Save Time And Mental Energy With Tracking Forms

[trx_quote cite="#" title="Mandy Green"]A common time management mistake is to try to use your memory to keep track of all of the tasks you need to accomplish.[/trx_quote]

Save Time And Mental Energy With Tracking Forms

A common time management mistake is to try to use your memory to keep track of all of the tasks you need to accomplish. I don’t care how good you think your memory is: the fact is that most people simple cannot rely on their memory alone to keep track of everything that needs to get done.
Below is one of the many simple tracking forms that I created to help me keep track of some of the repetitive things that I need to keep track of as a coach.
I use the USD Player Tracking Form to make sure that I am consistently keeping in touch with everybody on my team over the summer. I look at it on Sunday night and decide who I will contact and when I will do it. Then I schedule it into my Coaching Productivity Day Planner. First thing in the morning when I am doing my strategic planning, I relook at the list to see who I am contacting and I make sure I don’t need to add anybody.
Instead of wasting brain power having to try to remember who I have or haven’t been in touch with, this sheet shows me who I have been in contact with, when I contacted them, and what type of communication was used. Instead of wasting time trying to remember, this sheet allows me to make quick decisions about who I should contact, take decisive action and fire off a quick text, email, or phone call. Then I record it. Done. Now I don’t have to remember or think about this for the rest of the day. Love it.

These types of forms are great because:

1. They are simple and easy to fill out.
2. They give you a way to keep track of a lot of information.
3. They give you a visual picture of what you have and haven’t done.
4. I don’t waste a lot of time having to try to remember who I need to get in contact with. It is all on paper (or on the computer for some things).
5. You can track your results.

Here are some of the other ways that I have used this type of form.

1. I use this form to keep track of my top recruits to make sure that I am consistently keeping in touch with them. I have a different form that I have created where I have different symbols that I use if I sent an email, made a phone call, had a campus visit, contacted the parents, contacted youth coaches, etc.
2. I use a different sheet that looks like this for tracking my daily goal actions.
3. I use this during the year with my team to make sure I am consistently having individual conversations with them.
4. I have taught my players to use this sheet to track their goals and for tracking their study habits before tests.
5. I have also used this form to keep track of how many times at practice I worked on certain concepts during the year.
I will then use these tracking forms to reflect on any successes or failures that I might have had throughout the year. To use the player tracking form as an example, based on where my player relationships are at when my players show up this fall, I can look back to see how much I was in touch with them over the summer to see if it was enough, too little, or maybe even too much communication. Then I can use those results to tweak my actions to make sure I am doing it better next time around.
These forms are extremely simple but have been invaluable for me. I am saving a lot of time and brain power that I can now use on other things that I can be doing to progress my program forward.
I’d love to hear if you have other ways to use a form like this. Please email me at [email protected]. If you want to see the forms that I have created, just email me and I will send them to you.
Have a great week.