![\"\"](\"\/blog-images\/automated-time-tracking-apps\/0.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The best argument for why you should be using an automated time tracker: because life\u2019s too short for being unproductive.<\/em><\/p>\n If you\u2019re even at all nerdy about how to improve your life skills, you\u2019ve read articles saying that time tracking is how super-busy entrepreneurs stay sane, balanced, and become successful. It\u2019s kind of a chicken-and-egg thing though, isn\u2019t it? Which came first, the personality of that really successful person you\u2019re aspiring to be, or their organizational skills? Have you found yourself reading about one of your business idols, and their morning routines, and thinking you will never have the discipline to be that<\/em> strict with your time management?<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve been following along with our articles recently, you\u2019ll have noticed a theme of time management skills. We started with goal setting<\/a> and deciding your motivation behind tracking your time, then structuring your day effectively<\/a>, and lastly how to turn these new skills into habits<\/a>. One of the pieces of advice in the last article is that removing friction is one of the best ways to keep your new habits rolling. Time tracking apps are an integral part in effective time management skills, so why are they a source of so much anguish? If you\u2019re not yet automating this part of the process, here\u2019s why you should be.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Have you used a time tracking tool that relied on pressing go to start it tracking? If so, you\u2019ve probably experienced the incredible frustration of being away from your desk, coming back, and an hour after starting work realising you haven\u2019t started your timer. Or was it half an hour? Maybe it was more? You can\u2019t work it out, which means you can\u2019t bill your client<\/a> for time you may or may not have worked.<\/p>\n Automated time trackers, like Timing<\/a><\/em>, are far more effective for time management because they don\u2019t rely on you starting the timer. There\u2019s no chance of you losing time, or not quite knowing what you were doing, because it\u2019s all tracked. If you want to flip to a different project, there\u2019s no need to change your timer \u2014 it will automatically be taken care of.<\/p>\n Going to a business meeting, or taking a work phone call? Some time trackers require you to keep moving your mouse every ten minutes or so, to stop them timing out. No good at all if you\u2019re on a long call, or out to lunch with a prospective client. \u201cLet me just move my trackpad around\u2026\u201d isn\u2019t going to go down well when you break the conversation. This article from PayDirt<\/a> shows the difference between billable hours, and non-billable hours. If you only count your billable hours as work, or your hours at your Mac as work, then you\u2019re going to risk overworking yourself, and possibly underbilling.<\/p>\n With an automated tracker, it knows when you\u2019re at your computer\u2026 which means it also knows when you\u2019re not. Timing<\/a><\/em> has alerts you can set up for when you come back to your screen, which will prompt you to say what you\u2019ve been doing. Not only will you not miss out adding valuable hours to your invoices, you\u2019ll also have a more accurate picture at the end of the month of how much you\u2019ve really<\/em> worked. If you\u2019re working for a per-project rate, or you\u2019re on a retainer, this might result in you needing to tweak your rate, or put more or less time into specific projects.<\/p>\n As a freelancer, sometimes you get clients who are less than ideal<\/a>. Unfortunately, they tend to come with the freelancer territory, and crawl out of the woodwork once there isn\u2019t the filter of boss or company logo between your work and them. With automated time tracking, though, you know exactly what you\u2019ve been doing \u2014 and so can your clients. You can create detailed reports<\/a>, export them into a PDF, and send them to your client. Down to the second, if needed.<\/p>\n This way, you stay accountable to yourself, too. Research shows that every distraction loses you 23 minutes and 15 seconds<\/a>, because it takes that long to refocus onto the task. So the brief click on a different tab might not be as harmless are you think. Have you guessed the solution yet? If you check your Timing<\/a><\/em> screen at the end of the day, there will be no escaping the evidence of those brief moments of procrastination. Eradicating them can save you stress, and far more time than you might expect.<\/p>\n Because automated time tracking works by tracking the apps or tabs you\u2019ve been using, it doesn\u2019t take any screenshots of potentially sensitive information. As apps which screenshot don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing the rest of the time, they can also offer an inaccurate representation of your activity. If you don\u2019t want Timing<\/em> to track certain paths, you can create a blacklist<\/a>. No need to worry about your information being shared, though. As we mentioned when we explored the security concerns<\/a> surrounding time tracking apps, Timing<\/em> only ever stores your data locally.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re trying to build and keep strong time management habits, then automated time tracking is the way to go. Timing<\/em> even shows you how productive your week has been, so you can either give yourself a pat on the back, or motivate yourself to do better. You might even be surprised by what you learn about how you spend your time, like Chris Ward was<\/a> when he tried out Timing<\/em>. You\u2019ll save time, frustrations, and increase your productivity in the process. You\u2019ll find that the process is so smooth, you\u2019ll want to start tracking your whole life, not just your work day.<\/p>\n Still not sure about switching from your manual time tracker? Download our free trial of<\/em> Timing<\/a>, and you\u2019ll never need to click that damn \u2018start timer\u2019 button again.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The best argument for why you should be using an automated time tracker: because life\u2019s too short for being unproductive.<\/em><\/p>\n If you\u2019re even at all nerdy about how to improve your life skills, you\u2019ve read articles saying that time tracking is how super-busy entrepreneurs stay sane, balanced, and become successful. It\u2019s kind of a chicken-and-egg thing though, isn\u2019t it? Which came first, the personality of that really successful person you\u2019re aspiring to be, or their organizational skills? Have you found yourself reading about one of your business idols, and their morning routines, and thinking you will never have the discipline to be that<\/em> strict with your time management?<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve been following along with our articles recently, you\u2019ll have noticed a theme of time management skills. We started with goal setting<\/a> and deciding your motivation behind tracking your time, then structuring your day effectively<\/a>, and lastly how to turn these new skills into habits<\/a>. One of the pieces of advice in the last article is that removing friction is one of the best ways to keep your new habits rolling. Time tracking apps are an integral part in effective time management skills, so why are they a source of so much anguish? If you\u2019re not yet automating this part of the process, here\u2019s why you should be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Why Automated Time Tracking Apps Are the Ultimate Time Management Hack","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Think you've got good time management skills, but still using manual time trackers? It's time to make the chance, here's why.","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"https:\/\/timingapp.com\/blog\/automated-time-tracking-apps-time-management-hack\/","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"Why Automated Time Tracking Apps Are the Ultimate Time Management Hack","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"Think you've got good time management skills, but still using manual time trackers? It's time to make the chance, here's why.","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","related_articles":"","language":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2],"class_list":["post-11","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-imported"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/blog-images\/automated-time-tracking-apps\/1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWith Automated Time Tracking, You Won\u2019t Forget to Press Go<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"\/blog-images\/automated-time-tracking-apps\/2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDon\u2019t Lose \u201cWork Hours\u201d That Aren\u2019t at Your Mac<\/h2>\n
You\u2019ll Have More Accountability, For You and Your Clients<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"\/blog-images\/automated-time-tracking-apps\/3.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBy Tracking Tabs and Folders, Not Your Screen, You\u2019ll Feel More Secure<\/h2>\n
\n![\"\"](\"blog-images\/automated-time-tracking-apps\/0.jpg\")
<\/p>\n