Tag: Productivity

Why Personal Time Tracking is Important

stafftimer effective blog

Personal time tracking is an important part of our lives. Its importance can be perceived by the fact that once you master it, you’ll immediately improve the quality of your life. 

A scary thing about time is that once it’s lost, you’ll never get it back. But there is also light at the end of the tunnel. You can organize and track your time to get ahead in life. 

If you revolve your day around to-do lists then unmet deadlines will inevitably pile up. That will lead to a fear of failure as well. This will end up paralyzing your professional life. Just imagine working long hours at the office, only to achieve nothing in the end and compromising your personal life in the whole process. 

Only by implementing personal time tracking in your life can you change your fate. 

Time is one of our most valuable assets. So much so that the great Benjamin Franklin used to say, “Time is money”. And personal time is known to be the equivalent of happiness, harmony, and quality. These qualities are the foundation of work-life balance and satisfaction. 

In this article, we’re going to discuss personal time tracking and why it’s so important in our lives. So without any further ado, let’s just jump into it. 

What is a personal time tracking?

As the name suggests, personal time tracking means keeping an eye on your personal tasks, projects, activities, and routine. 

When we talk about personal time tracking, we don’t necessarily mean tracking only household chores. Time tracking can also extend to your work life as well. In fact, it’s not outlandish to consider time tracking as the main key to professional success. 

How to track time

Nowadays, you can easily track your time through time tracking apps like Staff Timer. But that was not always the case. 

People have been tracking time through different methods since ancient times. Our forefathers used to observe the sun and the stars. They even invented peculiar devices like sundials. Today, we’ve come a long way since then and now use all types of time tracking software to efficiently keep track of time.

Before the introduction of modern devices, employees had to physically clock in and out of a time clock machine. This machine was invented in the late 1880s by Willard Le Grand Bundy. When the patent for his time recorder (the precursor to modern time tracking apps) was approved, Bundy started a company that developed employee attendance machines.

Bundy’s company later merged with other organizations to form the International Time Recorder Company (ITR). Fun fact: this particular company was the actual predecessor to IBM. 

Time tracking software

Time tracking software allows users to effectively track their time.  

Efficient time management can help meet tight deadlines, avoid stress, improve productivity, and above all else, make extra time for themselves. It can also help maintain a work-life balance by keeping track of the time.

Employee time tracking software 

Nowadays, time tracking software can be found in almost every industry. Workplaces that require the use of computers or mobile devices are quickly embracing these apps. Many companies have also started using employee monitoring software to watch over their employees’ work activities. 

See Also: Best Time Clock Apps for Multiple Employees

Time Tracking: Advantages

Time tracking apps in the workplace are popular for a reason. Some pros include:

  • Exposing sensitive problems like harassment.
  • Reducing/preventing theft.
  • Discovering which workload may need to be redistributed.
  • Helping monitor and ensure safe practices.
  • Reducing instances of employees wasting company time.
  • Highlighting bottlenecks or areas where employees spend more time than necessary, letting employers review the process and improve upon it.
  • Allowing employers to monitor their employees’ work activities and ensure that they’re being productive and following the rules.
  • Tracking hours worked on specific tasks, leading to an increase in accuracy for invoicing.
  • Helping with recordkeeping, such as tracking employee time, projects, tasks, etc.
  • Monitoring customer interactions to ensure policies are being adhered to and customers are being treated well.

Time Tracking: Disadvantages

Every rose comes with a thorn. Time tracking apps provide a lot of downsides in the workplace as well. Some drawbacks include:

  • Employees feeling as if their privacy has been violated.
  • Increase in employee turnover rate if tracking becomes very intrusive.
  • Time tracking being perceived as a sign of mistrust; breeding resentment and reducing employee morale and productivity.
  • The line between work and home getting blurred; most people often use the same device for both.
  • Important data getting misused by the higher-ups. 
  • Legal issues to contend with, ensuring employers remain within their legal rights while also respecting their employees’ privacy rights. 
  • Tracking programs only being useful if they are carefully scrutinized, requiring lots of time and money.
  • Modern time tracking becoming a great risk by creating a false sense of security.

Key Takeaways

Personal time tracking is only useful in the right hands. If you want to be someone of importance then you have to start tracking your time. Otherwise, the sands of time will quickly blow past you. 

Instead of using traditional methods like pen and paper, use time tracking apps to keep an eye on your activities. They are fast, reliable, and secure. To read about some of the best time management apps for 2020, click here. 

If you found this article helpful, do share it with your circle. Good luck and stay productive!

10 best time management apps in 2020

Time management apps are becoming increasingly common due to rising demand. Every business enterprise or startup is concerned about maintaining productivity levels, and that is only possible through an efficient time tracking or project management system.

