Let’s be honest—at RescueTime, we can’t say enough good things about time tracking. That’s not because we just think it’s a great habit, but because we’ve seen its benefits play out for more than 2 million users.
At this point, you know that time tracking comes with a variety of advantages, but maybe you’ve hit a wall. Something is keeping you from committing to accurately tracking your time and enjoying the results that accompany the habit.
I’m here to remind you why time tracking is worth the effort and offer suggestions to mitigate 7 of the most common time tracking challenges people face. Let’s get cracking—I mean—tracking.
The importance of accurate time tracking
Keeping accurate track of your time is good for you as a person and good for you as a business owner. (The key word here is accurate. Best guesses are not enough.)
Here’s why you might want to keep track of your time throughout the workday:
Accountability
As a freelancer or entrepreneur, there’s a sense of freedom in being your own boss. That makes it easy to forget the fact that at the end of the day, you’re still accountable to yourself.
When you procrastinate on an important client project or waste time scrolling through social media, you have to answer to yourself. And that answer often comes in the form of late-night work sessions or lost income—possibly even a lost client if you’re really behind schedule.
Accurate time tracking forces you to notice those 80 minutes you lost to time wasters like Facebook or YouTube. It also puts the spotlight on the hours you spent working when your schedule dictated it should have been personal time.
Improved self-awareness
Time-tracking software doesn’t sugarcoat its data to make you feel better about how the day progressed. It’s always an honest picture of how you spend your time, allowing you a strictly factual overview of your time management and productivity. The raw, honest data available from time-tracking software provides more awareness about your work habits so you can see when it’s time for a change.
Better work/life balance
One survey found that 97% of small business owners often or always work on the weekend. And sure, sometimes there’s a need for that. I’m currently writing this from a local coffee shop on a Saturday because the holidays have disrupted my normal working hours. However, the same survey found that 4 out of 5 small business owners feel like they’re working too much, and the consequences include impatience, insomnia, forgetfulness, mood swings, and even angry outbursts.
Accurate data
When you’re working with clients on an hourly basis, you might be tempted to answer a quick email or make a few small tweaks to your work without logging those billable hours. Accurate time tracking accounts for all those little minutes that could add up to a few hundred dollars a month or help you see when work is creeping out of your original scope.
Data-driven decision-making
The data provided by accurate time tracking can help you make decisions about your schedule and your business. Here are just a few examples of what that might look like:
- You notice your productivity drops around 2 pm every day, so you dedicate that time to less thought-intensive tasks like answering emails and include time for a break at 2:30.
- You realize that while you accounted for a project to take 5 hours a week, you’re dedicating 7-8 hours a week to it. In the future, you’ll know to charge a higher rate for similar work.
- After working 4 Saturdays in a row, you start blocking out your Friday mornings for catch-up time, so the week’s work doesn’t spill into your weekend.
Common time tracking challenges AND possible solutions for each
In theory, time tracking is a great habit with many benefits. In reality, it’s one of those things that’s easier said than done. Here are some of the most common hurdles you might face:
Challenge 1: Inaccuracy
A lot of us are looking at the way we spend our time through rose-colored glasses. We overestimate how productive we’ve been and underestimate how much time we’ve wasted.
It’s also easy to forget to log your time or underestimate task durations. You can reach 5 PM and realize you never logged a single task, forcing you to guesstimate how long you spent on each one.
Inaccurate time tracking can ultimately result in poor project planning, trouble scaling your business, and missed opportunities to optimize certain tasks. Let’s say you think you spend 2 hours sending proposals each week, but realistically, it’s closer to 5. Without accurate time tracking you won’t realize how much the task—which could be outsourced or optimized—is spilling into other areas of your work.
Possible solutions:
- Use time-tracking software that logs your online hours for you.
- Set an alarm to record your activities in chunks throughout the day. Every 1-2 hours gives you enough time to complete focused work but not so long that you forget what you’ve been doing.
- Log your time whenever you transition from one task to another.
- End each week with a review of your time logs to audit entries for errors or missed activities.
- If you only want to track time for billing purposes, dedicate part of the day to client work, and focus on tracking those hours instead of all your activity for the day.
Challenge 2: Commitment
Unlike a corporate employee, freelancers and entrepreneurs have to self-motivate to maintain consistency. Being your own boss is empowering, but can also be a slippery slope. Managing your schedule makes it tempting to prioritize client work or tasks that might help grow your business over administrative tasks like time tracking.
Even if you’re starting 2025 with a hard commitment to accurately track your time, 94% of people abandon their New Year’s resolutions within two months. How are you going to maintain your commitment to see the long-term results of this habit?
