Blog

Short pieces about freelance time tracking — the work that gets forgotten, why timers get skipped, and what makes a time record worth keeping.

The accidental client discount
Discounts are fine. Accidental discounts are stranger. Yet freelancers give them constantly. Not because they lowered the price.
How to bill more accurately without working more
There are two ways to increase freelance revenue. Do more work. Or stop losing track of work you already did. The second one is less exhausting.
Your freelance workflow should survive interruptions
Any workflow looks good when nobody interrupts you. That is not much of a test.
The Friday afternoon timesheet reconstruction ritual
Friday, 15:47. The work is more or less done. You should probably close the laptop.
The hidden cost of “I’ll just do this quickly”
Freelancers are very generous with ten minutes. A client asks for a tiny change. You are already at the computer.
How much billable work do you forget?
Probably less than it feels like. Possibly more than you would like. The difficult part is that forgotten work is, by definition, hard to measure.
The lazy freelancer’s guide to time tracking
This is not a guide to becoming more disciplined. That sounds tiring.
If you keep reconstructing your week, your system is broken
You can reconstruct a workweek. Calendar. Completed tasks. Sent mail. Browser history. Chat. A few notes. Eventually, the shape of the week comes back.
Should freelancers track every minute?
Probably not. Unless you have a very specific reason to. Tracking every minute sounds precise. Precision can be useful.
Small client tasks are the easiest to forget
The two-hour job gets remembered. The twelve-minute job does not. That is not because the small job was less real.
The problem with time trackers built for teams
A lot of time-tracking software is extremely capable. Approvals. Roles. Attendance. Utilisation. Team dashboards. Profitability. Scheduling. Manager reports.
Todoist is already a pretty good freelance work log
Todoist is mainly about the future. What needs doing? What is due today? What did I promise this client?
Don’t sell your time? You should still know where it went.
“Stop selling your time.” It is common freelance advice.
What counts as billable time for a freelancer?
There is no universal list. That is the annoying answer.
Why freelancers are so bad at tracking time
I am very good at doing the work. I am considerably worse at remembering to write down that I did it. That seems to be a fairly common freelance problem.
Why I stopped relying on traditional time trackers
I have never had a problem understanding time tracking. The concept is excellent. Do work. Record time. Invoice correctly. My problem was the middle bit.
Why timers don’t always match freelance work
A timer assumes something fairly tidy. Work starts. You press a button. Work ends. You press it again. Sometimes freelance work is exactly like that.
Your calendar is better at remembering your week than you are
Ask yourself what you did last Wednesday at 11:00. Unless something dramatic happened, the answer may take a moment.
Your inbox is not a timesheet
Your inbox is excellent at proving that you were busy. It is much worse at explaining what that busyness was worth.

More on how Tidst itself works: How Tidst works · The Queue · Time tracking for freelancers

The accidental client discount

How to bill more accurately without working more

Your freelance workflow should survive interruptions

The Friday afternoon timesheet reconstruction ritual

The hidden cost of “I’ll just do this quickly”

How much billable work do you forget?

The lazy freelancer’s guide to time tracking

If you keep reconstructing your week, your system is broken

Should freelancers track every minute?

Small client tasks are the easiest to forget

The problem with time trackers built for teams

Todoist is already a pretty good freelance work log

Don’t sell your time? You should still know where it went.

What counts as billable time for a freelancer?

Why freelancers are so bad at tracking time

Why I stopped relying on traditional time trackers

Why timers don’t always match freelance work

Your calendar is better at remembering your week than you are

Your inbox is not a timesheet