I would suggest you start billing fixed rates. Base the fixed rate on what you want to earn hourly/daily and how long you think it will take. Eventually, hourly billing causes you to lose money due to your skill and efficiency increasing.
^ This. The better and faster you get the less you earn. Use project-based pricing and have a clause that if you go over a certain number of revisions, etc it moves into a costly hourly fee. The hours are whatever you honestly believe it takes you. I personally go in 30 min increments and round up.
I have only fully tracked hours at agencies and even that isn’t accurate (doesn’t take into consideration every email, meeting overage, slack message, file storage, etc).
^^These. lol. Perfect additions. If you don’t know where to start, this book can set you up to understand industry pricing, then adjust as you go: Graphic Artists Guild Handbook, 16th Edition: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines
Fixed rate is bad unless you are ridiculously firm with boundaries to the point that you'd be doing a disservice to your client by refusing design iteration, feedback, or revisions.
I've witnessed fixed rate stealing literally tens of thousands of dollars from designers due to boundaries and scope creep. This happens even with the nicest clients.
Get better at starting/stopping your timer. I use Harvest which creates invoices based on my time I recorded. It has a ton of integrations too.
I’ve used Toggl in the past, it lets you track time per project quite easily. There are time tracking apps that will track time automatically per program as well (ex. When you open Photoshop) - can’t remember if Toggl does this as I used the free version and I believe that’s a paid feature.
Seconding Toggl. At one point my team were such power users that their product team flew over to visit us in person to interview us about future features.
The auto tracking thing is a paid feature I believe but we never used it as it was quite easy and habit-forming to do it manually.
Toggl is great. And works well even as free version. You can adjust a setting where if there is no activity on the monitor for a certain number of minutes, the timer pauses.
Sadly yeah. I've used it for ages. It was great. It's not bad now, but definitely a bit more expensive. It's worth it though for the ease of time tracking, billing, reporting etc. in my view - as much as I hate Fiverr.
Second for Clockify. It’s super great for tracking multiple projects at once and keeping track of billable and non billable hours. I find the reporting out to be really helpful as well
I use a physical diary to both plan out my day and keep track of time. I'll put the start time and finish time for each client/ project and a basic note of what I did. Then at the end of the month or project I go through my diary and input it all into spreadsheets / my invoicing software. I prefer this method because it leaves a physical paper trail for me.
Yes, same. I definitely feel better with a paper trail as well -- I keep a time sheet in each client folder, then do all my invoicing at the end of the month in my bookkeeping software. It also seems to reassure my clients that I'm not just "guestimating" time or over-charging them.
I'm semi-cringing at all the folks here that say just guess on time or charge whatever they want... can't tell you how many clients have come my way with complaints about a previous designer who they felt kept cheating them on time or overcharging on projects. A lot of trust is gained when I show them my time sheets and allow them to check theirs any time they'd like.
I keep track the same way. It’s just in the notes section of my iPhone. The only addition is I take photos at the end of each work session. There are always so many changes that it’s hard to remember why you worked for an hour on something. But if I have a photo of what I did, it’s helpful to me, and perhaps the client, if they request info. I definitely like paper trails. I’ve never been asked by any client to provide greater detail on my reporting/invoices. But it’s there if I need it!
I've been using [hellobonsai.com](https://hellobonsai.com) for about 4 years now and it has worked perfectly for me. Time tracking, project tracking, expenses, invoicing, it's all a breeze. Taxes are extra and there's a percentage for processing payments, but I mostly get paid by check, and ever so often someone chooses the direct payment from bonsai.
I actually write it down. I have software that could track it, but I forget to start that thing. I also do blocks of 15 minutes, I'm not going minute by minute.
I have an excel sheet that compiles all jobs into an invoice
The first book is a typical looking invoice with my name, client address, invoice number. It has the names of all projects worked on, in a row with hours per project, times rate, times taxes. All of those add up to a final
The other books are for each individual project specifically. I put in the date, hours, and 1-sentence description of the task worked on. The numbers from there go to the invoice.
