How interior designers can track their time (and why it's important)
I wish someone had told me to start tracking my time when I had first started my interior design business.
Until you know how much time you spend on client work, the way you price your fees and services will just be a guess. The only way you are going to be able to start pricing your projects in a way that you know that you are making money is to know how much time you are spending completing them.
So the sooner you start tracking your time the better!
Plus tracking what you spend your time doing each day will help you learn how much time different sorts of tasks are taking you, which will improve your ability to plan your weeks and start to understand what takes what time inside your business.
In this post I want to share why you should be tracking your time, how to track and some software options you can use to do this.
Why you should track your time
Tracking your time is how you are going to improve your productivity, decrease your stress and make more money. Here’s why:
you will learn where your time is really being spent each week
you can start pricing your services accurately - this is probably the most beneficial aspect of time tracking. Most designers guess the way they price their services and have no idea whether or not their projects are making them money (e.g. are you spending more time on the project than you have charged the client for?). Once you start tracking your time you’ll likely be surprised at how long you are spending on different aspects of your design work and can start to create more accurate fee proposals for future projects.
you will learn how long different parts of your design workflow really take you - so instead of guessing that a design concept might take you (or your team) X hours you will know for sure. That will then help you plan your work and set fees that ensure you are profitable.
you will improve your productivity - knowing how much time particular tasks take you each week will help you plan your calendar more accurately
you will see if your time is being spent on high value activities - are you wasting time on low value tasks that aren’t generating revenue?
you will be more accountable - if you are honest with your tracking you will be able to see how much time you spend scrolling on the web during periods of procrastination!
you can use the information to start delegating and hiring - which tasks are taking you a lot of time but are not things you enjoy or are low value tasks (e.g. administrative work, running around to suppliers to pick up samples). Knowing how much time is spent on these tasks will help you get started with outsourcing some of these tasks. (Read this post for more tips on getting started with outsourcing - also has a free checklist you can use!).
you can use the information to set up systems and processes - after you’ve been tracking for a while you’ll start to see patterns in your work. A particular part of your workflow - e.g. creating a design concept - may typically take your X hours. What part of that workflow could be streamlined so that next time it takes you less time - for example via the use of templates or process documents. To get started with creating systems take a look at my business courses and templates for designers.
How to track your time
There’s a few options for time tracking. You could track every single thing you do each week (my suggestion as you get started with this) or you could just start to track your billable time working on interior design client projects. Both options are going to have enormous value to you and you’ll learn a lot about how you are spending your time.
I suggest you think about ‘buckets’ of tasks that you are already doing in your business and give each of these a bit of an outline before you start tracking. That way you can categorise your time using a system you have planned in advance.
Here’s some examples of buckets of tasks you may have:
Business Related (not billable):
Administration - e.g. emails, calls
Marketing - e.g. social media, lead generation, content creation
Sales - e.g. sales calls, design consultations
Finance - e.g. invoicing, book keeping, accounting
HR - e.g. hiring, meetings
Planning & Strategy
Product Development - creating new services or online/offline products to sell
Client/Project (Paid) Work:
Project Administration - e.g. emails, invoicing, calls
Project Management
onboarding and project set up
site visits, supplier visits and meetings
concept design
documentation
revisions
travel time
other project work
Personal
Personal Administration
Procrastination :) - e.g. web scrolling, reading the news
Give each one a code to make it easy for yourself. You could set up your tracking categories in a spreadsheet with name, code and a short description, or some tracking software will help you with this as well.
The above is just a suggestion - create your own categories that work for your business and your workflow.
Software options to track your time
Here are some apps and software that will help you track your time:
Harvest - this is the one I’ve always used and it also integrates with lots of other software, making it easy to integrate with project management software (e.g. Asana) or put together invoices (e.g. via Xero). You can also create teams inside Harvest and they can track time spent on project work as well. There’s lots of other features as well - like being able to plan in the time your project should be taking in order to stay profitable (so you can visually see when you are starting to lose money) - so take a look if you want a comprehensive option.
Toggl Track - I haven’t used this but it’s free to get started so could be a good one for those on low budgets
A good old spreadsheet! - don’t let a lack of apps or technology stop you from starting to track your time. If you can’t find an option to suit you right now then just get started by tracking using a spreadsheet. Have a tab/page for each project and track the time you spend using your iPhone or another timer. This is an easy way to just get started with tracking and get an approximate idea of how long you’re spending on tasks.
The best app is one that you’ll actually use!
It will take time to build the habit of time tracking and sometimes you will forget to turn the timer on before you start your work. It can also seem like a boring administrative step to add in to your day when you’re already busy and overworked. But the more you use it, the more you’ll get used to having the tracker in your workflow.
So get started with tracking right now and start to see where your time is really being spent. Use the information to improve your workflow, delegate tasks to others and see if you are actually making any money with your design projects.
Business Short Courses for Designers and Architects
DO YOU WANT TO….
Improve your professionalism?
Find more clients?
Bring in more revenue?
Create better systems and processes?
Then check out my business courses and templates for designers and architects.
These courses and templates leave you with work done - not just a long list of things you need to do next. We have a really strong focus on taking action and getting things created that improve your business.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy