If you’re a web designer, you probably have to deal with managing multiple clients and websites at once. But with limited time on your hands, how can you stay productive in your work?
The answer lies in time tracking. Time monitoring can help you plan your tasks more effectively and estimate how long projects will take. Proper time management allows you to be more organized and less stressed about missing deadlines.
In the end, you’ll be able to produce better design work, get more things done, and still maintain a happy, healthy life. Want to know about the effectiveness of time tracking for your productivity and efficiency as a web designer? Let’s jump right in.
Better Estimates
Imagine having historic time-tracking data that dates weeks, months, or years back. Not only will the data help you make informed project predictions, but allow you to estimate projects and tasks more efficiently.
Web design involves managing similar project types for different clients. For example, if you build an eCommerce website for one client, it will give you a rough estimate of how much time it will take for other clients. Hence, the more data you accumulate, the more accurate you’ll be able to make estimates for similar projects in the future.
Certainty and Seasonality
According to research, 46 percent of web designers cite finding new clients as the most painful part of their work. When running a web design business, you can expect workload to fluctuate from time to time, which can create some level of uncertainty.
Using time tracking solutions helps you identify patterns of seasonality, allowing you to predict and prepare for high and low seasons. You’ll know when to hire more creatives, look for new prospects, plan for events, or take a vacation.
The data provided by time tracked in the past enables you to make wise predictions about your business and formulate better plans.
Transparency and Accountability
Something everyone who tracks time can agree on is that accurate time records improve transparency, especially with remote work. When working as a team, time tracking apps for freelancers provide proof of work, which increases accountability. Plus everyone can see how much effort they are putting in.
Department heads or team leaders can track work progress and determine if deadlines will be met. You can see who is overworked or working on unnecessary projects and reassign them.
When working with a client, sending them time reports allows them to see exactly what they are paying for. Moreover, billing becomes easier and more accurate.
Keep Track of Contractors
If you employ contractors or freelancers, you’ll want to track their workload, project progress, and hours worked to ensure you don’t blow the budget. Get your contractors to use the same time tracking solution you use to streamline workflows.
Tracking their time enables you to keep accurate records of hours worked, which facilitates accurate payments. Plus, you can identify the performance of each contractor and determine those not utilizing their time well, so you can take the appropriate actions.
Organize and Prioritize Projects
We mentioned earlier that web designers tend to work on similar projects for different clients. With the right time tracking software, you can use past time records to learn exactly how long it takes to complete a certain project.
The data creates visibility that enables you and your team to organize and prioritize tasks more systematically. Since you already know how many hours are needed for a specific project, you can set clear deadlines and accomplish projects more efficiently.
Measure Profitability
When you track time, you’ll be able to calculate your profitability, based on worked hours vs. the initial budget, as well as remaining hours. After completing a project, you can go back to the timesheets and see how much time you spent on clients’ projects.
You can answer pertinent questions like do you need to adjust your pricing? Are you focusing on projects or clients that don’t pay off? Keeping track of billable and non-billable time is the only way to measure your profitability.
Find Your Most Productive Hours
According to research, our brain is the most active in the morning. It’s also the time we are the most productive. But working in the morning is not for everyone. No matter what works for you, finding your most productive time of day will enhance your efficiency at work.
When you start to track time, you’ll discover a certain pattern in your activity levels. You can determine when you get the most work done and schedule the most demanding tasks for that period. You’ll work better when you’re most active, finish on time, and create time to enjoy your personal life.
And if you’re one of those busy web designers who forget to turn the timer on and off, consider investing in automatic time trackers. All you have to do is hit the start button at the beginning of a project and stop at the end. The tool does the rest. Others even let you add manual time entries to account for all billable time.
Track Time Across Devices
As a web designer working remotely, you have the flexibility to work from anywhere. You don’t have to be confined to your home office or a coworking space. Being able to work with a time tracking solution that has web and mobile apps allows you to track time and stay on top of things from any location.
You can access timesheets and time reports, as well as track your team’s progress, from any device. Some apps even let you track offline activities, which are automatically synced to your timeline once you get connected.
Time Tracking and Invoicing
Once you start tracking time, you won’t have a hard time keeping a close eye on client payments. The best time tracking apps offer invoicing functions so you can record billable time and invoice clients from one platform.
It allows clients to see the total worked hours via the time reports and compare it to the invoice, eliminating payment discrepancies. This can be particularly useful when tracking hourly-rate projects because clients will have assurances that they are paying accurately for work delivered.
Time tracking helps minimize not only workflow inefficiencies but also cash leaks, ensuring you earn your worth. Apart from that, knowing the overall profit on your jobs will give you a quick estimate if you’re pricing accurately. If not, it might be time to raise your rates.
Wrapping Up
Whether you charge hourly or a flat rate for your web design jobs, successful time tracking can increase your efficiency and productivity. The recorded data can help you visualize your performance, profitability, and time usage.
