time tracking Archives - Successful Blog

One of my first jobs was as a real estate settlement coordinator, and I learned valuable lessons being thrown into the fiery brew of emotional sellers, unreliable home inspectors, and mortgage refinance. The habit that has stuck with me the longest, however, is logging how I spend my time each day at work.

In that first job, it was crucial to note my contacts, how much time was spent, and who promised to do what. On day one, my boss gave me a legal pad and told me to keep a running log of my day. She said, “trust me, you’ll be glad you did.”

The first time I got into a dispute about whether a certain termite report was supposed to be submitted, I was able to say, “on February 22nd at 10:30am, you committed to sending that report by today.” BOOM.

In a subsequent job, I worked on a government contract, where I had to designate (at an hourly level) which project I was working on. (Also on paper, pre-Internet.)

Whether you are trying to track your activities for accounting purposes or for productivity, it’s much easier now. (I still log my days in a Moleskine, though– old habits die hard.)

These five apps will help you track and manage your time much more efficiently than my old legal pad.

1. TSheets

Tsheets is one of the most popular time tracking and scheduling apps, approaching its 11th birthday.

TSheets is the only time tracking app embedded into QuickBooks Online
See who’s working, their GPS location, and what they’re working on straight from your phone or computer
Create, update, and dispatch employee schedules on the fly
Turn a tablet into a mobile punch clock on any job site with TSheets Kiosk
Take advantage of resources on gig-style time tracking on their Mobile App page

In June 2008, Liz Strauss did a 4-part interview with Matt Rissell, CEO of TSheets, with lots of insights regarding time tracking.

2. Weekplan.net

Weekplan is currently beloved by more than 300,000 users. Its simple layout is based on time-tested management techniques. They include a free multi-step online course on time management.

Uses a weekly grid based on importance and urgency to track time allotted to tasks.
Balance your time with a role-based system.
Pomodoro timer integrated to keep you focused.
Syncs with Google Calendar and provides analytics (ultimate plan).

3. Toggl

Toggl claims to “drive a stake in the heart of timesheets,” which sounds great to me! The whole point is to make it so easy that you don’t forget to use it, and Toggl succeeds.

Useful for teams, with billable rates and time audit tools.
Includes project management tools.
Integrates with lots of other tools, including Asana, Freshbooks, and Basecamp.
Track time automatically or manually, with tagging and projects.

4. Timely

I fell in love with Timely when I saw on their site that it was “meticulously designed by vikings from Oslo, Norway.” A productivity app with a sense of humor. Timely’s secret sauce is the gorgeous calendar-based interface, which makes it simple to just dive in and start tracking.

Sync meetings and calendar events into the app.
Set money or time-based project budgets and then track progress toward the goal.
Understand how the time is being spent with tags and subtags.
Integrate with other apps like Trello or email, and keep a detailed activity log.

5. Time

The guys at Blue Cocoa (two teenagers) are going to have a hard time with their SEO strategy, but their Time app is really cool. It functions mostly as a to do list, but I include it here as a time tracker because that’s how I’ve been using it.

Click any to do item to start a color-coded timer that changes as the time ticks down.
Easily just drag to reorder, add/delete, or shift the timeframe for any task.
If you take too long, it goes into “overtime” with a red timer, to push you to finish.
Stats and insights into how you’ve spent your time.
Powered by artificial intelligence, which learns your behavior and offers tailored suggestions to help.

BONUS: TimeCamp

TimeCamp is time tracking & invoicing software that helps to increase your team’s productivity. It records every minute of the task your team is working on, shows results in clear reports and allows you to square up with clients accurately.

Includes reporting, budgeting, and billable hours.
Integration with several project management platforms, including Asana, Podio, and Trello.
Track attendance and time off.
See project profitability, and see problems before they arrive.

EXTRA BONUS: ProjectManager.com

ProjectManager.com goes beyond time tracking and covers the whole waterfront of project management. It’s a complete online suite of tools to manage a project from start to finish.

Includes real-time customizable project dashboard that tells you at-a-glance whether your projects and your team are on track.
Create, monitor and share your project plans online, with multiple views for your team. As they work on tasks, your project plan updates automatically in real-time.
Create executive-ready status reports with the push of a button. You can export and share your reports as a PDF, Word or Excel file.
Manage your team’s workload across the board, and have timesheets auto-filled with last week’s tasks.

