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To better understand how much time you have available each week, consider Abigail’s time evaluation.   Abigail estimated the hours she spends each week doing various activities.  First she estimates the number of hours she spends on necessary activities—those activities required for good health and meeting obligations like school, work, and chores.  Then she estimates the amount of time she spends on other activities (e.g., friends, games, TV, texting).

Necessary Activities Hours Other Activities Hours
School                          35 With friends 3
Eating               14 With family 6
Working            10 TV/video games    4
Studying 15 Doing nothing in particular 2.5
After School  Activities  20 Reading 5
Sleeping           58 Other 2
Chores              6    
Other (e.g., appointments) 5.5    
TOTAL  for Necessary Activities 163.5  Total for Other Activities
 23.5
TOTAL HOURS 187

How do Abigail’s estimates seem to you?   In reality, you can see that Abigail is not too sure where her time goes. She thinks she is spending 187 hours a week balancing necessary and other activities into a week that only offers 168 hours. Abigail may be cutting time out of the hours she should be sleeping, eating, or exercising in order to get other things done; she may be rushing through other tasks only doing the minimum required. She spends many of her days feeling stressed by the pressure of all the things she cannot get done.

Abigail decided to track her actual use of time for a week.  Look how Abigail’s estimates compare to what really happened during her week.

Necessary Activities Estimated Hours Actual Hours   Other activities
 Estimated Hours Actual Hours
School              35 35   With friends 3 4.5
Eating               14 14   With family 6 3
Working            10 6   TV/video games 4 5
Studying 15 10   Texting, chatting online 1 2
After School  Activities  20 19   Doing nothing in particular 2.5 2.5
Sleeping           58 56   Reading 5 2
Chores 6 3   Other 2  3
Other (e.g.'appointments)     5.5 3        
TOTAL  for Necessary Activities                      163.5 146 Total for Other Activities
 23.5 22
TOTAL             187 168

When she tracked her time, Abigail found out that is spending less time than she estimated in several necessary areas: working, studying, after school activities; sleeping; and chores. Then she noticed that she is spending more time than she estimated in three areas: with friends; with TV and video games; and texting and chatting online. She realized that she needs to take control of her schedule, reducing time in some areas, adding time in others, and making sure she plans enough time for those tasks that are important to her goals.