When You’re Forced to Work From Home: Improve your Productivity with Time Tracking
So, you’re stuck at home thanks to COVID-19, you have to work, but you just feel like binge-watching your favorite show all day! Sound familiar? Well, you’re not the only one. While productivity may not be a big deal to people who are used to working from home, it is often more challenging for folks who are perfectly adapted to the 9 to 5 office-work routine.
So, how exactly are you supposed to stay productive when your TV is just 6 feet away and your dog is constantly licking your face? Well, I’ve got just two words for you – Time Tracking. Here’s how time-tracking tools can help you and your team stay productive while working remotely. And as a bonus, I’ve also included the best tools to get you started.
Why Time Tracking is So Amazing
There are so many benefits that come from tracking time. Here are some of them.
- It Promotes Focus:
Have you observed that when you have a close deadline, you tend to be more focused and spend less time on distracting activities? Well, it’s not just you – it’s how our brain works. Being conscious of time helps to improve focus, which means you’ll be able to get stuff done faster and more efficiently. And this is where time-tracking tools help.
- It Promotes Efficient Utilization of Time:
If someone were to ask you how efficiently you use your time, what would your answer be? Well, the truth is, you’ll never know the correct answer unless you track your time.
When you track your time, you’d be amazed at how many valuable hours you spend each day on distracting activities like social media and chit-chats unrelated to your work. But the good news is that with this information, you can make necessary changes and boost your efficiency and productivity.
- It Keeps Everyone Accountable:
Okay, here’s the deal – if people have no sense of accountability, they’ll most likely be unproductive. And when you’re dealing with team members who aren’t used to working without supervision, this can be even worse.
So, if you’re managing a remote team, you need to make sure every single person on your team feels accountable to you. And what better way to do this than to track how your team members are spending their time during working hours? The best part is that many tools make this so easy.
- It Brings Satisfaction
Have you ever noticed how you feel so good every time you accomplish tasks ahead of schedule? Well, it’s a beautiful feeling that motivates you to exceed your limits the next time.
The cool part? Time tracking helps make this happen.
By allocating time and priority to each task, you’re able to work on the right tasks at the right time. And the sense of accomplishment that follows can make you high… in a good way.
Top Time-Tracking Tools That Will Boost Your Productivity
- Time Doctor:
If you’re really serious about productivity, then you should definitely try TimeDcotor. First off, it tracks time and provides a daily and weekly report on how much time you and your team members spend on activities – both important and unproductive ones.
But that’s not all – if you’re a team manager who struggles with payment processing, TimeDoctor can help. Apart from helping to generate time-logs, it automatically processes payments to employees based on the specified hourly rates. This, of course, makes your life easier.
The best part is that it comes with a 14-day free trial and a monthly subscription of $9.99 afterward. It is available on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.
- RescueTime
If you get easily distracted and you want to boost your productivity, then you might want to check out RescueTime. Not only does it help you track how you spend your time, it also blocks distracting websites – all while working in the background.
The best part is that it has a completely free (but limited) version for folks on a budget. It also has paid versions starting at $6 per month and it is supported by Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android.
Conclusion
In these uncertain times where everyone must stay home to stay alive, maintaining a productive team can be the difference between success and failure. The good news is that time-tracking can help you unlock more productivity than you ever thought possible. So, whatever you do, don’t fail to track time.