It gives an accurate picture and insight into employee’s productivity and manifests their peak performance levels. Time monitoring apps bring-in more cost efficiency and transparency into businesses thus generating more revenue than ever before.

Here we are detailing 10 best time management apps in 2020 that you will need to save and manage your time:

Slack – collaboration and communication

Slack is one of the most used management apps that companies prefer. It is basically a tool for communication and collaboration. Slack offers shared channels with search options. It can be integrated with numerous other project management app(s). These are some of the features that make the work convenient and staff members located around the world can connect with each other.

    • You can pin messages and refer to channels
    • Manage and track documents
    • Advanced search option
    • Shared channels to streamline work activities

It’s especially good if you are located in workspaces scattered around the country or world even. You can communicate and coordinate across businesses or units of the same business that require secure communication. Not only this, you can easily streamline your sidebar through it.

For instance, if you need to send frequent messages to some channels more than another. You can make them ascend in the sidebar to ease the process for you. Google calendar app can be integrated to keep your schedule on track.

Platforms: Windows, iOS, Linux

Website: slack.com

StaffTimerApp – Time tracking for employees

Stafftimer App is one of the best time management apps available in this competitive market of time trackers. It assists global teams and also remote workers to track their productivity.

There are some unique features offered on this app which include the following:

    • Real-time monitoring
    • Task assignment via voice clips
    • Intelligence reports
    • Daily work image & video logs
    • Instant screen capture
    • Keystroke & mouse activity

The screenshot feature is optional for example if an employee is involved in fieldwork and employers can simply opt-out of screenshot capture feature and just track the time alone. 

With audio clips process of assigning tasks is expediated in an unprecedented manner. Lengthy emails are outdated now. Even feedback is given via this method. This saves time for both an employer and an employee. On the other hand, Real-time monitoring is a live screen sharing with an employee. An employer can actually visualize, what his staff member is up to? Similarly, intelligence reports will provide insights into how much time was spent on different URLs.

Above all, daily work videos provide employees with an overview of their whole day’s progress. It has a user-friendly interface and convenient for every significant industry like legal, healthcare, accounting, designing, accounting or even freelancing. So if you want to make time tracking your habit, it’s for you.

Staff timer app provides on-demand integrations with any software of your choice.

Platforms: Windows, Mac

Website: stafftimerapp.com

Asana – Project & time management apps

 

Asana is one of the most commonly known and popular products available for project management. It helps you monitor and track your goals and projects to further your business. It helps you decide, and handle your priorities and projects in a structured way.

You can assign tasks and then watch them progress. Never miss deadlines by creating a timeline so you never miss out on anything. There are 100 integrations that help you bring every useful file and document in one place.

    • Activity feed
    • Automatic updates on emails
    • Track tasks and add followers
    • Comment on tasks

You can track the most important or urgent tasks based on customized preferences. Create projects and teams private to protect sensitive information.

Platforms: Andriod, iOS, Chrome

Website: asana.com

Evernote – Note tracking app

 

Evernote is one of the best time managing solutions for note-taking especially if you are not organized and feel lost when you are unable to locate your required document. No matter what device you use, it will store and retain your most important information.

There are various methods through which you can store your information with Evernote:

    • You can type notes, take photos or even add voice notes
    • Less hassle in organizing or searching the notes
    • You can create notebooks that are folders precisely

It does offer an interesting feature of tracking data with the help of geolocation which means you can trace data based on the location when you entered it. Asana has an optical character recognition function that caters to images you upload with text on them. For example, a handwritten note whose image you took and added.

Platform: iOS, Mac, Windows, Android

Website: evernote.com

Remember the Milk – App for managing tasks

 

Remember the milk is a kind of virtual assistant for managing your time and tasks. It offers a smart list option that sets a distinction between personal and professional tasks. It helps you to:

    • Update task
    • Create subtasks
    • Set deadlines ranging from days, months, & years

You can share tasks and lists with others. It’s a free-to-use app unless you subscribe to its premium features. Pro users can add unlimited users, restrict access to edit, and can work in offline status as well.

Platform: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Blackberry, Fire, Apple Watch

Website:
www.rememberthemilk.com

Todoist – Task management lists

 

Todoist is one of the strongest task managers that can handle things from simple domestic task to an important and professional one. It’s one of the most suitable time management apps for both business teams or individuals like freelancers. It can handle both basic and advanced level tasks.

Some of its key features are:

    • SSL secured connection
    • Task priorities
    • Projects and subprojects
    • Active projects can be 80 with 5 members at maximum in each

It offers more than 100 integrated tools. Todo-ist is available on most of the devices with the consistent design shown on all of them. You can pin your important projects, label or filter them accordingly.

