{"id":25980,"date":"2023-07-03T16:00:47","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T14:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timingapp.com\/blog\/?p=25980"},"modified":"2023-10-25T12:48:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T10:48:48","slug":"project-time-tracking-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timingapp.com\/blog\/project-time-tracking-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"The Complete Guide to Project Time Tracking"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Image: <\/em>Louise Viallesoubranne<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

While there are many variable metrics that feed into project management<\/a>, there are always three primary pillars: quality, cost and time. In order to pull off a successful project, you need to complete high-quality work within an agreed budget and a set timeframe. Everything flows from there. Project time tracking is critical to how you manage the third pillar, and affects pillars one and two as well.<\/p>\n

When you start a project, you have to assess how much time you need to produce good work. And you need to consider how many of these hours are billable hours<\/a>, and how much profit you\u2019re likely to make. Keeping track of these hours as the project progresses is important, too. How much time have you used to date? Are you on track? And when you finally invoice, was your original estimation accurate?<\/p>\n

An automatic project time tracking tool (like Timing<\/a>) is the best way to predict, manage, and evaluate the time you spend on a particular project. Let\u2019s look at project time tracking in more detail, including why it\u2019s so important and how to implement it.<\/p>\n

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Table of Contents<\/h2>\n

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What is Project Time Tracking?<\/h2>\n

Project time tracking is the practice of recording the time it takes to complete a particular project. If you\u2019re managing a team<\/a>, it involves tracking the time that everyone is spending. This could include designers, web developers, copywriters, and even you as the project manager. If you\u2019re a freelancer, it\u2019s usually just your own time you need to monitor (unless you\u2019re subcontracting some of the work).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Project time tracking is the same as any form of time tracking, except that it specifically relates to a particular project. This means that, once the project has wrapped, and you\u2019ve submitted your time tracking reports and invoices, you\u2019ll no longer need to monitor time for that project. It\u2019s time to move onto the next project instead!<\/p>\n

\"\"Image: <\/em>Brands&People<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Why is It Important?<\/h2>\n

For a moment, let\u2019s imagine that you\u2019re not<\/em> monitoring your own time, or that of your team. How do you know how long a project is taking?\u00a0<\/p>\n

You could guess. But are you sure that you\u2019ve been as productive as you think you\u2019ve been? Did you get distracted at all? Get lost in time sinks<\/a> like social media, gaming, online shopping, or even checking your email?\u00a0<\/p>\n

And are you sure your team is being honest with their estimates? Especially when research suggests that the average worker is unproductive for almost two days of every workweek<\/a>. This isn\u2019t meant to imply that they’re being negligent or malicious in their guesswork. Simply that distracting tasks, including meetings and navigating internal workflows, can eat up valuable time. Sometimes it\u2019s hard to know exactly where the hours have gone.<\/p>\n

This can have a negative ripple effect. If you don\u2019t really know how much time you\u2019ve spent on a project, you\u2019ll likely quote for it incorrectly in future. You could estimate, for example, that a project takes less time than it actually does. This means that when you invoice, you\u2019ll be running at a loss, which could affect your business\u2019s financial viability down the line.<\/p>\n

The only way to truly know how much time you\u2019ve spent on a project is by tracking your time.<\/p>\n

The benefits of project time tracking<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s worth taking a moment to explore the benefits of time tracking in a bit more detail. If your project time tracking habits are thorough and accurate, you can expect:\u00a0<\/p>\n