Why journalists should try tracking their hours
How to take control of your time at work.
As a salaried employee, my time at work was a blur.
I had immediate, medium and long-term publishing deadlines. I had meetings to go to, lunch to eat (at my desk, of course). In between, there were emails, Slack messages and texts.
It’s no wonder that I often worked 10-hour days without thinking of them as 10 hours … I thought of it as how long it takes to finish the work I want to finish.
I didn’t have a sense of how much time it takes to edit a 1,500-word story, a one-hour podcast or to send 15 emails. If I did, I would’ve been able to budget my time better and not let my work hours bleed into my off hours.
That’s why I’m here to say: Track your hours!
As a media consultant who now bills hourly on multiple projects, I’ve had to learn to do this and it’s been fascinating.
It has helped me to focus better, understand how to budget my time better, and given me small wins every day.
Here’s how it works.
Free apps are enough
I use Toggl Track, a freemium timer you can access via an app and a website. The free version covers my needs.
I create projects in Toggl and every time I start work on that project – whether it’s to edit a story or attend a meeting – I turn on the timer for that project.
Here’s what I learned:
Sending 15 emails can take an hour and a half.
Setting intentions for your work helps you feel accomplished.
Not getting distracted from your work is hard.
For me, turning on the timer is like turning on a focus button. I don’t check my emails, Slacks or phone during that time. I know that I’m supposed to work on this project until I get to a certain stopping point. It’s like setting mini, accomplishable deadlines for yourself throughout the day.
Now, I want to be real. This isn’t an easy skill to adopt, especially when you’re juggling three stories that need to be edited, breaking news, hours of meetings and everyday emergencies.
But had I known that it would take 90 minutes to individually email 15 people when I was a full-timer, I would’ve blocked out time for that. Instead of procrastinating until it had to be done, which snowballs into adding work hours to my week.
How managers and reporters can track their time
I think managers and reporters could benefit from using a tool like Toggl. Here are some ideas:
Time yourself on one or two projects, not everything you have to do. This can help you achieve small goals, like sending emails, analyzing data, having one-on-one meetings.
Build the time into your regular workday. Say you want to spend 2 hours on one project today. Do it all at once or break it up into two one-hour sessions. Block off those times on your calendar, too. The point is, turn the timer on when you start, get those 2 hours in and when you hit it, put the project away. You can feel accomplished yet not overwhelmed because you’ve spent the rest of the day on other responsibilities. (Remember, the goal is to not overwork … so don’t tack on those 2 hours before or after your regular work day!)
Be patient. This is a new skill. It took me weeks to remember to even open the app when I started something.
As we continue to juggle remote and hybrid work, I think tracking your time also can help you avoid burnout (read other great tips in this piece by S. Mitra Kalita for Time).
What I love is that at the end of the week, I can see on Toggl how much time I’ve spent on each project. It helps me feel like I’ve made progress on a weekly basis. The work doesn’t feel like climbing a mountain with no end in sight. Instead, it’s about hitting multiple important peaks along the way.
In addition to Toggl, some other free time tracker apps include Clockify and Timecamp.
Do you have other work smarter ideas to share? Send them to me at kathy@audiencibility.com.
Kathy Lu has more than two decades of experience in journalism as a leader and manager. She founded her consulting business, Audiencibility, to continue her passion for helping people succeed. Find her on Twitter at @kathyluwho.