Linux only: Free panel applet Hamster adds a simple but effective time-tracking tool to Linux desktops. The applet, marked for default inclusion in the next version of the GNOME desktop used by many distributions, tracks a task and displays it after you type it in and hit enter, and stops tracking when you type another or hit "Stop." Click on the "Show Overview" button, and you'll get a full look at how much time you've spent on tasks over your Hamster history, with printable HTML reports. Hamster is a free download for Linux systems only.

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Software developer Michael Hunger wanted a better way to track the time he spends on various projects throughout the day, so he's opted to use LEGO bricks (pictured) instead of software or time sheets. Each one-line LEGO track represents one day of the workweek, and different coloured bricks correspond to different projects. He stacks up a wall for each day to log where his time went or pre-plan the day. Hunger writes:

You can easily see how much work you did for any given project as you recognise the coloured areas rather than time ranges (8:45-11:15). Having the relative time shares as part of this setup helps as well.

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Mac only (Windows version on its way): Personal time tracking software Slife gets a redesign and some sleek new features in its newest version 2.0. Slife tracks and charts what applications and documents you use and for how long throughout the day. Categorise that time into activities and goals—like "Reading email," "Online research," or "Designing web pages"—so you can see exactly where it is your day went. Version 2.0 for Mac offers a slicker design, goal tracking, better visualisations, Growl support—and no pricetag. Slife 2.0 is a free download for Mac only, but a Windows version 2.0 is on its way. Here's more on the Windows beta.

Productivity blogger Andre Kibbe knows that he gets distracted early and often by hang-ups, inconveniences, and a school of distractions just waiting to take him away from his tasks. He recommends a form of bad day auditing—looking at every step that happened before you got off-track, and fixing it for tomorrow. Waiting for his laptop to boot, for instance, he pledges to check his action lists rather than zone out.

The basic idea is to mentally step through the day, looking for the forks in the road that compelled you to do X when you know in hindsight that you should have been doing Y. When was the precise moment what your attention shifted to the path of less resistance? What precisely was the distraction?

What daytime distractions always trip you up at work? What clever time uses have you implemented as a fix? Let's hear it in the comments.

Estimating how much time it takes to get a task done is never easy; in fact, most of us are optimists and underestimate how long that to-do will take us. Personal development writer Steve Pavlina says the key is to know just how optimistic you are—he calls this your "fudge ratio"— and build it into your estimates. Pavlina writes:

I tend to be consistently optimistic when estimating the time required for certain tasks. Knowing my fudge ratio has NOT made my initial estimates more accurate. My off-the-cuff estimates are just as inaccurate as they've always been. However, when I multiple my estimates by the fudge ratio, the estimates come pretty close to the time required. This helps me budget my time better.

Figuring out your fudge ratio means you've got to jot down estimates for a few tasks, do them, and then compare actual time to estimated time. Pavlina's fudge ratio is about 1.5, which sounds just about right for overachieving optimists.

Blogger Steve Rubel discusses his methods for mitigating the Attention Crash caused by modern information overload while remaining well-informed. In the midst of all the demands new technology and information place on our lives, Steve keeps up by making unusable time usable.

I read a ton. However, I have mastered how to stuff it into pockets of time that are normally "unusable." I get through about one business book a week by listening to them when I commute, travel and run errands. In addition, I use Instapaper.com (more) to bookmark articles I want to read.

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Sticking to to-do lists with specific next actions can help you get things done, but we can all get lost along the way, whether in the wide-open playground of a browser or some other time sink. Productivity blogger Andre Kibbe suggests fighting a procrastination jones with a little self-awareness and a "Crutch Activities" checklist kept close at hand.

Instead of cursing yourself each time you find that you've spent 90 minutes in your inbox when you meant to check email for 10 minutes, add "Checking email" to your Crutch Activities checklist. Review and update the checklist regularly, and develop protocols, like batching, for controlling these impulses.

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Where do people find the time to do things like edit the Wikipedia? They watch less television, says author Clay Shirky in a fantastic, brief talk at the recent Web 2.0 conference. Shirky makes a compelling case that people are just learning how to deal with the "cognitive surplus" of free time modern life affords us. We're waking up from the "collective bender" of mindlessly watching sitcoms and instead, we're choosing instead to spend our free time volunteering, interacting, and Web 2.0'ing online. Hit the play button to watch Shirky make his case for the full effect, or hit the link below to read the text transcript of his talk. Next time your TV-watching friends make fun of you for opting to blog instead, point 'em to this talk.

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When it feels like there are never enough hours in the day to dedicate to all the important areas in your life, it's time to take out the big guns and get to analsying where your day's going. Harvard Business Online has a few recommendations on how to break down your time by role, and then correlate those totals with the reality of your to-do list. It means assigning time estimates to your tasks, and taking a big view of how much time should go to each thing (i.e., six hours a day at work, four hours a day with family, etc.)—which isn't always easy, but can be eye-opening.

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The first message one could consider email was sent more than 30 years ago, and that's probably when people began associating angst and uncertainty with the words "Inbox" and "unread messages." The tools available to read and send emails have advanced considerably since then, but what you actually do with all that chatter, without eating up entire days of work time, is up to you. Luckily, we've covered a wealth of filtering and processing methods and software tweaks that make email less stressful and time-consuming over the years, and a list of our top 10 productive email boosters is after the jump.

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