What Are Benefits of Time Tracking and How to Use It Effectively?
Time curates our lives. We constantly think about it, try to figure out how to make it work better for us and always complain that we haven’t got enough of it.
Nowadays, time tracking has become a part of our everyday life and even a kind of a demand for a business world, where companies use various time-tracking devices to punch in and punch out their employees. Since the late 1880s, time tracking has been evolving into something that now can be called a time tracking culture.
So in today’s world, efficient use of time has become a necessary skill for everyone. But sometimes people seem to underappreciate this valuable resource and waste it, often without understanding how beneficial time tracking can be.
So what are the perks of time tracking? Which tools can we use to do it more effectively? Let’s find out.
1. Why is it beneficial? It nurtures your productivity.
This is why businesses use time-tracking methods at a workplace. It has been proven that time tracking increases workforce productivity, giving the employees an exact amount of time to do their job.
How does it work exactly? Every day, when each employee punches in, their working time starts. They have an exact amount of time until the end of his working day to do the tasks. Then, when the day ends, each employee punches out, thus finishing the working day.
It actually helps to differentiate work from personal life. So, time tracking has become a part of our culture. And it works great because it actually helps people organize their day more effectively when they know exactly how much time they have.
2. What about other perks? You’ll notice that you actually need less time.
Have you ever noticed that some things just take the entire day? We just keep on doing the same thing for hours, which keeps us constantly busy and exhausted.
When you start using time tracking, you’ll immediately find out that you actually need much less time to do your tasks. Time tracking will help you learn to get better at estimating time for tasks, which will allow you to have more time for yourself.
3. Any other pros? It improves your focus.
Have you ever noticed that when you have a lot of tasks you tend to aimlessly jump from one task to another without actually finishing any of them? This is our way of overreacting to the massive amounts of work that needs to be done.
Once you start logging your time and keeping track of every minute you spend, you’ll notice how effective your performance will get. As you figure out how much time exactly you’ll need for every task, you’ll become more motivated and focused.
4. What else does it hold for you? It’ll keep you accountable.
No chance to get away with all that time you’ve wasted! As with the people who keep track of the calories and what they’ve eaten in a day, logging your time will help you keep track of what you’ve managed to do during the day.
It will help you better understand that wasting time is something you’ll be held accountable for. But once you start tracking your time, you’ll realize that you’re doing the best you can and no one will ever accuse you of snoozing and skipping important work.
So, have you wasted an hour on going through your social media and reading the comments under your Facebook friend’s post? Write that down, as well as other times when you’ve procrastinated during the day, in your time tracking journal and read it again in the evening. It will make you feel uncomfortable, thus ensuring that you probably won’t repeat the same mistake tomorrow.
So, as you can see, time tracking is very beneficial. And for sure, we have lots of tools to make time logging even more effective. But among all of them, which are the best ones?
Here are 5 tools for the most efficient time tracking!
- Rememberthemilk.com: one of the best task management and time management add-ons for Gmail, Outlook, compatible with each browser. You can use it on your computer as well as your mobile phone or tablet. It keeps track of your tasks and reminds you of them, and doesn’t even need a Wi-Fi connection for that.
- Pomodoro Timer Lite: this app uses a very famous Pomodoro time tracking technique. You just need to pick a task you need to do, set the timer and start working. When your time is over, the app notifies you about it. It’s ad-free as well.
- Assignmenthelper.com.au: time tracking helps you better understand how to separate more important tasks from time-wasting activities. But if you still have lots of work to do and time seems to run out, this one will come in handy. Especially if you’re a student and need tons of essays to be written by tomorrow, you’ll definitely need this tool.
- Forest.cc: this app forces you not to touch your phone and get distracted by it. Set the timer and a tiny tree will appear on your phone screen. If you touch your phone before time runs out, you’ll kill the tree. Isn’t it a good motivation?
- TimeCamp: this app tracks your working time without you even noticing it. It saves all your activities in reports and tells you which of them are productive and nonproductive. It helps you to manage tasks and projects and makes your work easier.
Concluding Thoughts
Time tracking will help you become more focused and committed to what you do. You’ll learn how to value your time and how to get more out of it.
Lucy Benton is a marketing specialist, business consultant and helps people to turn their dreams into the profitable business. Now she is writing for marketing and business resources. Also, Lucy has her own blog ProWriting where you can check her last publications. If you’re interested in working with Lucy, you can find her on Twitter.
Thanks for sharing such a informative blog!