the tasks themselves. For example if you are a developer you can look at the individual tasks worked on and evaluate them to see if it is really a task you are responsible for. If the task is really something that should be handled by another group such as Quality Assurance, Testing, or others then you can probably pass that task on to them. Now more time can be focused on tasks that fall under your responsibility. This situation is pretty common. Often we would rather quickly handle a task and get it out of the way rather than delegate or refer the task to the right group. This can easily apply to any position.
If you are using Outlook then remember that you have a quick and free way to analyze your time using the Outlook Journal.
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