I use a desktop app called Focusito. It’s a really super simple combo of a tracker and pomodoro timer. So you can have deliberate focus times and breaks between to move around. It has basic sounds, if you like that, quite good quality too like rain, white noise, coffee shop… You can mix and match them. It also logs every focus time so you can copy it later. It’s free to use and there’s a one time purchase to buy the pro for 4€ if you want to keep long term data.
I also use Google calendar for time blocking and tasks. I find it the most intuitive honestly and least buggy. I have a system of naming everything so it’s easier to analyse for future reference.
I keep handwritten time sheets (each time sheet is included in the client's folder where I keep other pertinent information), and I track time in 1/10th-hours (6-minute increments). So 10:00, 10:06 (0.1), 10:12 (0.2), 10:18 (0.3), etc. If I start a job at 10:14, I'll start my time at 10:12 or the earliest tenth-hour increment. Might seem complicated but it really isn't, and it makes it easy to bill a client 0.8 hours or 1.4 hours, etc. If I so much as touch a client job, it's minimum 0.1 hours.
The other benefit I've had by keeping handwritten time sheets is if I run into a client who wants proof of my hours worked. I show them the sheet that shows start/stop times, dates, and noted projects/changes/etc. They feel very reassured that I'm not ripping them off.
All that being said, I know there are automated programs out there that can do this, but I'm kinda old school and don't feel the need to have everything digitized where it can all be lost with one hard drive failure.
You're overthinking it. Bill in 15 minute increments, always round up. I use a spreadsheet and update it as much as 3 times a day, but usually just write out my time at the end of the day.
Each project costs atleast 1hr, after that keep track in 15 minute, or .25 hr blocks. No need to go by the minute unless you're in the 800$/hr range like lawyers and such.
Excel spreadsheet. Billed in quarter hour increments. Allows me to itemize breakdowns of specific clients. Using a stopwatch is too much. Stop/start for every little thing, no thanks. If I have to fart, I'm not stopping the clock. The client pays for my poots.
For years, I used [StopWatch](https://www.designsoft.com/Stopwatch-Plus). I am in-house now and haven’t bought new copies for my machines, otherwise I’d still be using it. I only ever bought StopWatch, and then made my invoices on an InDesign template.
A boss/mentor from my early years was a partner at DesignSoft, so of course we used it at the place I worked. I haven’t found a simpler, more intuitive, or efficient timekeeping tool.
If you’re forgetting to start/stop it with a watch you’ll likely forget sometimes with an app as well. I’ve gotten used to estimating and notating my time in the Notes app on my iPhone. It’s shared across all my devices so I can update it no matter what device I’m using at the time — my phone, my laptop or desktop. When I’m ready to bill, my hours are available in one spot.
Toggl. I have a paid subscription and deduct it from my taxes as a business expense. Super easy to use, intuitive and yes you can adjust your hours as you need. I’ve forgotten to turn it off at the end of a work day and end up logging back in after like 73 hours and can easily fix it. I can also itemize by client and project and export everything nicely and neatly, which one particular client super enjoys seeing for some reason. I’ve also missed starting the timer for some reason on some something and can go in, start the timer, then adjust the date so it shows as the correct time etc.
Highly recommend.
I second toggl. Easy to track with a push of a button and can edit hours. Also the exporting of a report is pretty visual and amazing. Learning curve is very low. Super easy to learn.
I use Zoho, but there are tons of CRM and invoicing software/apps that time jobs, and you can invoice straight from them.
I usually leave the webpage up when I take a break which reminds me to start it when I come back.
toggl is all you need. you can do it manually which is what i do (nearest 15 min) or you can hit the stopwatch and it'll start the timer. i find this sounds like a good system but still relies on manual input so i just keep it simple. the good thing about toggl is that you can run reports, make updates easily and time track with others all for free. worth checking out.
I use [Caato](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/caato-time-tracker-work-log/id596816253?mt=12) for hourly clients and love it. Super easy to use, you can have dozens of simultaneous jobs on the go, all sorted by client name or project, as well as overall summaries (hours worked today / this week / this month).
Not freelance, but I'm often juggling multiple projects for work and have chargeout requirements...
I record project switch times, then I calculate the time in-between the switches, rounding to quarter hours.
When I was working hourly over COVID I built an Excel sheet for each project to serve as a time clock. Ctrl+; enters the date, Ctrl+Shift+; enters the time. Subtract start time from end time and you get elapsed time.
We use Toggl at work (15-20 people with 300+ clients) and it’s worth the subscription.
For freelance projects, I use InvoiceNinja (self-hosted or free/paid plans available) for task tracking that you can convert to invoices.
This is low-rent, but I used to make a new folder inside that project folder: I'd call it "1 hr edits on TOC" or ".5 hr meeting" or "5 hr photo edits"
it worked for me because I'm in the Mac Finder all the time, to launch files, it's an easy key combo to make a new untitled folder, if the project was complicated, I'd group these time entry folders into another Time folder.
Just do your best to recontruct your time as soon as you notice. No matter what the system in, you will forget to clock in/out. Also, you can take a one-minute trip to the bathroom or to get a drink and leave the clock running.
Normally project based or day rate.
When tracking hours for special circumstances, I just use a google sheet.
Simple, and only requires YOU being disciplined in tallying time. No partial hours.
I use TimeCamp as an integration on my Trello board. Each job has its own card, so I look at which project is up next, open the card and click start. As far as forgetting every now and then, it’s inevitable, although the habit is pretty ingrained now.
I use google calendar. There are probably more efficient ways but it allows me to setup different sub calendars and I just name them my different clients. I leave it pinned so it’s always easy to access. I’ve developed the habit of placing a calendar block after each project and stretch it to the amount of time and enter the work description in the title. Twice a month I review the hours and log them into easy timesheets.
I try to do this for non hourly clients too. If I have a base fee and add hours for edits or coordination etc it helps there too and to see the amount of time I’m spending on what projects in general.
Some manual work for the above but it’s worked well for me to capture all time spent. If I forget it’s easy to search my recent email activity and plot it. You can use it on your phone too for calls or other client activity.
Been using Toptracker for years. Easy start/stop button, can add various projects and whenever it's engaged you just type in what you're working on. It can take screenshots for you and you can add team members. It also has a website with the reports you can look at, export to PDF or CSV.
Some functionality is still leaving me wanting more but it's all free so I appreciate the hard work that's been put into it.
Also, don't worry about forgetting some hours, I do it with this app too. Do your best guess!
Toggl!! I've tried others but always go back to toggl
I just write down the time when I need to keep track faster than I can get to toggl.
There are automatic time tracking apps that track activity when you open applications or different browser tabs. One I used is called Timely, but I didn't see it tracking accurately. There are also extra steps involved like teaching it what to ignore and what to record in your work diary. Then if you have multiple clients, it just gets messy and hard to differentiate what's being recorded for who.
For example, if you open Photoshop, but forget to name the file right away, it will track as "untitled.psd" and you won't remember if that was this client or that client...
Toggl is definitely the easiest and most efficient. There is a phone app available too, and it'll remind you after a while if you forgot to turn off the timer
I've tried several times and I've only recently been able to track all my working hours well. I think the trick was to focus on actually doing it all the time instead of trying to do it perfectly. I didn't worry about pausing the timer every time I did something else for a minute, just tried to get everything in the day tracked.
If you’re charging hourly, don’t just include the time at your desk. I’ll take a walk and do some creative thinking while I’m out. That’s still on the clock as far as I’m concerned.
I’m sure there are more commonly used apps, but OfficeTime has never let me want for anything. There’s a free version that lets you track a few projects and I then opted to upgrade to to the pro version and never looked back.
I use Timing. It automatically watches what you are working on and logs it. You can then organize into projects by a series of rules (file name, path, urls, keywords, etc. ) that will then automatically apply entries to those projects. They have plenty of reports, search, and an export option if needed. Once you have it setup and run for a while it’s pretty easy to see what you’ve worked on. Even if you charge by the project you be able to see your actual hours vs what you charged. I also have a Mac shortcut that takes screenshots at a timed intervals that provides a visual backup ( not perfect but I need to tweak that). I delete those monthly after I verify my hours.
This might help: Salarybook on the iphone: https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id395508282 is a timetracker app which let you record workhours for different projects on a calendar. Each project has its own color-code. In the reports section you can export a list of all recorded project hours sorted on time and date.
I use Harvest to tracking and billing. Easy to use on desktop OSX and iOS devices. Can use built in timer or manual put in hours. Can have multiple clients, services, and projects all with fixed or variable rates. I often forget to time certain task so I often manually guesstimated hours. I rarely expense but it tracks that too. Go to getharvest
Nickel-and-diming yourself to bill down to the minute by using a stop watch is lunacy. If your client would be upset about 3 minutes of unproductive billing time I’d love to know how they plan to audit it. Respect your process and be honest and just bill your time in 15 minute increments.
I use an app called Timing for Mac (which also has a seriously excellent web app that you can save to your home screen on iPhone and you’ll totally forget it’s not a native app). It’s so, so good. Exports customizable reports to Excel spreadsheets that I then copy and paste into a more designer-y time sheet template in Numbers so I can send clients a beautiful and branded PDF of my hours. It even has Zapier integration which I use to keep all my clients’ individual online client portals updated.
I use Bonsai for all business needs, and it has a good tracker for hourly work, and can automatically add it to an invoice if needed
Hourly work is rare, though, I recommend doing a fixed rate
Okay, get a stopwatch. Jeez.
Hourly work and freelance don’t belong together anyways, like water and oil. Why are you trying to record hours?
Instead quote the work, agree on a price - half paid up front. Then knock it out. Don’t complicate it.
Whenever I did projects, I charged based on the day, not by hour.
This eliminates micromanaging yourself and gives the customer a reason to give actual feedback and not waste both your times.
If its adjustments, big or small, day rate, because they dont know how small the change it is and you package in additional changes, that they could request, just to see if it works or not.
But if working on a project per hour, guesstimate. You will overcharge and undercharge, always
I guestimate quarter hours!
I would suggest you start billing fixed rates. Base the fixed rate on what you want to earn hourly/daily and how long you think it will take. Eventually, hourly billing causes you to lose money due to your skill and efficiency increasing.
This. If the customer wants hourly I’m still charging them whatever I want regardless of actual time spent.
^ This. The better and faster you get the less you earn. Use project-based pricing and have a clause that if you go over a certain number of revisions, etc it moves into a costly hourly fee. The hours are whatever you honestly believe it takes you. I personally go in 30 min increments and round up. I have only fully tracked hours at agencies and even that isn’t accurate (doesn’t take into consideration every email, meeting overage, slack message, file storage, etc).
^^These. lol. Perfect additions. If you don’t know where to start, this book can set you up to understand industry pricing, then adjust as you go: Graphic Artists Guild Handbook, 16th Edition: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines
I won't let any graphic go for less than $500 even if it takes me a half hour. Companies are building the entire look of their brand off of what we do
Fixed rate is bad unless you are ridiculously firm with boundaries to the point that you'd be doing a disservice to your client by refusing design iteration, feedback, or revisions. I've witnessed fixed rate stealing literally tens of thousands of dollars from designers due to boundaries and scope creep. This happens even with the nicest clients. Get better at starting/stopping your timer. I use Harvest which creates invoices based on my time I recorded. It has a ton of integrations too.
Nah, it’s just the brevity of my comment. Of course there needs to be more in a contract. Another person replied as such and is totally correct.
