10 Part Series: How to Increase Your Productivity as a Designer — Tip # 9: Use Apps to Track Your Time

Nov 22, 2011 by Jennergy    No Comments    Posted under: Design Tips

Tracking time can be tricky business for a creative professional. At times we can be working on more than one project at once, jumping from project to project before we have a chance to check our time. Other times, a project can be so absorbing that time disappears entirely and it is impossible to recall when a particular project began. Pen and paper work to an extent, but it can still be easy to forget to write times in, and if the paper gets lost you’re completely out of luck.

Fortunately, there are a multitude of programs that track time automatically, and are a must-have for not only freelancers and business owners, but anyone in charge of tracking their time at work. Even if it isn’t crucial to track time, if you have a task-oriented job, keeping track of time spent will help you stay on track with your workload.

If you are concerned about billing, using an application to track your time is a given. It takes the guesswork out of how much to bill, and helps you to create more accurate estimates on future projects of the same sort. In addition to taking the guesswork out of time spent, it will take you less time to enter your times at the end of the day, saving you more time.

If your only concern is fulfilling a list of tasks by the end of the day, tracking your time will not only help you cross of every task on your list, it will also help you on future days when faced with a long list. If you know how long a particular task will take you, you’ll be able to more accurately map out your day.

Knowing how long a particular task takes you to fulfill will not only help you immediately by taking the guesswork out of your timesheets or helping you to organize your day, but it will help you increase your productivity in the long run. By tracking your time, you will be able to see how long each project takes you to fulfill and how consistent your workflow is. By being able to see where you are slowing down, you will pay more attention to future projects and will streamline your entire workflow.

Below are links to articles and programs to help you track your time:

6 Cool Tricks to Track Your Time

Unclutterer

Time Tracker Comparisons

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