How Time and Activity Audits Can Help You Make the Most of Personal Concierge Services

The word "audit" can be intimidating. It makes me think of IRS agents poring over bank statements and tax returns, aiming for a "gotcha" moment. Time and activity audits are a bit less scary--I think--as they reveal what you are actually doing in your day-to-day life, and how much time you are spending doing it! Although the answers might dismay us, having that information can help us make better decisions about how we allocate our time. In a way, you get to be an "agent," an agent of change! This blog will explain how time and activity audits differ, the value of each, how having the information these audits provide can guide us in decision making, and how the information can help you get the most out of working with a personal concierge service like ChoreVoyant.

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Time Audit vs. Activity Audit

A time audit is the process of tracking how you spend your time. Ideally, this audit should be conducted for anywhere from 7-14 "routine" days, that is--what your days/weeks usually look like; not the exceptional times, such as during a vacation. The time can be measured in increments as small as five minutes, or as large as an hour. Typically, 15-minute blocks are assessed, with the goal of identifying how you are spending your time. Is it on time-wasting activities? Are you getting distracted or interrupted in the middle of trying to complete a task? Do you need to balance mundane tasks, like responding to emails or texts, with ones that "move the needle" in your relationships, well-being or business? A time audit will be able to help you answer those questions.

Here are the steps for conducting a time audit:

• ‍Identify your reason for wanting to find out where your time is going. Is it that you're trying to be more productive? Are you trying to find time to do those high-value tasks?‍
• Record the 15-minute increments of your day--from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed.
• Categorize the activities of your day. These categories could include "work," "personal," "leisure," "health," etc.
• Analyze the data. What is the balance between categories? Would you like to adjust that balance? Do you see patterns? What are your most productive times of the day? Are you spending time on activities that are of low-value? Are there any tasks you can delegate to others?
• Create a plan based on the data. Schedule high-value activities for the time of day when you have found yourself to be most focused or least-interrupted; Balance categories of activities in alignment with your priorities.
• Monitor and adjust. Just as your needs and priorities will change throughout the year or over the course of a lifetime, so will your plan.

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An activity audit focuses on the tasks themselves, regardless of how much time you spend on them. It allows you to look at the value of the tasks, so that you can prioritize them and even eliminate those tasks that are not valuable. Does the task elevate your well-being, relationships, or career? What purpose does the activity serve? How frequently am I doing these tasks? Can I delegate any low-value activities? An activity audit can help you figure out the answers these particular questions.

To conduct an activity audit, do the following:

• List your activities. Large or small, projects or the picayune--include them all.
• Categorize each activity, just like you would in a time audit.
• Evaluate the purpose, value, frequency, duration, and necessity of each activity.
• Sort each activity into high-value or low-value categories.
• Prioritize the activities. Can you take care of high-value activities at the time of day you are most focused? Can you schedule adequate time for them in your day? Are there any low-value activities you can eliminate or delegate?
• Create a plan, based on your priorities. What if you have competing priorities? There are a few ways to look at this:

           1. The simplest solution for competing priorities may be to focus on what you can eliminate or delegate. As Kelly Schaeffer, creator of The Concierge Academy,                 teaches--there may be some areas of our lives in which we are over-giving, that might not be in alignment with our priorities. I over-give to reading news                 websites, when I value and want to prioritize exercising. I can eliminate or limit my scrolling, in order to prioritize getting to the gym.

            2.  Consider the "season" of your life. Is there a way to make the lack of balance a temporary one? Is the high-value activity you need to prioritize one with an                  ending date?

• Monitor and adjust. Just as in a time audit, those tasks we place as high-value will change according to circumstance.

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The Value of Auditing Your Time and Activities

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Let's face it--the pace of life in Bergen County and the northern New Jersey area is fast. I don't know of anyone in my professional or personal spheres who feels as if they have enough time for everything that's important to them. Time and activity audits allow you to see both what you are doing and how long it is taking you to do it; you can course-correct, based on your findings. That's really great news!

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One really fantastic thing about activity audits is that they allow you to gain perspective across the long-term. Those career-related activities might not seem as important when your first child is born, or when having to care for an aging loved one or an ill spouse. Likewise, as children grow up and gain more independence, perhaps you will place more value on achieving an educational or career-related goal.

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Time audits, too, can put you in the driver's seat. I don't think anyone wants to admit they're wasting time. While a time audit might confront you with some painful truths (bye-bye, Candy Crush!), it will also empower you to spend your time in an intentional way. This is where balance is really crucial; no one wants to be "on" all the time--but crushing those goals feels so good. So, too, does rest and relaxation. A time audit can help you figure out where the time goes, allowing you to delegate or eliminate those tasks that aren't moving you closer to your personal and professional goals--or to fully relax and recharge.

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Using a Time and/or Activity Audit to Make the Most of Personal Concierge Services

Almost all of the resources I found on time and activity audits mentioned the 4 D's--Do, Delay, Delegate, or Delete. When you know what to delegate, it makes working with a personal concierge so much simpler, for a number of reasons. Firstly, it won't be a struggle to delegate a task, because you have decided that it is something you can let go of! Imagine how freeing it will feel to acknowledge that there are tasks that must be done--but not by you!! Secondly, it allows you to communicate exactly what you want done by your personal concierge. She or he won't have guess at what "help around the house" means; you will be giving them a concrete set of tasks or errands to complete. Will you still have input on how the task gets done? At ChoreVoyant, we value and seek out client input. If you want your clothes washed on the "delicate" cycle of the washer, we do it! Want your 4-pack of yogurt cups stored in the refrigerator without their cardboard holder? We're on it! Delegating a task to a personal concierge allows you to not only communicate the "what," but the "when," "where," and "how" as well. Finally, delegating a task to a personal concierge allows you to reclaim your time and mental bandwidth for those high-value, high-priority tasks. As you know, ChoreVoyant's favorite clients to work with are Bergen County moms. I am most gratified by what our work has given them! Here's what they have said:

                                       "While you're chopping the vegetables, I get to have baby-cuddles!"

                                      " Your taking care of the laundry gives me to time to just be with my son. I get to enjoy him!"

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How ChoreVoyant Helps Clients Reclaim Their Time

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If you are a Bergen County resident struggling with overwhelm and fatigue, or feel stuck on your personal or professional goals, below is a list of tasks we have helped people within the last year. If any of them resonate with you as an activity that you can delegate, give us a call at (201)707-5813 or feel free to click here to book a complementary consultation.

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Tasks that Have Been Delegated to ChoreVoyant:

• Amazon returns done at Whole Foods or UPS
• Chopping Vegetables
• Folding Laundry (most requested!)
• Washing and drying clothes
• Grocery shopping
• Reservations/Booking Appointments
• Creation of Spreadsheets for Personal Record Keeping
• Small business assistance--calls, emails, documentation
• Dealing with deliveries--unboxing and putting away
• Special projects--writing thank you notes, taking pictures for framing

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ChoreVoyant is a family-owned personal concierge service offering help with errands and household tasks to all of Bergen County. We focus on working with moms, those experiencing health challenges, and small business owners who could use a helping hand. For a full list of services, click here.