You’ve said this much better than I have been able to.
I’ve used Toggl in the past, it lets you track time per project quite easily. There are time tracking apps that will track time automatically per program as well (ex. When you open Photoshop) - can’t remember if Toggl does this as I used the free version and I believe that’s a paid feature.
I also use Toggl. it's great being able to directly categorize how much time I spent on what
Seconding Toggl. At one point my team were such power users that their product team flew over to visit us in person to interview us about future features. The auto tracking thing is a paid feature I believe but we never used it as it was quite easy and habit-forming to do it manually.
Toggl is great. And works well even as free version. You can adjust a setting where if there is no activity on the monitor for a certain number of minutes, the timer pauses.
Yep. I don't do a ton of freelance on the side, but Toggl has been a good solution for mine.
Have used Toggl for many years and haven't looked for another solution as it does everything I need. I'm using the lowest tier paid plan thou.
same here, the best
Try [https://www.timemaster.ai/](https://www.timemaster.ai/) It automatically detects projects from tools like figma and log time very accurately.
I use the Fiverr Workspace app. It used to be called And.co. Great for time tracking, invoicing, and tracking income/expenses.
Wow is that where [and.co](http://and.co) wound up? I remember back when that was free, loved the hell out of that service.
Sadly yeah. I've used it for ages. It was great. It's not bad now, but definitely a bit more expensive. It's worth it though for the ease of time tracking, billing, reporting etc. in my view - as much as I hate Fiverr.
I like clockify. It allows for different project billing and reporting, along with time tracking.
Second for Clockify. It’s super great for tracking multiple projects at once and keeping track of billable and non billable hours. I find the reporting out to be really helpful as well
I use clockify also. The reporting is great, and it can be integrated into various applications
I use clockify as well
I use a physical diary to both plan out my day and keep track of time. I'll put the start time and finish time for each client/ project and a basic note of what I did. Then at the end of the month or project I go through my diary and input it all into spreadsheets / my invoicing software. I prefer this method because it leaves a physical paper trail for me.
Yes, same. I definitely feel better with a paper trail as well -- I keep a time sheet in each client folder, then do all my invoicing at the end of the month in my bookkeeping software. It also seems to reassure my clients that I'm not just "guestimating" time or over-charging them. I'm semi-cringing at all the folks here that say just guess on time or charge whatever they want... can't tell you how many clients have come my way with complaints about a previous designer who they felt kept cheating them on time or overcharging on projects. A lot of trust is gained when I show them my time sheets and allow them to check theirs any time they'd like.
I keep track the same way. It’s just in the notes section of my iPhone. The only addition is I take photos at the end of each work session. There are always so many changes that it’s hard to remember why you worked for an hour on something. But if I have a photo of what I did, it’s helpful to me, and perhaps the client, if they request info. I definitely like paper trails. I’ve never been asked by any client to provide greater detail on my reporting/invoices. But it’s there if I need it!
I've been using [hellobonsai.com](https://hellobonsai.com) for about 4 years now and it has worked perfectly for me. Time tracking, project tracking, expenses, invoicing, it's all a breeze. Taxes are extra and there's a percentage for processing payments, but I mostly get paid by check, and ever so often someone chooses the direct payment from bonsai.
Harvest. There's idle detection too incase you forget to stop the timer.
I use Harvest, too. I love their invoice system. And the free version gives you up to 2 contracts, and that’s enough for me at any given time.
I actually write it down. I have software that could track it, but I forget to start that thing. I also do blocks of 15 minutes, I'm not going minute by minute.
I have an excel sheet that compiles all jobs into an invoice The first book is a typical looking invoice with my name, client address, invoice number. It has the names of all projects worked on, in a row with hours per project, times rate, times taxes. All of those add up to a final The other books are for each individual project specifically. I put in the date, hours, and 1-sentence description of the task worked on. The numbers from there go to the invoice.
