UpYourTime blog

It's been a while since we updated you, guys. Don't worry, we haven't been lazy, we've just been working on bigger, more awesome things, one of them being the continuous improvement of the UpYourTime website and app.

That being said, we decided to restart the blog with a few lessons our users learned while using UpYourTime and are now eager to share with everyone else. And what better way to start this series than from the perspective of the one in charge, the manager? Meet Alexandru Dumitrescu, the manager of a small law firm in Bucharest. His 7 people firm have been using UpYourTime for more than two years now.

Tracking working time is good business practice.

As a manager, it didn't take long before I started tracking my time. I needed to know how much I actually spent on a certain activity and how could I optimize my working day by better organizing my tasks. During the years I have been using UpYourTime in my company, I learned a few things that I'm going to share with you.

The app follows you everywhere. Literally.

It does that through the aid of the mobile version, one of its most useful features. I can't always take my laptop with me during a meeting but I can take my smartphone. You might ask how is that even helpful. Well, I can turn the timer on at the beginning and off at the end and I'll know exactly for how long the meeting lasted and if that time was enough to clarify all the things that needed clearing.

“Hey there! Don't forget to fill the time-sheet!”

Sometimes it's hard to keep track of time. I discovered that when, at the end of one day I realized that I had not filled the Time Spreadsheet because I was too caught up in my work. Now, when I check my email, the first thing I see is the UpYourTime alert that reminds me to start the timer for my first task. And once I get started with one, I will surely not forget about the rest.

Long breaks, the key to… distraction.

Breaks need tracking too. I learned that as I ended a long conversation I had with one of my friends during a break. Of course, nothing we talked about was work-related and just after we said goodbye I realized that I had unwillingly extended my break with twenty minutes. That could have been easily avoided if I kept track of that time as well.

Always late employees? Understand why and help them perform better.

Another great thing about UpYourTime is the possibility of keeping track of your employees activity and actually seeing how much work has been put into certain tasks and activities. This way, you can make sure to assign more time and people to a certain task and have it done faster. You can also see which clients have been the most lucrative. The pie charts are easy to understand and friendly-looking – you don't have to be a geek to understand them.

Invoicing has never been easier.

I always need to have the hours in the invoices. And before UpYourTime, it was a pain to do even the simplest invoice. Now I just export the spreadsheet with the hours I want, edit it if needed and simply attach it to the invoice.

All in all, time tracking is something that should not miss from a busy entrepreneur's life, as it's one of the rare things that actually help improve their working days and help them manage their time more effectively. I know this first hand.

What have you learned from tracking your time? Has it improved your work or do you see it as another thing to worry about? Let us know in the comments!