Navigating the Life Audit’s Core Charts: How to Take Control of Your Time
When asked, what is the most valuable thing a person has? Many think the answer is money. However, there is an even more precious possession that all of us share: time.
Time is finite, irreplaceable, and often misused. But because time is an abstract concept, it can be hard to manage effectively. That’s why the Life Audit reframes time in a more concrete way — as a currency, much like money — so you can see exactly where it’s being spent and how to
invest it better.
The Currency of Time
Time is just like money. It can be invested wisely or wasted easily on areas of life that don’t truly matter. The challenge isn’t that time management is impossible — it’s that most people don’t know where their time is actually going.
The first and most important step in improving your life is gaining awareness. The most effective way to do this is by logging your time, and that’s exactly what the Life Audit’s core charts are designed to help you do.
The Daily Time Log: Tracking Your 24 Hours
The Daily Time Log is the foundation of the Life Audit process. This chart helps you account for how each of your 24 hours is spent.
To begin, identify the main categories of your life that take up time each day. Common categories include:
- Work
- Personal
- Travel
- Exercise
- Leisure
- Sleep
Once identified, these categories become the column labels in the spreadsheet. The rows represent each hour of the day, forming a clear and structured grid.
You can also add additional context in the notes section, capturing details about how or why time was spent in each category.
The goal of the Daily Time Log is simple but powerful:
- to see exactly how much time each activity takes from your total daily allowance of 24 hours.
At the bottom of each column, total the hours spent per category. When completed correctly, all categories combined should equal 24 hours.
Life Balance Pie Chart: Visualising Your Time
The second core chart is the Life Balance – Pie Chart. Like the Daily Time Log, this spreadsheet uses your chosen categories, but it transforms raw data into a powerful visual representation.
This spreadsheet includes two pie charts:
- Your current time allocation — showing how you actually spend your time
- Your ideal time allocation — showing how you want to spend your time
By comparing these two charts side by side, you gain instant clarity on where your life is out of balance and which areas need adjustment.
Daily Journal: Reflecting on Your Time
The Daily Journal spreadsheet adds depth to your time tracking. It acts as a reflection space for each of your categories, allowing you to write down thoughts, emotions, and observations.
The Life Audit course provides guided questions to support this reflective process, helping you understand not just how you spend your time — but why.
This step is crucial for meaningful, long-term change.
Try the Life Audit: Start Investing Your Time Wisely
Together, these three spreadsheets form the core of the Life Audit method:
- Stocktaking your time with the Daily Time Log
- Redesigning your time with the Life Balance Pie Chart
- Improving your time management through reflection in the Daily Journal
Just as we budget and invest money, the Life Audit gives you practical tools to design your ideal life by consciously investing your time.
Visit The Life Audit to explore a deeper, structured approach to charting your time — and start investing in your future today.