Platforms: Mac, Windows, Android, Chrome, Safari, Linux

Website: todoist.com

Basecamp – Organize Projects

Basecamp is one of the most popular project management applications. It doesn’t only keep to-do lists, but also keep notes, files and events’ schedules as well. This app holds central importance for task organization. It has a user-friendly interface with a one-month free subscription.

Its benefits include:

    • Transparent management and accountability
    • More efficient communication and coordination
    • Updated customizations and integrations

Every project depicts outdated to-do tasks and stores all the files associated with each of the tasks even if the deadline has exceeded. Basecamp is suitable for companies of all sizes and even for remote workers.

Many renowned multinationals are its clients. This task manager is supported in multiple languages and an ideal fit for globally sparsed teams.

Platforms: web, iOS, Android, Mac, and PC

Website: basecamp.com

Trello – A work collaboration tool

Trello is an extremely user-friendly task management software that gives an impression of a whiteboard. It’s free of cost and you can create multiple boards with your to-do lists, along with ‘doing’ and ‘done’ task cards.

    • Quick overview
    • Drag and drop function
    • Easy to organize with tags and labels

There are cards within boards where one can add tasks and set the due date as needed. Collaborations are simplified with this software. With the free version, one can have an unlimited number of boards, cards, checklists, and attachments. You can remove or delete the cards from the boards and can rename them anytime. Besides you can add as many members as you like into them.

This software provides seamless integrations with google docs and dropbox. 

Platforms: Web, Mac, Windows

Website: trello.com

Dropbox – Store and Organize files

Dropbox is one of the most widely known and popular file-sharing options. It’s considered the most prestigious document storage and sharing software. It is suitable for both businesses and individuals’ needs.

With the help of cloud storage, it makes the entire process extremely convenient for accessing, storing and retrieving files.

    • Simplified link sharing via email, chat or even a text
    • Provide offline access
    • Online backup and file retrieval
    • Manually determined bandwidths
    • Accessible from any device

Dropbox offers a successful and trend-setting referral program. Through which 500MB storage is obtained with every referral. There are numerous software that allows data sharing but not as efficient as dropbox even that, for free.

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android

Website: www.dropbox.com

Proof hub – Project Planning Software

Proof hub brings in many features to eliminate the need of subscribing to numerous apps for task management solutions. It tries to develop a centralized location for communication, project management, and handle teams efficiently.

    • Workflows and boards
    • Mobile and tablet compatibility
    • Advanced search
    • Multiple languages

It helps you upload your documents easily from a centralized location. No more hassle to manage documents through email. It is a reporting software that presents a report on how the resources were used and give the insight to track the progress of various projects.

Remote members can use it to discuss and share ideas with each other as it also serves as a communication tool.

Platforms: Android, iOS

Website: www.proofhub.com

Easy Productivity Techniques to Focus on the Right Work

Our attention spans have taken a hit. If we can’t focus properly then we won’t be able to finish important tasks on time. This all eventually leads to a decrease in productivity. 

In this article, we’re going to discuss some easy techniques that will keep you away from distractions and help focus on the right work. 

Focus on the top 20% of your tasks

The Pareto Principle or 80/20-rule says that you should focus on the top 20% of your tasks. Why? Because in any situation, 20% of the inputs are responsible for 80% of the outcomes. To make good use of your to-do-list, give importance to those 20% tasks that greatly influence your top goals. 

Schedule everything in your calendar

Just making a to-do-list is not enough. You need to mark the events on your calendar as well. This will serve as a constant reminder and let you estimate how much time it takes you to finish certain tasks. 

Try to do your most important task in the morning

Top priority tasks will fill you with the most trepidation. Begin working on these activities first thing in the morning. Once you start and find a flow, these tasks will stop becoming a hindrance and your overall productivity will increase. 

Take care of your body  

You get only one body in this lifetime so take special care of it. If your body is always tired, pain-ridden, and sleep-deprived, your productivity will take a major hit. Why? Because it will impair memory, raise stress levels, and decrease your ability to focus. 

Take care of your mind

Our brain is like a CPU. The better it performs, the faster we can get things done in a more productive way. A calm and focused mind will serve as a great foundation to increase your overall productivity. 

Use time tracking apps

As the name suggests, a time tracking app helps users effectively track their time.  

Effective time management apps, like Stafftimer, can help people make deadlines, avoid getting stressed, improve their productivity & efficiency, and above all else, make extra time for themselves. They will also be able to maintain a work-life balance by keeping track of their time.

Use the Pomodoro Technique

Recent research shows that taking a 5-minute break after every 25 to 30 minutes increases productivity. It allows you to recharge and refresh your mind. 

