The answer always depends on the person you’re asking. Still, the common denominator will always be the quality of work — a tireless effort to achieve your goals with the utmost level of quality will always appeal to paying customers.

We’ve had the pleasure to chat with Oliver Sissons, one of the representatives behind Reboot Online, an SEO company whose prominence was built on working hard and delivering results. Reboot’s employees are also proud users of Clockify, so we decided to combine the best of both worlds and share a unique story about success and time management.

We’ve touched upon many topics, and the ones that will probably interest you the most are the following:

• What is Reboot Online, and what’s the secret behind their success?
• How does one master the art of time management and scheduling?
• How does Clockify help Reboot Online manage their hectic schedules?

Let’s dive in and hear more about it from Oliver, the expert in the field of SEO.

Reboot Online: The idea and the mission behind the company

In order to understand the entire story behind the success of the SEO company Reboot Online, we’ll have to rewind and go back to the roots.

That’s why we called Oliver Sissons, their head and director of SEO, to help fill in the blanks.

Reboot Online’s beginnings: Practices and methods

Reboot Online is a digital SEO agency that specializes in combining traditional PR techniques with modern-day SEO practices to boost companies in terms of:

• Brand awareness,
• Visibility,
• Google rankings, and
• Social media presence.

They’ve been around the block for more than a decade. First, Reboot Online started with a lot of technical SEO work. Then, along the way, they implemented digital PR, content, and social media into their repertoire.

However, despite their all-round path, the people behind Reboot Online built their in-depth knowledge upon a strong technical foundation of SEO — which is often referred to as “detective work”:

“We did a lot of Google penalty recovery — we would help clients that have been hit with a penalty and dropped out of the rankings — recover. During our audits, we would often see that crashes were caused by building bad links to the backlinks that led back to customer’s websites.”

Thus, the opportunity presented itself — offer link-building services in the package and help companies before the problem occurs. So, the business started growing, and before you knew it, their package combined multiple services:

“A big part of evolving was getting featured in mainstream press, newspapers, and trade organizations. Therefore, we started doing digital PR and then more recently we’ve actually started doing paid media and traditional PR, as well as to broaden the service we offer to clients in need.”

Reboot Online’s evolution: Navigating the path to SEO excellence

Success does not happen from simply doing the work. To succeed, you’ll need to do your work correctly. This premise may sound simple, but not every SEO agency strives towards perfection in their work.

On the other hand, Reboot Online prides itself on continuously evolving and finding ways to improve upon their work. They’ve managed to diversify their business operations by implementing different strategies and hiring experts from many different fields — from marketing experts to law practitioners in order to cater to their clients.

When it comes to the work itself, Oliver further notes that in order to be successful in SEO, you have to learn to delegate and adopt a data-driven mindset:

“I think the key to success in this field is having someone at the helm who’s organized enough to delegate properly and stay on top of deadlines — keep track of where time is going, how people are interacting with the clients and if they’re touching base enough and kind of discussing things with clients as they need to be.”

Since SEO generally boils down to crunching numbers and diving into complex analysis, it’s only natural that Oliver believes numbers can also tell a larger story of success:

“We’ve got an in-house data team that likes to find unique data sets for our clients, but also internally. They help explore how productive we are and recommend ways to improve our day-to-day operations.”

How does one master the art of time management and scheduling?

Since we were already on the topic of productivity and deadlines, we naturally wondered if there’s a secret to mastering time management in the field of SEO. After all, Reboot always seems to find a way to combine the creative and the objective while keeping everything up to standard.

Oliver believes that the answer probably lies in effective time allocation and proper dedication to their clients:

“As we started growing, we found that you couldn’t keep quite as close attention to how everyone (in the company) was spending their time. We started exploring ways that we could improve upon that. We’ve had some data-oriented people in the mix that came up with loads of ideas on how we can improve things and continue to make things more efficient.”

Aside from internal issues, Oliver also noted that proper time management skills were necessary in working with clients as well:

“You have to account for how much time you can offer each client and you need to make sure you’re delivering on your promise, but you also need to be careful that it doesn’t go too far and you’re spending too much time on any given client.”

Long story short — the journey eventually led to testing out time tracking software for boosting productivity.

Discovery of Clockify: Taking productivity to the next level

As previously mentioned, Oliver and his colleagues struggled to keep track of everything and everyone, especially when working on large accounts. The need to manage their time and tasks was evident, and they resorted to manual time tracking:

“In the early days we got by okay, because there weren’t so many of us. You could chat with everyone and stay connected. Once we grew, we experimented with manual time sheets and Excel files, but it did not pan out. That’s when we decided to make the switch to Clockify.”

So, their journey began and they quickly started noticing changes in their daily routines.

