Tech Double Shot!
TWO TECH IDEAS TO START OFF YOUR WEEK
Issue # 9- Time = Money - April 11th, 2016
Your Barista: Matt Moran
April 15th is right around the corner. But, I'm not talking about the Spring Benefit. Yup. It's Tax Time.
In light of the proverb "time is money", here are two quick tech tips to help you better account for your time.
You're on your own with the money.
Shot 1: Track Your Time
Everyone has their own little Internet black hole. Maybe you're a HuffPo junkie. Perhaps it's your favorite celeb gossip blog. Lately, one of mine has been wild theories about the identity of Rey from Star Wars VII.
When I feel myself losing the battle and losing track of my time, I use Toggl, which helps keep me accountable by tracking how I spend my time.
Toggl is pretty simple once you sign up:
- Type in what you're working on. Press start.
- When you finish that task, press stop. Then enter the next task and repeat.
At the end of the week, Toggl gives you a summary of where you spent your time. If you want, you can include labels for all your different roles (teaching, coaching, advising, etc.) and see how your times breaks down across those categories.
I like using Toggl because it helps me figure out how much time I spend on activities like, email and all-the-other-things-besides-email.
If you're looking for something simpler, you may also want to consider RescueTime, which keeps track of activities while running in the background, unlike Toggl which requires you to enter things for yourself.
Regardless of which you choose, having a tool to help you track your time can be informative and motivating. Try it!
SHOT 2: THE SIMPLEST TIMER EVER
If you need a timer for an activity in your class, did you know that you can do so simply by Googling for "Timer 5 minutes" (or whatever time you wanted)?