Steven Robbins here. Welcome to the Get It Done Guys quick and dirty tips to work less and do more.

Sometimes our bosses are our own worst enemies. Jim wrote in, my boss will often give me a task and then interrupt it for another task.

On Friday, he asks, what did you get done this week? With all of his interruptions, I have to say very little.

But I'd rather be able to tell him everything he assigned me

and how much time it took.

How can I track the tasks and time spent

without spending so much time tracking that I don't get work done?

Your boss's distracted style hurts your substance and style. He's potentially giving you far more

than you can handle and giving it to you in a way that is least likely to help you succeed with any

of it. The problem with time tracking is that you have to remember to do it. That in turn uses a

precious mental energy that you'd rather be spending on work or World of Warcraft.

Relying on your brain to do this kind of tracking just compounds the problem, since your brain

is already working hard just trying to keep up. Relying on someone else's brain is hard because

they have their own things they're trying to keep track of. And besides, even if you can remove it,

they'll usually want it back. What we'll do is use

an external timer. Grab yourself an egg timer or an application that does the same thing. Instead of

writing down what you're doing when you change tasks, set the timer for 15 minutes. When it goes off,

simply note what you're doing in a time log. Your time log will help you track your time

and also be the tool you use to show your boss he has to change his style. Open up a spreadsheet to

use as a time log. Here, you'll record how you spend your time each day. When you meet with your boss,

you'll be able to tell at a glance

how many projects you're working on, how much you've been able to focus, and how many interruptions

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