One of the ways to be successful when you’re starting out in the freelance world is to track your hours. Just like how agencies have their employees track every hour of their work day and what client project they worked on, you must do the same as a freelancer.
I know what you’re thinking. “I don’t need to track it. I know it will only take me two hours to write this copy.” But before you know it, you’re juggling the temptations of working from home, like playing with your dog and reading other people’s blog posts that you’ve lost track of time and have already used up four hours without finishing anything.
But at the same time, what’s the point of tracking hours if you know you’re going to be taking regular breaks. After all, the reason you left your desk job was to work according to your own schedule whenever you want to! Plus, when you worked at a full-time job, it’s not like you were working the entire eight hours you tracked, right? We all know that there is no way anyone can work eight hours straight on just work. We’re all bound to scroll Facebook for a few minutes between meetings, be on Youtube finding the best focus music of the day or spend a bit too long in the bathroom tidying up our appearance.
So, what’s the point of tracking your time as a freelancer?
Tracking your hours as a Full-Time worker vs. as a Freelancer
The difference between tracking hours at your full-time job and as a freelancer is that you are guaranteed a salary regardless of how much work you put in at your full-time job, as long as you got the work done. The hours you put in did not directly affect your pay, as long as you were showing up and getting the work done. Therefore, logging in your time and projects at a full-time job could be done with basic estimations.
As a freelancer, you are in charge of determining how much you get paid for your work and your salary for the month. On the one hand, that’s great because you have the freedom to pick up as many clients you can handle, work day and night and maximize your pay. On the other hand, you could end up spending way more hours than expected on a project with a set price and lose money.
The other significant difference between freelancing and full-time work? You are the boss, the employee, the operations guy, and the administrative assistant. You wear many hats, and that means you’re also doing a lot of unpaid work for yourself. You don’t have a set salary. No boss is assigning you work. Therefore, on top of client work, you are putting many hours into finding clients, managing your taxes, building your own website, fixing your office space. All of the hours you put into maintaining your business are not paid since it is not directly associated with client work.
Whether you’re working on a client project or building up your freelance business, tracking your time or keeping a timesheet is essential to the long-term strategy of your business and understanding how much paid work you might have to find to balance out all the hours you work and the business expenses associated with it.
Top 3 Reasons Why Tracking your Hours as a Freelancer is Important
1) Gain Client Trust and Respect
Tracking billable hours is not only necessary for you, but it is also fundamental to shaping a positive relationship between you and your client. Especially without a pre-existing relationship, clients can be risk-averse when it comes to working with freelancers. They met you over the internet and barely know anything about you, can you blame them? Tracking your hours along with an invoice can help them understand where their money is going and gain trust in you.
By tracking your hours, your client will know exactly how many hours you’ve spent working on a project, and it will reassure them that they are paying a suitable price for both your time and the quality of work you’re providing. If you happen to spend less time or more time on a project, tracking time allows you to be transparent with your client, which will help gain their respect.
2) Manage your time
Once you start building up your client base and you’re juggling different projects, organizing your time and tracking your time precisely will help you know how much time you’ve put into each client project. Tracking can ultimately help you manage your time between different clients and also make sure you’re reaching a comfortable balance between the time you’re investing and the amount of money you’re making from each client. It goes without saying that knowing exactly how many hours you spent on a client each week will help you manage your time and stay consistent with your work. Being on top of your own schedule, the number of hours you work, and knowing how long it takes you to finish a task will help you be more efficient in your work.
3) Know your Worth
By knowing the exact hours you put into client work and your own (yes, track your own work too!), you can know just how much time it takes for you to get something done. Once you have figured out your monthly salary, you can figure out how much you’re making per hour and how much your clients are actually paying you for the work you’re putting into their projects. Tracking can ensure you’re not losing any money, and help you realize if it’s time to give yourself a raise. Keeping a timesheet and tracking the time you put into your own projects can also help you figure out how much work you are putting in yourself if it’s too much or not enough, and how you should budget accordingly for your business expenses of the month.
No matter what, do not forget to track your hours, whether they be billable or not. After all, that’s what it takes to become a successful boss and freelancer.
