How Can Time Tracking Help You?

As I was archiving some of my writing from ten years ago, I was reminded how strategic best practices stand the test of time, unlike fad hacks that are popular today but fade over time.
Case in point. The following is an excerpt from a written interview with a journalist in which she asked me about time tracking.
Here was her follow-up question:
If a person keeps track of their time to see how they’re spending it, what are the next steps they can take to boost productivity (i.e., once you know how you spend your time in a day, how can you use that to become more productive?)
Here’s my answer to her time tracking question:
The first thing you want to do is see if there are any activities that need to be trimmed. Do you spend too much time browsing the internet? Can you cut commuting time by grouping your sales/client meetings in the same area, instead of going back and forth between your office and various locations? Are there any networking groups that you spend a lot of time on, but they do not bring you revenue? Find any lost time in your day and cut those activities from your routine.
You also want to take a look at your billable client hours. These should outnumber your administrative task time. If it doesn’t, is there any way to delegate those administrative tasks that are necessary, but take up valuable time that instead could be spent closing a deal or sale?
That was my advice ten years ago, and it’s still the same today. It’s all about ROI. Return On Investment. Is there anything you’re committing to that is not returning the investment of your time?
For an easy-to-follow manual on improving your time management and maximizing your time investment, be sure to get The Inefficiency Assassin: Time Management Tactics for Working Smarter, Not Longer.