I\u2019ve had a really unexpected success this year \u2013 it\u2019s something I\u2019ve been meaning to trial for a while and now I\u2019m a little bit addicted. I signed up to a time tracking app. If you aren\u2019t using one, here\u2019s a few reasons why I\u2019m sold:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of my work has been set hours, but most of it has been output-based. Work where it\u2019s up to you to make the total cost of the project worthwhile. Tracking time across projects has been a great way to check that I\u2019m within the time tolerances, and actually providing value for money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s also been a great way to help keep me focused. When you know you\u2019re only turning the clock on for actual work, it helps minimise the distractions. You\u2019re suddenly really conscious of the hour you spent on LinkedIn, because you can\u2019t attribute it to any of your projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the challenges of self-employment is definitely balancing doing the work and getting new work. Applying for contracts, prospecting and building your network can all take serious chunks of time and it\u2019s really interesting to capture week by week how it\u2019s panned out. Over the last two months, I\u2019m averaging about 2hours a week on business development \u2013 with huge variation, some weeks not doing any and one week with a big application due nearly putting in a whole day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along with the time to secure new work, tracking my time has also helped evidence the real cost of running a business \u2013 that alongside contract work, no small amount of time is needed on admin, whether it’s emails, insurance, IT, or CPD. My weeks have varied between 42% and 94% billable work, with an average of 74% each week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s also proved really revealing about how my work\/life balance is going! One of my commitments was trying to stay working 3 days a week before our youngest starts school, and it\u2019s easy to see where evenings\/weekends\/early starts have snuck in. I\u2019ve achieved by goal of max 24 hours a week only half the time. My average is a few hours over each week \u2013 oops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall, using a time tracking app is a giant time and motion study, revealing where you spend your time across the week and helping you assess whether you really are putting your time to good use. My verdict? Definitely some room for improvement! But who doesn\u2019t love a multi-coloured graph?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photo by mostafa mahmoudi<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve had a really unexpected success this year \u2013 it\u2019s something I\u2019ve been meaning to trial for a while and now I\u2019m a little bit addicted. I signed up to a time tracking app. If you aren\u2019t using one, here\u2019s a few reasons why I\u2019m sold: Project Value for Money Some of my…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[28],"tags":[13,11,15,12,21,25,10],"class_list":["post-530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-productivity","tag-charity","tag-consultant","tag-founder","tag-freelance","tag-non-profit","tag-self-employment","tag-start-up-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t