Our attention span is decreasing and many find it hard to focus for a long time. Look into the Pomodoro Technique and see if it helps. 

Batch similar tasks together

Take care of similar tasks in one go. For example, taking an hour each day to dust the furniture, appliances, cars, etc. This way, you can finish your work faster. Plus, by taking time out to get these batches done, you ensure that they don’t get left hanging. 

Keep a time log for some time

If you know that you’re not being productive but are not sure where all that time is going to, try keeping a log for a few days. 

Write down everything you do during these few days. You’ll soon find where your time is being spent and can start managing it more effectively. 

Unsubscribe from all YouTube channels

Like social media, YouTube channels can waste a lot of your time as well. Unsubscribe from all the channels. You’ll soon find that most of them were not worth your time. 

There are channels that you’ll intentionally visit to watch their latest video. These are the ones that actually hold your interest and you don’t need to subscribe to them. 

4 Strategies to Improve Your Productivity as a Freelancer

There is no denying that the freelance market is appealing to many professionals all over the world. According to a 2019 study on a US-based independent workforce, the freelance market generates nearly $1 trillion in income. That’s almost 5% of the US GDP.

A 2018 Entrepreneur article reports that there are over 57 million Americans working as freelance professionals as of 2017. Considering the numerous advantages freelance employment brings to the table. That number will definitely rise in the future.

However, even the most hardworking and diligent freelance workers are not immune to procrastination and distractions. Poor productivity is a constant issue for many business organizations that employ freelance workers, mostly remote teams from all over the world. Missed deadlines and late submissions from your freelance workforce can set you back and even cost your business its precious clients and projects.

The good news is that productivity issues are easy to fix. With the following productivity strategies, you can expect your freelance workforce to deliver high-quality output at a productive rate.

Use Time Trackers

Time Tracking Software and apps are not new. However, they are still highly effective tools to keep productivity up in the workplace. The same can be said for professional freelancers and remote teams.

Many companies require their independent workers to install a time tracker on their devices. Many solutions provide a customizable freelance time tracking template that managers can configure so it tracks or records specific information such as hours worked, time spent on breaks, and averages.

Workers log in before their designated work schedule or project-related tasks. They then log out after their shift or once their tasks are accomplished.

Many time trackers are built to document not just hours but record the time spent on work down to the last second or minute. This is an effective productivity strategy especially if your organization bill your workers by the hour.

Activate Random Screen Capture

You can’t monitor your freelance worker’s progress all the time. Yet you want to make sure he or she is spending working hours on actual work. That’s understandable. Your company doesn’t want to pay for unproductive hours.

One way of ensuring your freelance employees are indeed working during their supposed working hours is to capture images of their screens at random times. It helps identify who is working and who is spending their hours doing something else. Such a feature empowers your workers to devote all their billable time to work, driving productivity up.

You may settle for a free time tracking software for freelancers. However, if you want this feature, you may have to invest in premium productivity and time tracking suite.

Give Your Best Tasks and Projects to Top Performing Freelancers

You can create and cultivate a productive environment for your independent workers if you include a gamification element to your approach. Instead of just assigning tasks and projects to the next available worker, you can send your most critical and high-paying jobs to your best freelancers.

Publishing their names as well as their earnings on a leaderboard will definitely entice your freelance employees to perform better and turn in great results to rise up the ladder. Aside from boosting their performance and productivity, your freelance workers become more engaged and dynamic.

By adding an element of competition, you can empower your freelance workforce to prove their worth, which then translates to better results and improved productivity.

Limit or Block Access to Certain Sites and Social Media

There are numerous productivity apps for PC and mobile devices that can track time and capture screenshots at random moments. On top of that, you also want your productivity apps to limit or block your freelance workers’ access to specific websites and social media sites that cause distraction and fuel procrastination.

Such capability is quite useful, especially when social media sites have proven to take much from a worker’s productivity. That said, not all social media is bad for work. Some employees spend their break watching funny cat videos. Others use social media and other sites for research, communication, and collaboration purposes.

Companies should establish guidelines on social media usage by their freelance workers. Many of today’s work processes are built on online connectivity and access to the Internet. That means the complete banning of social media is not a viable option. While social media can be detrimental to a worker’s efficiency and productivity, it can also be a huge asset when utilized properly.

Automation, Collaboration, and Communication are Key

If you want to have a highly effective and productive team of freelancers, you need to put them in an environment that fosters effortless and painless automation, communication, and collaboration.

Your freelance employees don’t want to spend time typing their credentials whenever they open devices and log in to their respective accounts. Many productivity apps automate the logging in of multiple systems and different credentials.