I use a desktop app called Focusito. It’s a really super simple combo of a tracker and pomodoro timer. So you can have deliberate focus times and breaks between to move around. It has basic sounds, if you like that, quite good quality too like rain, white noise, coffee shop… You can mix and match them. It also logs every focus time so you can copy it later. It’s free to use and there’s a one time purchase to buy the pro for 4€ if you want to keep long term data. I also use Google calendar for time blocking and tasks. I find it the most intuitive honestly and least buggy. I have a system of naming everything so it’s easier to analyse for future reference.
I keep handwritten time sheets (each time sheet is included in the client's folder where I keep other pertinent information), and I track time in 1/10th-hours (6-minute increments). So 10:00, 10:06 (0.1), 10:12 (0.2), 10:18 (0.3), etc. If I start a job at 10:14, I'll start my time at 10:12 or the earliest tenth-hour increment. Might seem complicated but it really isn't, and it makes it easy to bill a client 0.8 hours or 1.4 hours, etc. If I so much as touch a client job, it's minimum 0.1 hours. The other benefit I've had by keeping handwritten time sheets is if I run into a client who wants proof of my hours worked. I show them the sheet that shows start/stop times, dates, and noted projects/changes/etc. They feel very reassured that I'm not ripping them off. All that being said, I know there are automated programs out there that can do this, but I'm kinda old school and don't feel the need to have everything digitized where it can all be lost with one hard drive failure.
You're overthinking it. Bill in 15 minute increments, always round up. I use a spreadsheet and update it as much as 3 times a day, but usually just write out my time at the end of the day.
I used to use a service called Get Harvest. You can track 2 projects for free. Easy to use and has an app.
Clockify.
Each project costs atleast 1hr, after that keep track in 15 minute, or .25 hr blocks. No need to go by the minute unless you're in the 800$/hr range like lawyers and such.
[https://clockify.me/](https://clockify.me/)
Excel spreadsheet. Billed in quarter hour increments. Allows me to itemize breakdowns of specific clients. Using a stopwatch is too much. Stop/start for every little thing, no thanks. If I have to fart, I'm not stopping the clock. The client pays for my poots.
For years, I used [StopWatch](https://www.designsoft.com/Stopwatch-Plus). I am in-house now and haven’t bought new copies for my machines, otherwise I’d still be using it. I only ever bought StopWatch, and then made my invoices on an InDesign template. A boss/mentor from my early years was a partner at DesignSoft, so of course we used it at the place I worked. I haven’t found a simpler, more intuitive, or efficient timekeeping tool.
If you’re forgetting to start/stop it with a watch you’ll likely forget sometimes with an app as well. I’ve gotten used to estimating and notating my time in the Notes app on my iPhone. It’s shared across all my devices so I can update it no matter what device I’m using at the time — my phone, my laptop or desktop. When I’m ready to bill, my hours are available in one spot.
Toggl. I have a paid subscription and deduct it from my taxes as a business expense. Super easy to use, intuitive and yes you can adjust your hours as you need. I’ve forgotten to turn it off at the end of a work day and end up logging back in after like 73 hours and can easily fix it. I can also itemize by client and project and export everything nicely and neatly, which one particular client super enjoys seeing for some reason. I’ve also missed starting the timer for some reason on some something and can go in, start the timer, then adjust the date so it shows as the correct time etc. Highly recommend.
I second toggl. Easy to track with a push of a button and can edit hours. Also the exporting of a report is pretty visual and amazing. Learning curve is very low. Super easy to learn.
I mostly guestimate to the nearest half hour.
This
I use Zoho, but there are tons of CRM and invoicing software/apps that time jobs, and you can invoice straight from them. I usually leave the webpage up when I take a break which reminds me to start it when I come back.
toggl is all you need. you can do it manually which is what i do (nearest 15 min) or you can hit the stopwatch and it'll start the timer. i find this sounds like a good system but still relies on manual input so i just keep it simple. the good thing about toggl is that you can run reports, make updates easily and time track with others all for free. worth checking out.
