What did you do today, dear?

Errm...

Has the day blended into an unwholesome mush? What actually DID I spend my time on today? Well, since you ask:

3h4m7s     (30.2%) How to approach archiving of dead 
                             systems, 
                             including    
                             ways of collaborating 
                             remotely on an affinity diagram.

1h40m37s (16.5%) Preparing, calling and documenting a 
                             call my mentor. Nice feedback from 
                             someone I rate highly. 

1h40m32s (16.5%) An unexpected call from a colleague 
                             asking for advice on how to get people
                             working on his project

1h17m9s   (12.6%) Mail. (150 mails. Including responding 
                             to mails, which probably took a good 
                             30 minutes)

40m35s     (6.7%)   Setting up my Vodafone account on 
                             their site and topping up sprog 5's 
                             phone. The wrong phone, as it 
                             transpired. Painful, two calls to 
                             support teams. Who were 
                             excellent.

31m40s     (5.1%)  Call our IT architect and document the 
                             application strategy in a key country. 
                             A specific goal for the year!!

22m57s     (3.7%)  Work on the costings for a key 
                             proposal for next year. This was 
                             supposed to be the main focus of my 
                             day. But data was not forthcoming. Ho 
                             hum.

16m50s     (2.7%)  Browsing. Pretty disciplined! (Excludes 
                             the 1h45m49s I footled away on 
                             Twitter and Blip last night. Dear God! 
                             Emily was, as ever, quite right)

13m35s     (2.2%)  Setting up and learning ManicTime. A 
                             sound investment, as it transpired.

13m1s       (2.1%)  Fluid input/output breaks

So, overall, not a bad day at work, with a good mix of completions (application strategy), investment (the archiving and research into collaboration) and support for the team. A purist might say that I should have taken more breaks. Sorry, Nicholas: mea culpa. Sorry again. On the other hand, a change is as good as a rest and tinkering with collaboration tools is as close to playtime as it gets, so not an exhausting day. Shockingly off plan, though. But look what the Group Norm had to say about the power of not forcing things. (Stick with it). He may be right.

The beloved had an evening off: I got home to posh fischcakes and noodles which I took in front of last week's first episode of The Prisoner (remake). Which was as good as expected (note to self: set the recorder tonight). And fits the times. Then out with the dog for half an hour for exercise and inspiration. Came back buzzing with ideas for blog. But a little tired, so tuned in to blip.fm and a friendly forum. 2 hours later I'm exhausted and haven't done anything worthwhile. ManicTime has the evidence (see above). Never Again!!

Though one of my blips had it right, if only I'd been listening to my screaming subconscious. 

Have I mentioned ManicTime? Oh yes, I see I have. repeatedly. I came across it on Mark Forster's blog as a comment from Romano to a post about Qlockwork (another excellent, but expensive, activity tracker). Who'd have thought a timesheet could be such a sensual delight? Or that a simple snap to feature could be exploited so cleanly and with such subtlety? I find myself wanting to stroke it, the same way I like to fondle my Moleskine and my iPod touch in it's black rubber gear. Possibly a touch TMI here? A good thing this is my private journal.