Communication between and among your freelance employees should be instant and smooth. Instead of relying on lengthy email threads, replace them with real-time communication tools and task management platforms for faster and more effective communication, instruction, and deployment.

By centralizing tasks, information, contacts, and more, you can maximize your freelancers’ capabilities and talents, optimize processes, and deliver desired results.

Boost Productivity With Top 4 Employee Monitoring Tools

Ever been torn between the ultimate choice of Employee Monitoring Tool for boosting productivity?

This article is definitely going to help you out and decide which one is the best tool for you. Some of the primary factors, that we will be looking at for the purpose of this article are:

  • Affordability
  • Features
  • Services
  • Ease of Use

1. Hubstaff

Hubstaff is currently the industry leader in when it comes to remote monitoring, time tracking, invoicing and billing solutions. Founded in 2012, Hubstaff since then has seen an upward growth trend in terms of the services being offered as well as the customer base.

There are a total of 3 pricing plans offered by Hubstaff – Free, Basic and Premium. The Basic Plan starts at $5 per user per month and goes up to $10 per user in the Premium Plan.

Hubstaff is not just a timekeeping software but has expanded its features to become versatile. Also, include online timesheets, employee scheduling, payroll software, and employee monitoring. Followed by productivity measurement, GPS tracking, online invoicing and project budgeting.

They offer a wide range of features, which can be overwhelming for people who just wish to use a few of those many features. Many people have faced issues with their timekeeping functions and how it relates to the payroll system.

2. TimeDoctor

TimeDoctor is one of the leading timekeeping software(s) that helps employees monitor their team’s productivity. It helps them boost the numbers by tracking time and progress. It was established in 2012. Since then has expanded operations to over 23 countries and works fully remotely.

With the pricing of TimeDoctor starting at $5.00 per month per user and going up to $9.99 per user per month, it’s pricing is not very different from Hubstaff.

TimeDoctor offers a number of features like time tracking, screenshots, powerful reporting, billing, off-track reminders and even tracking breaks.
It is yet to add integration with mobile phones, which would really boost the ease of use of the application.

3. StaffTimerApp

Staff Timer Tracking software is an AI-driven time tracking solution that uses artificial intelligence to assist employers with real-time team monitoring. It also offers advanced and intelligent reporting and task assignment via voice clips. Staff Timer Application is a relatively young one into the market but has caught on to the ongoing trends quite quickly.

When it comes to the affordability factor, they offer its basic plan from just £2.99 per month per member and goes up to just £5.00 per month per member. It’s the most inexpensive of all the time tracking solutions in the industry. It’s a perfect fit for freelancers, small, mid-sized and large teams.
They offer four main features that include:

  • Real-time reporting
  • Voice recording tasks
  • Image and video proofs
  • Screenshots after every minute, and
  • Daily work videos, created from all the recorded screenshots.

Staff Timer App is simple and easy to use with the option to manage multiple companies and projects using a single platform. With a lot of upcoming features like invoicing, task-wise billing, payroll management, etc. It sure is a promising app in the market.

4. Toggl

Toggle is one of the rising stars in the time tracking industry. It allows people to manage their teams and track productivity. It was founded in 2007 and has made considerable progress since then.

With an affordability score of around 3 on 5, Toggl offers 3 pricing plans. The first of which is the free plan with limited usability. The paid plans start from $5 per user per month and go up to $49 per user per month. With this pricing,

Toggl ranks more expensive than the two industry giants, Hubstaff and TimeDoctor.

The services offered by Toggl include time tracking, flexible and sound reporting, automatic timesheet management and business intelligence reports. Although a bit pricey, Toggl supports integrations with most devices (laptops, tablets, phones, etc.).

10 Habits to Adopt to Master Productivity

The focus in today’s world has shifted from counting the number of tasks completed, to the productivity levels, in a day. If the productivity is high, the number of tasks achieved is automatically high and the work quality is as per industry standards or higher as well. If the productivity is low, the rate of procrastination is high and the work produced is less in number and lower in quality, i.e. barely meeting the standards.

One cannot be productive 100% of the time during the work hours. However, there are some habits that if adopted by people, can help them become more active and productive in a day.

Many people are of the view that productivity is not something that can be controlled. Whereas, we believe that one can be highly productive or not productive at all based on their work demeanors and habits. Here are a few ways to master productivity in the workplace.

10. Discipline yourself to increase productivity.

There lies an incredible power in the discipline.

The human body is an intelligent machine that learns quickly and expects (and even works on) a routine. Our body functions in a circadian rhythm, the 24-hour cycle. If that’s disturbed, our body starts to retaliate as its something that goes against nature.

