Time tracking challenge 2023

I have the habit of tracking my time at work, to know how I divide my time between my different projects and responsibilities.

Tracking all my time, however, is something I only do sporadically. My most recent detailed timelog is from early 2017, before my daughter was born.

So, when Laura Vanderkam announced her 2023 time tracking challenge, I decided to join. I enjoyed writing down the minutiae of my week, and hope that I can look back at this time log as a snapshot of what life is like at the moment for me.

I also broadly divided my logs into categories. I’ve used the same overarching categories as in 2017, but with one extra “family” category (I don’t even mention spending time with my husband in my 2017 log, even though I remember that we went to my medical appointment together, and had lunch and dinner a number of times together too).

For the week in January 2023 that I tracked, I have Work as my first category. I worked 47 hours, which is average for me. I had a long day on Tuesday as I attended a virtual conference between 8am and 10pm. I also drove around for 4,5 hours – mostly for my commute, but also to take my daughter to some of her activities.

In the second category, I have my Personal time. I slept for 55 hours, which averages a bit under 8 hours per night, I spent 5,5 hours eating various meals. I also spent 9 hours showering, getting dressed, as well as doing smaller things that I lumped into this category, such as scheduling things, making calls, journaling, planning, and the likes.

My third category is my hobbies. I spent 8 hours in the gym (also including time to shower there, etc, so not really 8 hours of working out), and 2,5 hours playing the piano. I read 3,5 hours on top of listening to audiobooks on my commute, and I was about 3 hours in the sauna.

My fourth category is chores – I spent 6 hours on household activities.

Then, my fifth category is family: I spent 16 hours taking care of my daughter, 2,5 hours in direct conversation with my husband, and 5,5 hours as a family.

As compared to 2017, I worked more or less the same. I had less time for hobbies, and less time for sleeping. I also seem to have gotten more efficient with the chores (from 11 hours in 2017 to 6 hours in 2023). And, of course, I am spending much more time with my family now (24 hours, instead of nothing (?) in 2017).

Have you tracked your time? What were some surprising findings?