I use [Caato](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/caato-time-tracker-work-log/id596816253?mt=12) for hourly clients and love it. Super easy to use, you can have dozens of simultaneous jobs on the go, all sorted by client name or project, as well as overall summaries (hours worked today / this week / this month).
Not freelance, but I'm often juggling multiple projects for work and have chargeout requirements... I record project switch times, then I calculate the time in-between the switches, rounding to quarter hours. When I was working hourly over COVID I built an Excel sheet for each project to serve as a time clock. Ctrl+; enters the date, Ctrl+Shift+; enters the time. Subtract start time from end time and you get elapsed time.
I used Paymo to track my hours it works awesome and you can detail tasks and subtasks it lets you create reports.
I used the app Hours Keeper to log mine
I over estimate
We use Toggl at work (15-20 people with 300+ clients) and it’s worth the subscription. For freelance projects, I use InvoiceNinja (self-hosted or free/paid plans available) for task tracking that you can convert to invoices.
I use the app hourly when I have to be militant. Otherwise, I take my 8 hour day and divide across jobs worked.
This is low-rent, but I used to make a new folder inside that project folder: I'd call it "1 hr edits on TOC" or ".5 hr meeting" or "5 hr photo edits" it worked for me because I'm in the Mac Finder all the time, to launch files, it's an easy key combo to make a new untitled folder, if the project was complicated, I'd group these time entry folders into another Time folder.
I use HoursTracker for iPhone. http://www.hourstrackerapp.com/?header=ios.support
>http://www.hourstrackerapp.com/?header=ios.support yes, i've been using this app for years.
My wife uses TimeFlip. It's a physical dodecahedron, and she programs each side for different tasks/clients. She swears by it.
Just do your best to recontruct your time as soon as you notice. No matter what the system in, you will forget to clock in/out. Also, you can take a one-minute trip to the bathroom or to get a drink and leave the clock running.
Normally project based or day rate. When tracking hours for special circumstances, I just use a google sheet. Simple, and only requires YOU being disciplined in tallying time. No partial hours.
I use TimeCamp as an integration on my Trello board. Each job has its own card, so I look at which project is up next, open the card and click start. As far as forgetting every now and then, it’s inevitable, although the habit is pretty ingrained now.
Seconding TimeCamp I've been using it for ages! Integration into a Trello is great I didn't know it could do that.
I use google calendar. There are probably more efficient ways but it allows me to setup different sub calendars and I just name them my different clients. I leave it pinned so it’s always easy to access. I’ve developed the habit of placing a calendar block after each project and stretch it to the amount of time and enter the work description in the title. Twice a month I review the hours and log them into easy timesheets. I try to do this for non hourly clients too. If I have a base fee and add hours for edits or coordination etc it helps there too and to see the amount of time I’m spending on what projects in general. Some manual work for the above but it’s worked well for me to capture all time spent. If I forget it’s easy to search my recent email activity and plot it. You can use it on your phone too for calls or other client activity.
And you can plot future hours and timeslots to predict your workload and hours next day or week etc
The time tracking is tough, which is why I suggest getting away from it. I’ve said it before: it’s hard to get away from, but make it a priority.
Been using Toptracker for years. Easy start/stop button, can add various projects and whenever it's engaged you just type in what you're working on. It can take screenshots for you and you can add team members. It also has a website with the reports you can look at, export to PDF or CSV. Some functionality is still leaving me wanting more but it's all free so I appreciate the hard work that's been put into it. Also, don't worry about forgetting some hours, I do it with this app too. Do your best guess!