When you discipline yourself and schedule your daily activities, you can train your mind and body to be highly productive during work. Here’s what you can do:

  1. Wake up on a set time
  2. Regularly exercise
  3. Have a healthy breakfast
  4. Go to work 
  5. Check off all work tasks in order
  6. Leave work on time
  7. Go to bed on a fixed time

All this will help you be more active during work hours, helping you put your best foot forward.

9. Make a plan before you have to implement it.

Plan for the day ahead, a day before.

Schedule the work to be done on Monday on Friday of the previous week, so you don’t have to spend time figuring out where to start on a Monday.

This would save you a lot of time. You can just dive in and start completing the work that’s already in the queue. This will save you invisible minutes – namely, the time that just ‘flies by’ and you don’t even know where it went and what you achieved in it.

Make the schedule for Tuesday on Monday, and Wednesday on Tuesday, and so on. This way you will have tasks planned have deadlines for yourself and you will get things done much faster and right on schedule.

8. “Think you can do it, and you’re halfway there!”

Mindset is everything!

When you’re assigned a task by your team lead, and it is a big, important task, don’t freak out. If you panic and think that the task is well above your position and will take up a lot of time, or is difficult and beyond your skillset. Then there is no way that you’ll be able to complete it.

If you approach every task with a ‘can-do’ attitude, learn new things in the process, expand and improve your skillset and deliver the task, then you’ll be successful. Taking every task as a challenge you can beat is something that will result in your success within the company as well as wherever you go beyond that.

7. Prioritize tasks according to importance and relevance also increases productivity

Prioritize tasks to stay productive!

It is highly important to know which tasks are important and which can be delayed for a while and it will not matter much.

For example, if there is are two tasks: first, to post a social media update and second, deliver the monthly performance report to your supervisor. It is obvious which task holds more importance, definitely the latter. It varies from situation to situation, but being able to judge that for every situation is a skill that will allow you to be more productive.

Similarly, one must be able to judge the likelihood of completion of tasks throughout the day. If a task requires you to liaise with other departments to complete it, and they are busy, then it is better to complete the tasks that you can complete independently, in the meanwhile.

This will save the ‘waiting’ time and helps you achieve more in the same time.

6. Divide one task into small chunks to achieve it

A mountain cannot be crossed with one step or a huge jump.
It is impossible. However, if that mountain is crossed by traveling small distances at a time and with rests in between, it is completely doable.

The same is the case with being assigned large projects. You are not expected to deliver results in a day. The way to excel at those projects is by dividing the tasks into smaller chunks and working on those chunks, one at a time.

Soon, you will see that the project is reaching its milestones. The small chunks are coming together to form a complete solution for the project.

When you cut down the work pressure into chunks and deal with one thing at a time, you can get more work done. Then if you have this huge ball of pressure on you for completing one huge task.

In the latter case, most of your time will be spent worrying about the things that are yet to be done and you’ll end up achieving little to nothing.

5. Multitask to get things done on schedule increase productivity

Work on multiple things at a time.

It is a common myth that women are better at multitasking than men. However, there is no evidence to prove that. This means, men and women, both can multitask and achieve higher levels of productivity.

How to work on multiple tasks at a time? It is fairly simple. For example, you are asked to maintain an excel sheet for records and work on say, marketing tasks simultaneously. So you can go ahead with marketing tasks and switch tabs to enter records, and then switch back. Allocate 15 minutes to each task, alternating regularly.

This will improve your skills of thinking on-spot and switching between multiple tasks at a time.

4. Keep the goals in sight and work accordingly.

Can you throw a dart without the target in sight? NO! 

Always make sure that you know what you are working for and what you have to achieve through a certain task. Once you have a goal in sight, you will plan accordingly, set your schedule accordingly, and work harder and in the right direction to achieve that.

Once you know how the end-product should look, you will work on tasks to get that end-product. Instead of working blindly and without any idea of what and why you’re doing.

3. Technology is your friend, use it to excel.

Work smart, not hard.

Technology, in this day and age, is your friend and you can use it to make tasks and projects easier for yourself. You can use time tracking software like StaffTimerApp. Simply log your tasks, keep a track of where your time goes with written logs, image, and video proofs.

This will help you save invisible minutes, know what took up most of your time and know where the most unproductive time was spent. Using these insights, you can manage your time better. Remove wasted minutes from your workday and ensure that maximum productivity is achieved.

Automate the tasks that take up a lot of time in manual entries and extra, unnecessary work and redistribute your resources so as to fully utilize them.

2. Have the cushion time period in your schedule.

“Always keep room for dessert!”

Many a times, it happens so that priority tasks come up and urgent work is required on those. These aren’t the tasks that you can place on the back burner while you work on your routine tasks.