Clockify features that Reboot team enjoys the most

The selling point was Clockify’s intuitiveness, as Oliver puts it. There was no need to educate anyone on Clockify’s functionality and features — everything was simple, properly displayed, and ready to be used:

“You have a decent sized team and not everyone’s going to be willing to learn how to do some more advanced software stuff. So, having a tool that people can just jump into and get going with was important and that was the case with Clockify.”

Let’s see what Clockify features Oliver and his team use the most. 

Feature #1: Summary reports

Oliver noted that the numbers Clockify provided through Summary reports proved beneficial for their work with their clients. Having the ability to export data and showcase the results to their team and their clients was crucial to securing great client deals:

“I would say it’s helped us grow client accounts, as well. We are able to demonstrate the amount of time we’re spending to provide our services.”

Moreover, Oliver pointed out that Clockify’s Summary reports go a long way in showcasing the need for additional manpower when working on projects:

“You can showcase, for example, why we need more hours to obviously pour more energy and more resources into the client campaign. Therefore, in terms of business development, it’s been helpful, which was unexpected since we thought Clockify will only be useful for internal use.”

Feature #2: Pomodoro timer

Oliver also noted that using the Pomodoro timer — a time management technique based on stretches of focused work, which are then broken down by five-minute breaks — proved a great antidote to burnout. 

In fact, he quickly realized that making small breaks in the day, especially in crunch time, helped get the job done without additional stress.

“A lot of people have talked about how useful it’s been to be able to set smaller increments of time to get some tasks completed, but then actually take a step back and have a little break as well throughout the day.”

Feature #3: Integrations

Furthermore, he states that Clockify integrations with Chrome and Trello were a great bonus, as they were using both software at the time.

“The fact that we could integrate directly with the project management tools was super useful and convenient as well since it meant that we weren’t doubling up on pulling data between one tool into the other.”

How Clockify helped Reboot Online battle burnout

While talking about time management, Oliver touched upon the topic of career burnout and how common it is in the field. 

“Burnout is a real thing — If you’re spending too much time working on client accounts, it can lead to stress and overwork — you’re tired, you’re not as creative, which is a big issue if you’re a creative agency.”

However, using a time tracker helped Reboot Online employees establish a healthier work-life balance and eventually notice their levels of stress decreasing:

“So, I’ve found that by balancing how much time we’re spending on a given client, we can provide some guidelines to our team on how long they should spend on any given client. They don’t have that issue as much anymore. So the quality of life of the employees at Reboot has gone up quite dramatically.”

Who would Reboot Online recommend Clockify to and why?

As we wrapped up the interview, Oliver shared some thoughts regarding Clockify in general — he finds Clockify especially useful to SEO agencies:

“I would certainly recommend Clockify to, first and foremost, SEO agencies. Any agency team that is looking to provide more detailed reports to their clients and to ensure that they are working profitably, and improve productivity will benefit from using Clockify.”

However, even though SEO is his field, he pointed out that Clockify’s value extends far beyond any SEO agency’s work:

“Really though, anyone who is struggling to manage workloads or who is looking to increase their output and efficiency should look into Clockify. We are a team of more than 75 now, and we’ve seen Clockify have a positive impact on people in every department, from our web development and data teams, to our graphic design and HR ones.”

Final overview: Clockify helped bring people from different teams together

Finally, Oliver had additional words of praise for Clockify — since the tool has helped with scheduling and connecting people from different teams. 

Namely, some clients’ accounts require different experts and teams to work together in unison, which is essential in order to get the job done. 

“All these different teams that were spending time on an account, they wouldn’t always coordinate and know how much time had been spent on certain tasks. They couldn’t essentially account for the work they’ve done in their billing, which was a huge issue.”

In addition, team coordination was often lacking due to bad communication and not knowing how much time was spent on a certain task, that is until they started using Clockify:

“So, with a tool like Clockify, you can actually see between the teams, what other people are spending their time on and we could report back on how much the data team, for example, has spent on a client in a given month. Then, we could channel that to the content team, you know, tune up or dial down the amount of time spent on that side if needed.”

Conclusion: Time tracking has benefits beyond capturing the time

Oliver touched upon many topics in his interview with us, but the one point that captures the entire experience is the following — time tracking goes a long way in ensuring success.

The simple act of time tracking does not amount to much if it’s viewed from a data standpoint or as a simple timer. If we take Reboot Online as an example, the value of time tracking for them lies in how the collected data is used and analyzed — only then can one feel the true value of time tracking.

Do you want to share your time tracking story with us? Tell us how Clockify impacts your day-to-day at blogfeedback@clockify.me, and we might include it in future blog posts. Also, share this article with someone that might find it useful.

9:10 a.m., Monday — the work is piling up, the tasks are never-ending, and all you want is a break.

