Time is a precious commodity. There’s a finite amount of it, and not all time is treated equally. We may have some blocks of time that are more productive than others. Furthermore, present time is more valuable than future time (past time is also valuable, which I’ll get to in a minute). If we have to finish a project immediately, you put a bigger weight on the time you have available now as opposed to the time you will have available later.
With that in mind, we should give time the respect it deserves. We must track and analyze what time is being allocated for what, and how wisely it’s being used.
This is where time tracking comes into play. Using a tool such as Harvest, you can record the time you’re spending on a project during or after the activity. This allows you to keep an accurate log of your time expenditures.
What’s cool about tools like Harvest is that as you accrue a lengthy log of time spent, you can look back and analyze your efficiency. Are you spending the most time on projects right before major deadlines? If so, you might be procrastinating too much. Or, are you spending way too much time on unimportant project tasks? That may highlight a need to delegate.
Analyzing your past time is a very critical activity. If you were a track runner, you’d want to keep a log of your mile times, right? Otherwise, how would you track your improvements? The same goes for project management. Identify what you may be doing wrong, aim to improve, evaluate and then repeat.
Thanks for the tip. May I suggest a web-based time tracking app for your readers? Intervals was built by and for web designers and developers and tracks time on projects in the same manner you have advised above. Please, check it out.
Just wanted to say thanks for looking into Harvest, and for talking about us in your post. Please feel free to get in touch with us if you do have any questions – we’re constantly improving things here, and we love to hear from our users!
Karen, Harvest Community Manager