EXTRA EXTRA BONUS: HubStaff

HubStaff is time tracking software with screenshots, app & internet monitoring, employee payroll system, and 30+ integrations.

Set the maximum number of hours you want a member to be able to work in a week and the app will automatically prevent them from exceeding the limit.
GPS monitoring and time tracking apps for iOS and Android allow you to track time while on the go and reports on your location.
See which applications your team members are using and what URLs they are browsing, while tracking time.
Add your team’s one-time or recurring shifts to the work calendar easily.

SUPER EXTRA BONUS: Time Doctor

Time Doctor is a SaaS time tracking and productivity tool that helps you and your team get a lot more done each day. This software helps you see exactly where time is spent in your business, or for individuals to improve productivity.

Hubstaff and Time Doctor are the two most popular time management apps used in the market today. Learn the pros and cons of using each app in this quick guide to Hubstaff vs Time Doctor.

What’s your favorite time management tool right now?

Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for Social Strata — makers of the Hoop.la community platform. Check out the Social Strata blog. You can find Rosemary on Google+ and on Twitter as @rhogroupee

While many employees are either off to begin with or ducking out early on this Thanksgiving Eve, how many do you suspect are being truthful about the hours they worked this day?

For many small business owners, it can be a challenge to properly document how many hours their workers are in fact putting in. Even though many companies employ a 40-hour work week, not all employees abide by this rule.

According to a Salary.com survey, surfing the Internet has over recent years become one of the major reasons not all work gets done on time.

The survey noted that more than 60 percent of workers end up on non-work related websites on a daily basis while âworkingâ at their jobs. Within that percentage, nearly 40 percent spend one hour or less per week, 29 percent devote two hours per week, 21 percent waste five hours of their employerâs time per week, while just three percent claim to waste 10 hours or more.

Yes, in some workplaces across the country, employers go above and beyond what would be deemed the normal office environment, that is monitoring the hours worked, time spent for lunch, and how many breaks workers are taking. Some even block a number of Internet sites or the Web altogether.

Others, however, feel the need to implement some type of system that will easily and properly record the time each employee puts in on a daily basis.

Should you find yourself to be one of those small businesses in need of employee time tracking, consider the following:

1. Take the time to find the right system – First and foremost, you donât want to waste money on the wrong system. Some systems can be harder to implement and record, so make sure the system you desire is understandable, effective, and worth your time. If you or your employees are spending excessive time during the week trying to figure it out, are you truly saving time in the long run? In most cases, the answer is no;

2. Follow the leader – If you want your employees to play by the rules, donât you think you should too? Even if you own the company or are a higher-up executive, keep in mind that the company is made up of team members and not individuals. Set a good example for your employees by putting in a responsible amount of hours yourself during the week. Most employees respect authority and will follow suit if they see their managers and others higher up the work food chain setting a good example for others to follow;

3. Treat all employees fairly – Nothing can harm an office more than if it is perceived that some employees are getting special treatment when it comes to recording their time spent working. While there are always going to be special circumstances for medical appointments, emergencies and such, treat all employees the same when it comes to recording their hours worked. If some employees feel management is looking the other way in some cases with recording employee hours, it can quickly turn into a major issue in the workplace;

4. Set the rules – In some companies, overtime work is going to be required in order to meet customer needs. In those cases, make sure when hiring workers that they know if they are working from a set salary or are paid hourly. In some cases, workers will try and bill for extra hours that they worked legitimately, yet others will try and stretch the truth. That being said, it is also important that employees record their lunch breaks, etc. so that they are meeting the requirements as set by the law. Under reporting hours can be as much of if not more of a problem than reporting too many hours worked;

5. Review over time – Finally, it is important to review your employee time tracking software, how it is implemented, and what works and does not work from time to time. The needs of your company will change over time, hence how you record employee time spent doing a job will too. Whether you track employee time by when they sign in on their computers, when they enter the office or by some others means, donât just assume it is automatically working. If your current tracking operations are not working, take the time to fix the problem and see better results in no time.

Photo credit: smallbiztrends.com

About the author: With 23 years of experience as a writer, Dave Thomas covers a wide array of topics to help your small business succeed.

5 Nifty Time Tracking Resources for Entrepreneurs (updated)