Maybe some people are just built differently and capable of enduring the everyday work struggles, but not us. We use humor to cope with days riddled with stress and piles of paperwork.

So, what’s the best way to combine stress and humor? Memes!

We’ve created some of the best teamwork memes for all of you who are currently procrastinating at 16:30 p.m. instead of wrapping up the day.

Stay tuned and browse through the following categories:

• Teamwork memes,
• Team building memes,
• Office life memes,
• Welcome to the team memes, and
• Deadline memes.

Let’s dive into the world of humor.

Best memes about teamwork

“Teamwork makes the dream work” was the name of that one book whose author claims you’ll fulfill your dreams only by working in teams. Well, we all know that’s not always the case, but we can still dream, right?

Jokes aside, teamwork has its pros and cons, and you’ll surely recognize some in the following memes. Disclaimer — we use memes to harbor positive team connectivity, not negative.

Also, an important tip — studies have found quantifiable positive physiological benefits in laughter. Incorporating laughter into your everyday routine is no easy task, but hopefully, these memes can provide a relief.

Team building memes

Simply put, team building is a double-edged sword — you’ll either have a great time attending it, or you’ll find it challenging at the least.

However, we can all agree that they are a great method to promote and foster teamwork and let loose in the process. Here are some memes to materialize the overall experience all of us have felt at some point during team building.

Office life memes

Going into the office on a daily basis is a rather unique experience. It’s a special place where deadlines, coffee breaks, and the occasional chaos come to combine.

Still, whether you like the office life or not, that is where you’ll spend most of your time with your colleagues and you’re bound to get caught up in the occasional and humorous mess. Here are some memes to take the edge off.

“Welcome to the team” memes

Starting a new job can be stressful, especially if it’s your first one and you’re just entering the world of adults. In most cases, your colleagues will welcome you with open arms, but you should still be prepared for what’s about to come. Maybe the following memes can paint a clearer picture.

Deadline memes

The art of last-minute creativity — deadlines. We’ve all struggled with meeting them and wrapping things up at the last minute, but we’ve never stopped for a minute to laugh about them.

Well, here are some memes that capture the essence of looming deadlines.

Teamwork fail memes

Finally, the last segment is dedicated to situations when collaboration takes a humorous turn. From struggling to meet deadlines to forgetting to attend meetings — let’s take a quick look at some of the memes that encapsulate all the funny moments when teamwork fails.

Conclusion: Laughter is the best medicine

Choose your fighter:

• Sit in a corner and contemplate the stressful workweek behind you, or
• Laugh your way through it.

On a serious note, finding ways to cope and deal with stress on an everyday basis is of crucial importance for your mental health, especially if your job description is demanding.

So, when you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders, take a 5-minute breather and browse through some memes — it’ll do wonders.

Why laugh alone when you can share the experience with a friend or a coworker? Feel free to share this blog with someone you talk to on a daily basis. Also, if you have a suggestion for a meme we can use in future posts, make sure to message us at blogfeedback@clockify.me

Still, there are many factors that determine why someone is late or a no-show, especially in the work environment. Illnesses, commute, or personal issues are some of the leading factors of tardiness that we all go through from time to time.

Nowadays, many employers are quite tolerant to a certain point, but where do they draw the line? Well, the answer lies in employee attendance policies.

In the following paragraphs, we will:

• Go over the main points of all employee attendance policies, 
• Offer free policy templates,
• Provide examples of how to fill them out,
• Give you tips from professionals regarding attendance policies, and
• Answer some of the most frequent questions about employee attendance policies.

What is an attendance policy?

In case you haven’t heard of an attendance policy before or your company simply does not use one, here’s a simple breakdown.

An attendance policy represents a document or a set of documents that establish clear guidelines on employee attendance for a specific business. Such documents ensure all employees are aware of rules and guidelines regarding matters such as:

• Shifts, 
• Lunch breaks,
• Tardiness, 
• Procedures (PTO, leaves, etc.), and 
• Any disciplinary actions arising from disobeying the rules.

Not all policies are the same, and it’s up to the employer to customize them to their needs.

In line with that, the number of conditions and the exact information provided in such policies is up to the employer.

What is a good attendance policy?

A universally “good” attendance policy can not truly be crafted since there is no one-size-fits-all foundation upon which rules can be defined. 

In simple terms, businesses differ and so do their requirements. Therefore, a good attendance policy is the one that suits a business the best.

Here’s a breakdown of everything your attendance policy should help you with if you want to craft the best possible one for your business.

A great attendance policy helps balance your needs and employees’ 

A 9-5 shift has been a standard in the business sphere for some time now, and many can not imagine working other shifts and restructuring their schedules.

However, based on the type of business and the work each employee performs, changes can disrupt a natural work-life balance.

