Who doesn't? Well, there is a straightforward, easy way to find more time. You just need to measure how long it takes to get things done. I'm not talking about walking around with a stop-watch around your wrist. It's actually a lot easier than that.

You can save time on virtually any activity your business performs by setting up a quick system to understand how long it takes to complete and then cutting out the clutter.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Decide which activity you want to improve.

2. Use a Time Tracker to figure out how much time you or your team spend completing that activity. Print and attach the Time Tracker (see template below) to a clipboard and tell your team that you are going to track how long it takes to get things done. Remind them that it's not a race and cutting corners defeats the purpose.

3. As your team works through the activity, the Time Tracker moves along with the tasks. The time it takes to finish each task is recorded as the clipboard moves from person to person until the activity is done.

4. Track your activity for at least 2 weeks. That way you should have enough information to get a true view of what is happening regardless of illness, vacation, etc...After the two weeks, create an average of the time spent on each task (column G for each row) and then sort them from the longest to the slowest.

5. The tasks that take the longest are the ones that will make the biggest impact and should be tackled first. Anything you can do to improve that time will cut back on the total time it takes to complete the activity.

A little investment in the short-term will save you a lot of time down the road. Let me know what you choose to do with you extra time.

Here's the Time Tracker: Time Tracker.pdf

If you are only tracking your own time, check out the iGoogle Activity Tracker Plus