Desk diary as productivity weapon  Busy technologist Suw Charman
says that tracking the time she spent on different tasks in a
work journal on her desk helped her stop wondering where her day
went:  Knowing what you've done, and how long it's taken, puts a
shape on your day. You can say "I've done one hour of my five
hour task", or "I've spent 4.5 hours answering emails", and
suddenly it doesn't seem so much as if you've wasted your time.
You realise that some of that stuff that felt like
procrastination was, in fact, work.  Like any new system,
jotting down what you're working right this minute each you
switch tasks is a habit that would take some self-training to
acquire, but it sure does sound worth it to get a realistic view
on how you spend your time.