For example, working night shifts affects the employee’s personal family time and disrupts their sleep schedule. Therefore, a good policy could include a clause stating that every employee should work no more than X night shifts a month/week in order to satisfy everyone’s needs.

A great attendance policy helps you track work hours

Outdated systems for tracking work hours have always had flaws in their way of operating — attendance sheets would get lost or someone would forget to clock in/out.

Nowadays, everyone uses a time tracker and there’s no need to employ additional manpower to oversee attendance. Therefore, setting a policy for using a time tracker would prove beneficial for both employees and the business since it would minimize errors and allow everyone to focus on their work assignments.

Time tracking systems such as Clockify automate the process to the point where clocking in/out is done with a simple login and two clicks — starting your shift and calling it a day.

A great attendance policy clarifies guidelines that support employees’ rights

Setting clear guidelines will help everyone follow the rules and not mess up in the process. However, it’s important to know where to draw the line. In other words, make your policy points reasonable.

For example, if the work hours span in the range from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., give your employees reasonable time to take lunch breaks at appropriate times, for example — 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Also, if physical presence is necessary, a flexible work schedule for your employees would most surely benefit everyone since it would give them enough time to get to work without sacrificing too much of their personal time before or after shifts.

What to include in an attendance policy?

Now that you’ve gotten acquainted with the general notion of attendance policies and their purpose, we’ll list and explain some general sets of policies and points that every business should include in their customized attendance policy.

General policies

As mentioned earlier, there are some general policies that almost every business includes in their set of attendance policies, and so should you.

Such policies usually refer to:

• Working hours (daily and weekly), and
• Arrival/departure from work (office or remote).

Some businesses include a general policy for requesting time off, or have a specific policy that goes in-depth regarding the conditions and the way of using accrued time off.

Tardiness

Almost every business clearly states specific guidelines for tardiness in their attendance sheets. 

In general, tardiness is defined as being late to work, no matter the exact minutes or seconds. Still, it’s only natural that people are late due to a number of factors, which is why companies often offer a grace period — a 15-20 minute window is usually allowed.

Again, the grace period depends on the type of work your employees perform. If the task at question is time delicate, tardiness might not be tolerated. This is why most employers set guidelines that clearly state:

• The grace period,
• Time frame to notify your supervisor, and
• Disciplinary actions for tardiness.

Paid Time Off (PTO) and excused absences

Employees should have a right to PTO (paid or unpaid depending on where they live) and the number of days used usually depends on the agreement they made with the employer, but you’ll likely find that there is a state/country minimum for the number of days you can use.

However, there are certain regulations that have to be followed in order to ensure that the business will run smoothly while you’re on vacation. 

Furthermore, such policy provisions should include that employees have to:

• Notify their supervisor in advance, and
• Make sure that most of their coworkers haven’t planned their vacations in the same timeframe.

Furthermore, every employer has to take into account unforeseen circumstances, such as:

• Illnesses,
• Childbirth,
• Accidents, and
• Various emergency situations.

In such cases, the policy will most definitely state that you have to notify your superior in the shortest time frame and provide the necessary information and documentation to confirm the reason for absenteeism.

Unexcused absences

Naturally, the employer has to protect themselves in cases of unexcused tardiness or absenteeism. 

We can differentiate between two types of unexcused absences: 

• No call no show cases, and 
• Job abandonment.

No call no show

No call no show practically speaks for itself — an employee fails to appear at the place of employment or clock in if the work is performed remotely without any prior notification. The employer is to set a policy in such cases — whether no call no show can be tolerated, how many times it can happen, and the criteria for determining whether the transgression is a case of no call no show.

In some cases of emergency, it is possible that the employee wasn’t able to notify their supervisor and, therefore, could suffer disciplinary actions even though the issue in question could have excused him. Therefore, it’s important to clearly define the parameters of what no call no show is and list out the potential cases that could fall under this category.

Job abandonment

A more severe transgression is job abandonment — failure to appear at the place of employment or clock in remotely for several days without any prior notification. Again, it is up to the employer to define how many absent days are considered job abandonment.

Disciplinary actions

In case of violating and not properly adhering to any of the policies above, the employer is free to exercise any disciplinary actions that fit the criteria. The severity of the transgression will usually determine the type of disciplinary action, such as:

• First-offender warning from the direct supervisor,
• Written warning from the manager,
• Last warning — meeting with the HR department, and
• Termination.

However, all disciplinary actions have to be clearly stated in the attendance policy in order for them to be valid.

Exceptions

It is up to the employer and the legal team to come up with proper exceptions to disciplinary actions in accordance with the law. In many cases, an employee could be absent from work and be exempted due to legal or state requirements, such as:

• Jury duty,
• Military duty,
• Family and Medical Leave Act — FMLA leave,
• Voting leave, 
• Emergency response leave, etc.