Possible solutions:
- Recruit an accountability partner to check in and make sure you’re staying committed to time tracking.
- Go public with your choice to commit to time tracking and share what you learn throughout the process on LinkedIn.
- Set small milestones, like tracking for a full week, then build up to larger milestones, like staying consistent for the entire month. Celebrate each win with a small reward to keep the habit enjoyable.
Challenge 3: Complexity of tools
Overly complicated integrated tools can quickly deter your time tracking efforts. A lot of time tracking tools are designed for large teams or corporations. Navigating complex software gets overwhelming very quickly and can cost you valuable time you could be spending on actual work (See the irony?).
Possible solutions:
- Choose time tracking software tools with customizable features. When you first start out, you can stick to the basics before you move on to more complex features.
- Watch tutorials that walk you through how to use all of the tools available with your time tracking software so you can take advantage of the full range of features.
- Opt for time-tracking tools that offer mobile-friendly apps so you can track time on the go without adding complexity.
Challenge 4: Simplicity of tools
On the other end of the spectrum, some time-tracking tools are so simple that they don’t offer enough features for long-term use. (We’re looking at you, paper logs and spreadsheets.)
Sure, data in and of itself is great, but it’s even better when it has a little meat with it. Time-tracking tools that categorize your time or help you identify long-term trends are more helpful for discerning the changes you need to make.
It’s like trying to put together a bookshelf from IKEA without the instructions. All of the materials you need are there, but you’re not sure how to put them together for the most optimal results.
Possible solutions:
- If your paper and pencil time log isn’t cutting it anymore, consider upgrading to a time-tracking software that categorizes your activities for you.
- Break tasks into subcategories on your simple report so you still get a more useful overview of your time.
- If your time-tracking tool doesn’t feel advanced enough, try out any available additional features to consider if you might want to upgrade to a more advanced or feature-heavy version before you completely jump ship to a new tool.
Challenge 5: Privacy concerns
No one wants to feel like Big Brother is looking over their shoulder. Company-mandated time tracking tools make you conscious of every moment you spend thinking or brainstorming instead of actively working on your computer. Even with general software, you may worry about who can see your data.
Possible solutions:
How you approach privacy concerns has a lot to do with what level of concern you have.
- Opt for a time tracking software that has clear data and privacy policies.
- Choose a tool that allows you to customize when/what you track, so you can log your professional tasks but keep personal data separate.
- For those with a Ron Swanson-esque need for privacy, consider desktop-only trackers that don’t sync to the cloud.
Challenge 6: Lack of motivation
Without immediately visible results, it’s easy to deprioritize time tracking in favor of more urgent tasks (more irony).
Possible solutions:
- Commit to plans or events that force you to set a hard stop at a certain time. Being up against a clock may motivate you to better monitor and manage your time.
- Start moving deadlines closer so you’re less likely to procrastinate and you’re “forced” to use your time wisely.
- Gamify the process and reward yourself with a small treat every so often.
- Start by tracking work on a single project or client to ease yourself into the habit without feeling overwhelmed.
Challenge 7: Resistance
Of all the time tracking challenges, acknowledging this one can be the most difficult. Sometimes we just don’t want to try something new. It can be easy to see time tracking as unnecessary, especially if you think you already know how you spend your time.
Possible solutions:
Start by identifying the why behind your resistance. Does time tracking seem pointless? Do you feel like you won’t use the data? Does your budget not have wiggle room for time tracking software? Naming the reason you’re resistant to time tracking helps you address whatever core belief is preventing you from even trying it.
If you feel like you might want to consider time tracking, but something seems to be holding you back, consider that time tracking and improved time management often go hand-in-hand. Make a list of specific benefits you might experience from better time use, like:
- improving your efficiency so that your income sees a boost
- freeing your schedule for personal joys like reading/spending time with family/trying a new hobby
- limiting or eliminating work you do outside of standard work hours
- spending more time with family and friends
RescueTime: A tool to help you overcome your time-tracking challenges
RescueTime tracks your digital activity across multiple devices without manual input, giving you a clear picture of how you’re spending your time. Some of the most notable features include—
- Goal-setting tools to help you focus on key priorities.
- Detailed analytics and reports to help you identify patterns of productivity and distractions
- Focus Sessions to minimize interruptions during your work
For additional accountability, we offer live Guided Focus Sessions throughout the week. Work ‘side-by-side’ other remote workers in a virtual co-working space for up to 2 hours and watch how much you can get done.
Still on the fence about the need to track your time?
RescueTime is free for your first 14 days. Set a goal to consistently track your time for just two weeks and see what kind of differences you notice by the end. Better time management is one of the best gifts you can give yourself as we transition into a new year.
