The average freelancer is faced with many distractions each day. Whether it is a social media notification, delivered email, or a phone call, all these distractions can affect your productivity and focus, hence the need for time tracking. Time tracking is the process of recording time done on certain activities. And while one of the main benefits of time tracking is increased productivity and focus, most freelancers track time to ensure that they bill their clients accurately. Below, we have highlighted four reasons why time tracking is important for freelancers.
1. Bill clients more accurately.
There are two types of freelancers, those who charge by the hour and those who charge according to the project. If you charge clients using the former, you’ll need a time-tracking app to monitor time spent on a project so you can bill clients accurately. And if the client requests proof of the time spent on a project, you can get one from a time tracking software.
Indeed, time-tracking apps make life easy for freelancers who charge by the hour. It also helps clients by ensuring they aren’t overpaying for a certain project.
Read: How Biometric Time Clocks Will Keep Your Employees Honest
2. Boost productivity
Distractions are the bane of every freelancer. And if not put in check, they can hinder your productivity, and diminish your focus, thereby hampering the growth of your freelance career. While there are many ways to reduce distractions and boost productivity, time tracking tools remain one of the best and most effective.
Time tracking tools come with features that help users identify potential distractions to get rid of them while working. And when you do that, you’ll notice an increase in your work productivity and effectiveness. You’ll end up completing tasks easily and quickly.
3. Tackle procrastination
Reading interesting tweets on Twitter, admiring beautiful pictures on Instagram, or replying to messages on WhatsApp between work can yield instant gratification only to make you feel worse later, especially when you are at the risk of missing a deadline. Procrastination is at work here. And if not properly addressed can affect your reputation.
Time tracking is one of the best ways to tackle procrastination. Not only that, time tracker for freelancers also helps you make informed decisions. You know that the clock is ticking this alone will encourage you to shun distractions and the thought of procrastinating a task.
4. Improve your workflow
According to the State of Digital, the average number of clients any freelancer handles is about 14. If you handle more than four clients daily, you’ll definitely want to look for a way to simplify the process, so you don’t spend too much time on a particular project to have enough time for others.
For instance, after you start monitoring your time, you suddenly realize that you spend over an hour carrying out keyword research for a 1,000-word article. Such knowledge will help you pinpoint things that are prolonging the research process and make moves to address them.
By tracking your time, you can take note of things hindering your workflow and adopt measures to tackle them.
Conclusion
Time trackers are used for recording billable hours spent on a project. They usually help ensure that freelancers submit accurate invoices.
In addition to recording billable hours, time trackers can help boost productivity as you become more responsible and focused when you have a time tracker monitoring the time you spend on a project.
Ensure you go for a time tracker that suits your budget, easily integrates with some project management software, and is easy to use.
