Here’s an thought-provoking post from Zen Habits, titled “How Many Hours Are In Your Day?“

The post reminded me of the incontrovertible truth that, while we all have different strengths and weaknesses, we each have the same 24 hour time span in any given day to get it all done. Time waits for no solo, and all that.

But despite that universal truth, we frequently lose sight of its implications. Well – I do, in any event. I have a tendency to take on too much — to say “yes” when I really ought to be saying, “I’d love to, but there’s just no way…” And the result’s fairly predictable — I run out of time.

It’s easy to promise too much and get caught in the trap of under-delivering. But there’s a simple solution. It requires a time-tracking mechanism and some patience — that’s it. Just keep track of your time, without attempting to change anything in your daily routine, for a week or so. See where the hours really go.

I have to say — being in the middle of this experiment — it’s eye-opening. And it’s also the essential first step towards figuring out where you really want to spend that time.