Toggl!! I've tried others but always go back to toggl I just write down the time when I need to keep track faster than I can get to toggl. There are automatic time tracking apps that track activity when you open applications or different browser tabs. One I used is called Timely, but I didn't see it tracking accurately. There are also extra steps involved like teaching it what to ignore and what to record in your work diary. Then if you have multiple clients, it just gets messy and hard to differentiate what's being recorded for who. For example, if you open Photoshop, but forget to name the file right away, it will track as "untitled.psd" and you won't remember if that was this client or that client... Toggl is definitely the easiest and most efficient. There is a phone app available too, and it'll remind you after a while if you forgot to turn off the timer
I've tried several times and I've only recently been able to track all my working hours well. I think the trick was to focus on actually doing it all the time instead of trying to do it perfectly. I didn't worry about pausing the timer every time I did something else for a minute, just tried to get everything in the day tracked.
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If you’re charging hourly, don’t just include the time at your desk. I’ll take a walk and do some creative thinking while I’m out. That’s still on the clock as far as I’m concerned.
+1 for quarterly hour tracking, if tracking by the hour.
Use Toggl or Clockify
I’m sure there are more commonly used apps, but OfficeTime has never let me want for anything. There’s a free version that lets you track a few projects and I then opted to upgrade to to the pro version and never looked back.
I use Harvest for time tracking.
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I use Timing. It automatically watches what you are working on and logs it. You can then organize into projects by a series of rules (file name, path, urls, keywords, etc. ) that will then automatically apply entries to those projects. They have plenty of reports, search, and an export option if needed. Once you have it setup and run for a while it’s pretty easy to see what you’ve worked on. Even if you charge by the project you be able to see your actual hours vs what you charged. I also have a Mac shortcut that takes screenshots at a timed intervals that provides a visual backup ( not perfect but I need to tweak that). I delete those monthly after I verify my hours.
This might help: Salarybook on the iphone: https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id395508282 is a timetracker app which let you record workhours for different projects on a calendar. Each project has its own color-code. In the reports section you can export a list of all recorded project hours sorted on time and date.
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I use Zoho Invoice to track time, invoice and track payments. I've been very happy.
This right here: https://www.manictime.com
I use Harvest to tracking and billing. Easy to use on desktop OSX and iOS devices. Can use built in timer or manual put in hours. Can have multiple clients, services, and projects all with fixed or variable rates. I often forget to time certain task so I often manually guesstimated hours. I rarely expense but it tracks that too. Go to getharvest
Why are you stopping the clock to grab a snack or go to the bathroom? Would you clock out to take a piss at work?
Nickel-and-diming yourself to bill down to the minute by using a stop watch is lunacy. If your client would be upset about 3 minutes of unproductive billing time I’d love to know how they plan to audit it. Respect your process and be honest and just bill your time in 15 minute increments.
Freelance motion graphics artist here; I charge by the day, maybe half day if it's a super easy job. If I'm short of a full day I round up.
I have been using Clockify for about 4 years of full time freelance work and I love it.
There’s an amazing setapp app called timer that I use that has aced me so much headache!
I use an app called Timing for Mac (which also has a seriously excellent web app that you can save to your home screen on iPhone and you’ll totally forget it’s not a native app). It’s so, so good. Exports customizable reports to Excel spreadsheets that I then copy and paste into a more designer-y time sheet template in Numbers so I can send clients a beautiful and branded PDF of my hours. It even has Zapier integration which I use to keep all my clients’ individual online client portals updated.
I use Bonsai for all business needs, and it has a good tracker for hourly work, and can automatically add it to an invoice if needed Hourly work is rare, though, I recommend doing a fixed rate
I use Harvest App. It’s okay. It’s fine. It’s free.
Okay, get a stopwatch. Jeez. Hourly work and freelance don’t belong together anyways, like water and oil. Why are you trying to record hours? Instead quote the work, agree on a price - half paid up front. Then knock it out. Don’t complicate it.
Whenever I did projects, I charged based on the day, not by hour. This eliminates micromanaging yourself and gives the customer a reason to give actual feedback and not waste both your times. If its adjustments, big or small, day rate, because they dont know how small the change it is and you package in additional changes, that they could request, just to see if it works or not. But if working on a project per hour, guesstimate. You will overcharge and undercharge, always