To ensure that your schedule can accommodate such tasks and still be on schedule, completing your routine tasks, you always need to keep a cushion time period on your schedule.

These are few minutes of ‘free time’ in each hour so even if you are working on side tasks, your own schedule isn’t disturbed.

1. Allow your brain to rest periodically.

Work using the Pomodoro technique.

Work uninterrupted for 50 minutes, take a 10-minute break. If you work like that, you will have higher productivity, with an active mind throughout the day.
That essential period of rest after 50 minutes will allow you to reassess your task plate. Reorganize to include any change required in the schedule. It will be like a reset period for your brain before getting to work again.

Remember, your brain is like any other machine as well. If it gets overworked and overheated, you will face burnout. Hence, reduced productivity due to exhaustion.

10 Ways Time Tracking Helps You Make The Most Of Your Freelance Employees

Time Tracking for freelancers is quickly gaining popularity in the remote work industry. As more and more companies go virtual with respect to their teams and work practices.

Many companies are functioning with distributed teams that are spread out globally. The issue, most of them face, is regarding fully utilizing the freelancers they hire for different tasks.

Most are not able to do so and are generally overpaying in return for the output they’re receiving. Here are 10 ways in which you can make the most of your freelance employees and save the company’s resources using a time tracking solution.

10. Track Time for Increased Productivity

You can carry our time tracking using time tracking solutions. Many are available in the market and have multiple features and prices.

Integrate time tracking solution with your company’s platform and track your freelance employees’ productivity using that.

When working remotely, the freelancer can start the timer for a certain task they are about to work on, pause it when they take a break and end it when they are done with the task.

9. Remote Monitoring to Ensure Correct Work Track

Monitor your remote employees using a time tracking solution that supports real-time screen sharing and takes screenshots of the freelancers’ computer screen every minute.

Those screenshots can then be combined as separate frames and used to create a complete workday playback video. That way you can know exactly what your employees are working on and how their progress is going.

This will also make sure that you and your freelance team are on the same page when it comes to how tasks are attempted and what direction a project is supposed to take.

8. Implement a Schedule via Time Tracking Solution

Design a schedule for your employees and make sure that it is being followed. Considering they are freelancers and will have other tasks, the schedule must be a personalized one for each employee, fitting to their personal chores and tasks as well.

Furthermore, it must align with the work hours of the company so remote employees are available for coordination, discussions or meetings with in-house employees, whenever needed.

Productivity heat-maps for each individual must be an important consideration while creating the schedule.

7. Task-wise Billing Using A Time Tracking Software

The payment structure for freelancers is best when done task-wise or hour wise. For this, you can integrate an invoicing solution with your time tracking solution. So the billing can be done according to tasks completed and the hours worked.

The time tracking solution will have a complete record (with proofs) of the work completed by the employee. That way you can be sure that you’re not overpaying the freelancers.

6. Intelligent Report to Get Value for Money

Many leading time tracking solutions in the market offer the option of advanced reporting. Some remote employee monitoring software offers intelligent employee reports. Where the day’s screenshots are automatically categorized according to the active windows in those images, clearly telling the employer what the freelancers spent most of their time working on.

This increases transparency and if there are any wasted minutes, the employers can get to know about those within a matter of a few clicks.  

5. Task Logging to Estimate Work Done Through Time Tracking

Make sure that your freelance employees log each and every task they perform. Whether it is a task already assigned to them or a task they performed.

When a task is logged, a record is maintained that lets the employers know how much work was actually achieved by the freelancer. Whether they are putting the best of their efforts into the work or not.

4. Clarify and Align Company’s Goals with Freelancers

In order to be sure that the employees work the same way that you expect them to, it is essential to make it clear to them what they are working for, what is the end result supposed to look like and what are you trying to achieve.

Once the goals of the company are aligned with the freelancers’ goals, then the workflows will be regulated on their own. Productivity will increase and the employees will put their best foot forth.

When the employees know how their work is going to impact the common end-goal. They will have a clear idea of the value of their work and their value as an employee to the company.

This is essential for boosting the morale of employees and pushing them to work harder.

3. Rule of Thumb: Work Smart, Not Hard

Taking up this rule will make tasks easier for you and your employees, both. Working smart saves time, energy, resources, gets things done much faster and makes searching for information much easier.

Automate timesheets instead of manually maintaining logs for each hour or each task. It is much easier to start and stop the timer with a single click, rather than manually making each entry to a timesheet.

Furthermore, it makes the job simple when all work done during the activity time is recorded and gets divided into separate categories, creating automated timesheets.

This way, your freelancers spend the majority of their time working on the actual tasks instead of logging entries manually.

