The best time-tracking tools for a more efficient workday

You’re reading the blog on a site called People Per Hour, so we can safely assume two things: First, you’re probably not a robot. And second, you work by the hour.

If we got both of those right, we’ve got some news for you: You’ve come to the best possible place to get your time-tracking information, whether you’re a freelancer, the manager of a remote team or a hiring manager considering outsourcing the company’s team.

Now, if you’re reading this you also probably have some, if not all of the following questions:

1. How should I measure/report effective working time?
2. Is there any way I can prove just how efficient I am?
3. Is there a perfect tool that covers all of my time-tracking needs while saving me time and money, that has a nice design, and it’s easy to understand? (nice question, by the way!)

We’ve created a list exactly to help you get rid of the uncertainty, and replace those questions with better ones… for example, “how can I make sure my clients believe I’m really this productive?”.  So please, continue reading this article, and be on your way to becoming your most productive self:

First Tool: Harvest

Harvest is a company that offers both free and paid services, and can help you bill clients, measure time, log hours and break projects into specific, billable tasks.

How can this tool help freelancers? Small teams, agencies and freelancers can benefit from Harvest’s system to both bill individual clients and segment projects into tasks. Budgeting is also easier using Harvest, as you can analyze the estimate amounts of time and money certain activities will require in the future based on past logs.

Second Tool: TSheets

TSheets seems to be doing everything right, as they have a customer rating of 9.5/10. This tool was also designed by the same company that created Quickbooks. They took advantage of their expertise to provide a seamless integration between the two of them, a feature that will certainly come in handy for managers.

How can this tool help freelancers? TSheets is definitely the fiercest competitor in the market, including features that range from accounting integration to GPS tracking, the possibility of creating elaborate schedules, analytics to improve efficiency and more. With both free and freemium products available, you should probably consider trying TSheets software, or at least taking a look at their feature list.

Third Tool: Toggl

Everybody has their own preferences and, while some users love more features, other certainly prefer less. Toggl is one of the simplest time-tracking tools on the market, so minimalistic users that know their exact needs may prefer it over more elaborate competitors. This tool also provides analytic features to help you understand the way you’re spending your time.

How can this tool help freelancers? Tracking time can be a paradoxically time-consuming activity for some, so Toggl will make sure you spend as little time as possible taking care of this issue. If all you need is tracking time, or tracking your freelancers time, Toggl will do just fine while providing a simple interface to interact with. Some users, however, might miss the billing features that other more advanced alternatives provide.

Whether you end up choosing one of the recommended tools from this list or try another product not listed, make sure to read reviews by real users so you can get an overall view of the landscape and understand if the tool is the right fit for you.

At the end of the day, time is money, especially when it comes to freelancing!

Featured Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash