Time audit: what it is and what it means

A time audit is a structured diagnosis of how working time is used: a survey carried out over a short period, with a method and a grid of categories, that produces a quantitative snapshot of how hours are distributed across the week. It is not a continuous tracking system or a planning tool: it is a mirror that shows reality before you decide how to change it. Systematic recording is what sets it apart from a simple feeling of how your time goes.

Distinctive: structured diagnosis
Distinctive: quantitative snapshot
Essential: survey carried out over a short period
Essential: grid of categories
Constant: shows reality before you decide
Constant: systematic recording

Glossary

Time audit

A structured diagnosis of how working time is used, carried out over a short period with a fixed grid of categories, that produces a quantitative snapshot of how hours are distributed.