2. Improve Communication via Audio Clips

Team communication impacts employee productivity and plays a major role in how your employees perform. Merely assigning them tasks using a project management tool or a time tracking software isn’t enough.

Nothing can beat the power and impact of face-to-face communication. If you cannot communicate with them in-person due to geographical boundaries, then feel free to conduct a Skype Business Call, or use a platform that helps.

You can assign tasks in the form of voice clips and allows the freelancers to respond back using voice clips as well. In case they have any query and wish to clear it prior to attempting a task.

Clear and quick communication is always verbal and enables workflow-streamlining when the teams are on one page.

1. Trust your Employee to Get the Job Done

If you’ve hired a freelancer, trust that they can get the job done as well. There is no point in hiring them otherwise.

If you try to micromanage your employees, directing their every move and telling them how to go about a task, even when they might be suggesting better ways to do it, they will simply be exhausted and irritated.

Build a certain trust level with your employees, and believe in them. Have a solution that monitors their work activity by giving you an idea of their sincerity and dedication to their work.

If they work hard, waste no time and have the required level of productivity, then let them be, sit back and let them deliver the assigned work to you, on schedule.

How Time Tracking helps Project Management Process

Project Management is a fairly new concept. Prior to the 20th century, builders and architects managed the projects themselves. Project Management acquired a status of a dedicated job only after the 20th century.

It was when the businesses become more and more complex and a person with great management skills was needed to overlook the business endeavors. In the 1950s, Project Management was recognized as a field of academia.

So we can say that the Project Management Process has come a long way. But the field is still evolving, more so than ever. And the reason for this is the advent of new technologies and innovative tools like Time Tracking Software and Customer Relationship Management Software.

It has been estimated that Time Tracking is $200 million business and still growing. These figures suggest that Time Tracking has been embraced by the Corporate World. Let’s dwell into the reasons how Time Tracking helps the Project Management Process.

But before that let’s look see the benefits of Time Tracking Software.

  1. Complete statistics about how long your employees worked.
  2. tells you how much time it took to get the projects done.
  3. Detailed breakdown of time spent on all the tasks.
  4. You can keep the track of employees activities.

 

Ways in which Time Tracking helps Project Management Process

Better estimates

We have seen that Time Tracking gathers deep insights into how the resources (time, human resources, money, infrastructure) are spent. This information is like gold for Project Managers. These statistics become the input data when it comes to estimation.

For example, you have a new software project at hand. You know from the previous experience and knowledge, which you acquired through Time Tracking, that it would take your Graphics Design Team two months to deliver this project. Keeping in mind this guess, you can make financial estimates and decision that are profitable for the organization.

Meet the Deadlines

Business Case Studies suggests that Organizations fail to meet the deadlines due to the following reasons:

  • Poor Time Management
  • Lack of Accountability
  • Insufficient planning
  • Bad organization skills

Meeting deadlines is of great significance in the Project Management Process. In today’s world, the competition is cut-throat. If a company fails to deliver the project on deadline, it can dangerously harm in the Corporate arena. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to deliver projects on time and the managers make great efforts to achieve this.

Thanks to the technological innovation, Time Tracking has helped the Project Managers to a great extent.

As discussed above, many useful insights are brought forward by a good Time Tracking Software. The management of the projects becomes seamless due to the insights and information delivered by the Time Tracking Software. And this leads to meeting deadlines and delivering projects timely.

Manage Work Better

It is a lot easier for managers to manage the employees and the tasks if they are on top of the day to day activities and productivity of their team members.

The managers who are well aware can identify the Hurdles that are stopping the team from getting on with their work. They can see the shortcomings of the teams. These diagnoses can help move towards a cure and solution.

A management team in touch with the realities of the team is very powerful and can take the business forward at a supersonic pace.

Save employees from the Stress

Statistics suggest that the workforce of the modern era is the most stress of all times. Of Course, this stems from the insane competition and the pressure to keep up with the world. The burnout costs as much as $20 billion to the Australian economy each year.

The reality is that stressed and burnt out employees are pretty much useless. It is the agenda of modern Project Managers to keep the employees sane and happy. And Time Tracking Software has helped managers and bosses a lot in identifying the limits of work that is

Save projects from derailing

When you know your team well, your deadlines are realistic and the work is managed diligently, your projects will not be derailed. You would be able to foresee a hurdle and resolve it before it turns into a serious crisis.

Similarly, you would be able to redirect the project towards a better path by keeping track of the progress and productivity.

Conclusion

Modern technological tools are reshaping all the aspects of our lives. And Project Management Process is not spared either. The tech-savvy managers use all the tools at their disposal to make the process efficient and more profitable!