Is the meta work worth it?

One of the big challenges of productivity is determining what meta work (the work around your work) is worth your time. For me, a big one is playing with productivity tools; while I might find some gains in new tools, I also tend to spend a lot of time tinkering with them. I internally consider this a mild form of entertainment as a way to justify it, but it’s likely not worth the time I put in.

Two other big ones stand out, and I have opposing stances on them.

Time tracking

With many creative agencies, the question of “time tracking or not” is a big one. For us, we’re going with “not”. The data gleaned from time tracking can be fantastic, but the effort of tracking that time can be a killer.

That said, I have two exceptions:

1. Occasionally we’ll track time on a specific project just to make sure that we’re in the range that we expect. The challenge is that if we’re not in the habit of tracking, much of the time can slip through.
2. I’ll sometimes track my time for a few days, like I shared in this example. It can be helpful to see where my time really goes.

Overall, though, I consider time tracking to be meta work that isn’t worth the effort.

Notes