Tracking your hours as a freelancer?

[GiveUsThisDayOurDailyPizza]

Are there any tips, tricks or physical devices to help me keep track of how long I spend on each project?

I tend to rotate between different tasks rather than sticking with one project at a time and then I just have to guess how long which piece of work took overall.

Toggl. Como you can use the free version to track time

Toggl,com

Call me old fashioned, but I had a notebook and pen to the side of my keyboard. When I started a task, I wrote down the time, and which project (sometimes the specific activity if it was relevant), and then wrote down the time I finished it.

Thanks, I’ll look at toggl but I suspect pen and paper would suit me well. Maybe I can colour code it too.

Pen and paper for years here. I've been looking at apps but not for me.

The crucial thing is to update your invoicing or time records at the end of each working day for all the projects you worked on during that day. Without a fail.

I use FreeAgent to invoices, and there is a tracking feature on there which links directly to your invoices if needed.

Toggl is good as well- literally press a button when you start and stop and then you can easily export your timesheet.

Thanks everyone. I love Toggl, much much more than I expected to. It’s such a great visual aid for time planning in general, really motivating and I like the email at the end of the week.

The only problem is forgetting to stop the timer! Also still on a free trial, hope it isn’t £absurd to subscribe.

I have never subscribed, there's a free version. Don't know if the free version has all the features you want though.

Thanks. Good to know the free version keeps going after the 30 day trial! I need very basic records of billable hours, that’s all.

it's hard! I tend to round up to the nearest 15 mins, I use a spreadsheet, but no doubt lose track of a lot.