Employee attendance policy template

The following is a sample employee attendance policy that you can download and use to craft your own guidelines.

To download the copy of the Employee Attendance Policy (FREE TEMPLATE), click on the link leading to this format, and you’ll see a new tab popping up with the following question:

Would you like to make a copy of Employee Attendance Policy Template?

Click on the Make a copy button, and this will let you copy and edit the template. Once the copy is saved to your Drive, you’ll be able to edit and customize it to your needs.

Employee Attendance Policy (FREE TEMPLATE)

How to fill out the attendance policy template?

Next up, we’ll fill out the template to give you a better idea of how the final product should look like. Bear in mind that the information in the example is fictitious and does not reflect real company attendance policies.

An example of Employee Attendance Policy (Template) introductory part

An introductory part to an attendance policy is important to set the tone of the document and make sure your employees know what to expect. Here’s an example you can use:

Compromising and finding a middle ground at WHMOF is the key to ensuring absolute professionalism and reaching our goals. Therefore, the following policies represent our expectations from each and every employee. It is important to note that by agreeing and signing this document, you adhere to all of the stipulations provided and are obliged to comply in order to avoid disciplinary actions.

An example of working hours policy

Here’s an example of the working hours policy that you can use for your business:

An example of tardiness policy

Tardiness policy is the most crucial segment to include in your employee attendance policy. Here’s how you can craft your own:

An example of Paid Time Off (PTO) and excused absences policy

If your company offers PTO, here’s an example of a policy you can use for your business:

An example of unexcused absences policy

The following is an example of a policy that you can set for unexcused absences:

An example of disciplinary actions policy

Naturally, not following the guidelines will result in disciplinary actions. Here are some of the sanctions that your business can use or customize:

An example of exceptions

Exceptions to the rules are quite common in any legal documents. Some of the most common exceptions in the US are listed below:

I hereby accept the terms and conditions of the Employee Attendance Policies and confirm that I have read and understood the disciplinary actions that could ensue in case of failing to comply with the said Policies.

How do you improve an attendance policy?

The template and the examples we provided are by no means a definitive answer to a perfect attendance policy, but they should be able to give you a general idea on how to craft your own.

Then again, the policies themselves always rely on the needs of the business, which is why there will never be a universal attendance policy. 

However, there are a couple of things to look out for when crafting your own document.

Tip #1: Always be specific

Make sure there is no wiggle room that the employees can take advantage of. For example, if the policy states that tardiness will always be tolerated for up to 15 minutes, employees will take notice and will always start their shift at 9:15 a.m (if their shift starts at 9 a.m.). 

Therefore, state the number of times an employee can be tardy in a week/month’s period. 

Tip #2: Be just and fair

No one wants to tolerate harsh working conditions. Still, it’s understandable if you have strict policies that are closely connected to the business’ prosperity. Therefore, make compromises and make sure everyone’s content.

For example, if it’s crucial that all employees are at the site no later than 9 a.m. and no tardiness is allowed, compensate by giving them a long lunch break or extra vacation days.

Tip #3: Make sure everyone understands the policies

It’s not ludicrous to claim that most of us, including employees and employers, skip reading documents and simply sign them. Also, the legal jargon might be tough for some and require additional explaining.

Therefore, make sure that you or your HR department goes over the employee attendance policy points with all employees so that everyone can be on board and focus on their tasks.

Tip #4: Reward compliance

There will surely be employees that have followed every policy, guidelines, and rule in the book. Therefore, it would be unfair not to reward them for their hard work and dedication.

Also, the rewards reaped from a perfect attendance record could serve as a motivation for other employees and help improve their productivity as well.

Frequently Asked Questions about employee attendance policies

If some of the previously mentioned terms were a tad confusing, the FAQ section should clear everything up.

What is a standard attendance policy?

In simple terms, a standard attendance policy represents a set of documents that regulate employee conduct when it comes to attendance. The policy, as the one detailed above, usually includes details regarding: 

• Work shifts, 
• Tardiness, 
• PTO, and 
• Other attendance-related matters.

What is a reasonable attendance policy?

A reasonable attendance policy is the one that suits both the employees and the employer. In other words, employees have enough leeway to balance out their personal and professional lives, while employers get to see perfect attendance and results.

What is a rolling 6-month attendance policy?

A rolling 6-month period is usually defined as the period from the previous 6 months that are used as a basis to calculate a certain occurrence — in this case, attendance.

Generally, companies and businesses that operate on such a basis also use an attendance point system to reward good attendance and “punish” tardiness. After 6 months, however, all attendance points and data is erased and employees can start fresh.

What is a no-fault attendance policy?

A no-fault attendance system is something we’re all familiar with from early school days. A point system assigns points for tardiness and absenteeism, and if you collect enough of them, disciplinary action ensues.

What is an attendance record?

An attendance record is used to collect and save each employee’s attendance info to compile a complete picture of the said employee’s performance. 

Such documents usually include:

• Clock in/out records,
• Total hours worked in a month/year,
• Breaks taken in a month/year,
• Sick days taken in a month/year, and
• Leave used in a month/year.

Conclusion: Good attendance policies help achieve professional goals

As the title suggests, improving your overall attendance system and updating your policies will go a long way. 

Not only would it affect efficiency and ensure that all employees would be there for the entire duration of their shifts, but it would also boost productivity by rewarding perfect attendance.

Overall, preciseness and clear-cut guidelines will help everyone get on the same page.

Does your company use attendance policies? Let us know at blogfeedback@clockify.me and we might include your thoughts in this one or one of our future articles. Also, share this post with someone that needs a time tracker to improve their employees’ attendance system.

Young and smart people get to test and experiment with different job positions until they find their niche, which is something that Sam Charles, the head of Float Digital marketing agency, knows much about. 

From humble beginnings to honing her skills, Sam managed to do it all, including starting a family and juggling all of her responsibilities along the way.

The road to her success was a tricky one, but Sam was kind enough to share her story with us, including the tales of:

• Her early beginnings,
• Finding her niche,
• Balancing her everyday responsibilities,
• Perfecting her time management skills, and
• Using Clockify.

Without further ado, let’s see what she had to say.

Sam Charles’ career: Working hard and taking risks

You don’t get to the point of being in charge of the Best Digital Marketing Agency,  according to the UK Enterprise Awards, unless you’re bold enough to take risks and determined to make it on your own.

That’s how our interviewee Sam Charles had to go through a series of challenges before getting to that sweet spot in life.

Sam’s beginnings: Finding her true calling in life

Sam attended Falmouth University, where she excelled at Creative Advertising. However, Sam truly discovered herself when she went abroad and attended her second year of college at Griffith University in Australia.

Once she finished the year abroad and came back to the UK to continue studying, Sam felt reborn and determined to start a business of her own:

“I came back to the UK with a golden tan, but more importantly, a passion to start something for myself. I set up a website which became a playground to grow my SEO knowledge and exercise my analytical expertise.”

So, the situation was as follows — Sam honed her SEO skills via her website, she continued to study advertising, and her main source of income came from working as a project coordinator and PR.

The logical question was — how did she manage to do it all?

Well, everything came with a price since, as Sam pointed out, burnout is a real thing with real consequences:

“After experiencing burnout and a desire for change, I had a moment of madness, coupled with some entrepreneurial spirit. I knew that my true passion lay in educating people and helping them get the most out of their digital marketing efforts.”

With a new-found rush of inspiration and motivation necessary to start something new and exciting, Sam got to work. However, at the time, the industry did not offer any personalized approaches when it came to conducting digital marketing business, which ultimately led to the creation of her own agency — Float Digital:

“Having worked in large agencies, I was frustrated with the limitations of my role. I wanted to do things differently and offer a more personalized approach to digital marketing by offering informative and flexible packages.”

Float Digital: The work and success

Sam opted out to build an SEO and Google Ads agency that helps businesses thrive and grow by utilizing data-driven strategies. Float Digital provides services that are designed to help businesses achieve their digital marketing goals, such as:

• Search Engine Optimization,
• Onpage SEO,
• Link building, 
• Content marketing, and 
• Other SEO-related services.

In addition to this, Sam strives to remain individual, authentic, and focused solely on the welfare of the client they’re working with at the moment:

“This is one of the many reasons we remain a small agency, with only four of us steering the helm and support from our partners. We carefully select our clients and don’t take on every campaign that comes through, enabling us to maintain our integrity and deliver high-quality campaigns.”

Continuous development: SEO practices and staying up to date

When it comes to perfecting a craft and keeping up to date with modern practices, one must wonder what it takes and how it is done.

Luckily, we had Sam to answer that question for us. Namely, following the right people and staying informed is crucial if you want to up your game:

“One way we do this is by subscribing to industry newsletters and publications, which provide regular updates and insights. 

We also follow reputable SEO blogs and thought leaders on social media to stay informed about new developments. Furthermore, we attend SEO conferences, seminars, and webinars to learn from experts and network with other professionals in the field.”

Finally, Sam notes that it is crucial to constantly review Google’s guidelines and their policies to stay up to date, as well as to collaborate with SEO professionals and experts on industry-related topics.

How Clockify helps Sam manage her hectic schedule

Aside from running Float Digital and attending all sorts of industry-related events, Sam also finds time to be a mom. The conclusion? It seems impossible to fit all of it into a regular workweek.

Naturally, we asked Sam to share the secrets of the trade regarding her time-planning skills. As she claims, the key to squeezing everything is becoming a serial planner:

“Everything in my brain is put into my project management tool then scheduled into my calendar. I often set timers so that I have a start and a finish time for a project, which really helps me to stop procrastinating — as well as really seeing how much time I’m spending on individual projects. Habit stacking is also really helpful for finding a rhythm.”

Seeing as how the problems she faced, such as time management and procrastination, are not easy to overcome, using Clockify came quite handy for Sam. Let’s see how Clockify helped her keep up with work.

Clockify helps eliminate time wasting 

Similar to most of our users, Sam wasn’t familiar with Clockify before, yet she found it due to necessity. 

The way Sam operates is by setting a time constraint for herself during which she is to complete a task in an efficient manner. But using standard stopwatches and timers to track her time proved ineffective.

That’s why she started asking around and ran into Clockify — Sam’s solution to time wasting:

“One of the strategies that has helped me maintain focus and avoid wasting time is setting a time limit for each project before beginning my work. 

By setting a timer, I have a clear guide of how much time I should spend on each task, allowing me to stay on track and avoid procrastination. I am also able to prioritize my tasks and focus on the most important ones first.”

Furthermore, she notes that this modus operandi helps her maintain a better work-life balance that she did not experience before:

“Another significant advantage of this approach is that it helps me achieve a better work-life balance. With a clear timeline for my projects, I can complete my work within the set hours and not feel guilty about taking time off to spend with my family. This way, I can be completely present with them and not have work-related stress or worries on my mind.”

Clockify helps with managing daily tasks and activities

Before trying out Clockify, Sam tried many time management techniques, such as to-do lists, prioritization techniques, and scheduling, but none seemed to work flawlessly.

It wasn’t until she tried Clockify that everything seemed to piece together in terms of managing her daily tasks and activities:

“Clockify has allowed me to track my time more accurately, which helps me plan my workday more effectively. By setting specific time expectations for each task and monitoring my progress in real-time, I am better able to stay focused and avoid procrastination.”

Clockify prevents procrastination

Sam also shared a few words regarding procrastination in her line of work and the way it affects her. Namely, due to unrealistic expectations, Sam used to overestimate or underestimate a task at hand, which naturally led to procrastination.

Well, all that changed once she figured out the true capabilities of time tracking:

“Before I started using time tracking, I would often overestimate how much time I had to complete a task, which made me feel like I could put it off until later. But with time tracking, I can see exactly how much time I have left to complete a task, which keeps me motivated to stay on track and get it done.”

Moreover, she shared additional info on the relationship between procrastination and unrealistic goals:

“Another way that time tracking helps prevent procrastination is by making me aware of how much time I’m actually spending on tasks. 

If I see that I’m spending more time than I expected on a particular task, it helps me identify areas where I can improve my productivity or make better use of my time in the future. This awareness also helps me avoid procrastinating on tasks that I know will take longer than I anticipated.”

Clockify improves planning and resource allocation

Sam also had a few words to share regarding how Clockify helps her analyze her social media strategies and prepare for upcoming projects:

“By analyzing the time spent on our social media strategy, I can determine how many clients are reaching out to us through these channels and how many are converting. This helps me understand the return on investment of each marketing channel and allocate resources more effectively.“

Sam’s favorite Clockify features

Using Clockify’s Dashboard and Reports has been a lifesaver for Sam since they allow her to have detailed analysis of her overall tracked time. But, there’s an additional reason she favors using them, such as identifying wasted time:

“The data also helps me to identify areas where time is getting wasted or tasks that are not as profitable as others. This information helps me to refine our operational strategy and prioritize tasks that have a higher impact on our bottom line.”

If you are like Sam and believe that deep analysis can help you improve your business, make sure to check out the Summary Reports feature. It lets you and your coworkers analyze the time entries in your account and group them by:

• Project, 
• Client, 
• User, 
• Groups, 
• Tag, or 
• Date.

Who would Sam recommend Clockify to and why?

As we wrapped up our conversation, Sam wanted to share her love for our product and recommend it to everyone that seems to lose a couple of hours in a day:

“Clockify can help small business owners and entrepreneurs maintain focus and avoid wasting time by setting a timer for each project, as well as give them a sense of accomplishment and work-life balance by allowing them to guilt-free clock off from work knowing that they’ve done their hours and given their all to their business.”

All in all, if you’re a small business owner or you’re just starting out, Sam’s advice is to track your time, do your job, and go home guilt-free knowing that you’ve done your best.

Wrapping up: Good time management and hard work bring results

Sam taught us what patience, hard work, and dedication can bring to you. There are undoubtedly things that we can pick up from Sam and incorporate into our daily routine if we want to succeed, such as working hard gets you the results you need.

Also, knowing what your weak points are, addressing them, and not being afraid to work on them will get you to that sweet spot in life.

Do you have interesting stories to tell about time tracking and how it improved your day-to-day? Feel free to share your thoughts at blogfeedback@clockify.me and we might write a blog about it. Also, share this article with someone that might find it useful.

However, in the case of Luciano Musella, who you might’ve heard of as one of the faces behind the newest twin-stick shooter I See Red game — teenage and college dreams did come true.

What was once a college passion project for Luciano and his friends quickly became a cornerstone for Whiteboard Games — a video game publisher based in Argentina.

We’ve had the pleasure of speaking with Luciano on various topics, including:

• The early days of Whiteboard Games,
• I See Red and its production,
• Difficulties that arise from working on a deadline, and
• Tracking time with Clockify.

Whiteboard Games: Early beginnings

The story begins with 4 friends trying to make it on their own in college.

Learning about game development, storytelling, and design was one thing, but Luciano and his friends were put to the test when they reached their senior year and had to commit to finalizing their graduation thesis — developing a game that matched the industry’s quality standards.

“Make a game that’s good enough to reach the quality of one that’s currently on the market — we took that quite literally and began production on what eventually ended up being known as I See Red.”

When they reached the final days of college and graduation was at the doorstep, their thesis received high praise from professors and colleagues, earning them the highest grades. However, achieving academic success meant only one thing for them — keep working until the game’s perfected.

I See Red: Inspiration and production

Needless to say, Luciano and his friends got to work and started working on something entirely different in order to separate themselves from the competition.

Early-day gamers certainly remember twin-stick shooters such as Robotron:2084 and Geometry Wars, which are a sub-genre of ‘shoot-’em-up’ games. 

I See Red acts as an homage to the genre, but it’s also a product of experimentation by the development team to resurrect the interest in gamers with improved design and game mechanics.

“The twin-stick shooter was basically us trying to learn and experiment a new genre, since at the moment we had already built FPS games, puzzle games, and many others, thus we wanted to do something that was different and cool.”

When it came to production and team management, it was only natural that they ran into some roadblocks, especially once the team started growing in 2021. However, their spirits were high and they were not demotivated:

“We learned a lot of different things in college as to how to code, make the art for it, and so on, but not much on how to organize a team and lead it.

Luckily, the ADVA — Association of Video Game Developers of Argentina — sent an industry veteran to essentially operate as an executive producer, who guided us in the right direction and taught us along the way how to structure the team in a way that doesn’t fall apart.”

Fast forward to today, I See Red is available for purchase at Steam, and you can play it on multiple platforms, including:

• Nintendo Switch, 
• PlayStation 4, 
• Xbox One, and
• Microsoft Windows.

Overcoming obstacles: Grind, overtime, and finding their niche

As a young team, the creators behind Whiteboard Games had little to no experience when it came to managing a team or being in charge of a large production. 

However, the results were evident by the number of hours they had to put in each week in order to meet their desired deadlines:

“The 5 co-founders began a 50-hour shift because we knew we weren’t going to make it either way — I eventually had some 60-hour workweeks. No employee of ours ever did overtime by request, and if they were to choose to do so, we would pay them for every 30 minutes extra they did.”

Coming from puzzle and FPS games, everything was a form of experimentation for the team, which brought upon new and often difficult challenges:

“There came a time when we would just wake up, turn the PC on (we work remotely), begin (or continue) a task on Clockify, and start working until we got to sleep, and then start all over again. We did stop the clock to eat, shower and other basic human needs, but that was basically it.”

The conclusion — everything changed when the crew incorporated time tracking into their work routine.

Benefits of using Clockify for game production

We got in touch with the creators behind I See Red after spotting an interesting post on r/gamedev. The post detailed the entire process of production of the game, seen through Clockify’s lenses — the world’s most popular time tracker for remote teams.

An astonishing 40,238 hours was the time it took the dev team to finish the project, from start to scratch, which amounts to roughly 4.5 years in the total program, design, and creation time.

Having to pull shifts lasting longer than the industry average, Luciano came to a conclusion regarding work hours and time tracking skills — if you don’t track time, you can easily underestimate or overestimate your time:

“What I learned by the usage of Clockify is that people that say “I work 70 hours” from Monday to Friday are simply exaggerating. When you actually track your time precisely you’ll truly find out what working 60 hours is, and how 70 or 80 are near impossible.”

Benefit #1: Clockify improves team dynamics and allows flexibility

Soon after the original team finished their studies, the project was underway, and with that, the team grew. In fact, over the course of 2 years that it took to finish I See Red, the team grew from 4 to 30 employees.

Luciano realized that tracking time is crucial when working remotely:

“For each different area of production of the game we had a task assigned to it. Each team member would start a new task and create a new entry with the area and write what they were working on at the moment. 

It was mandatory since working remotely sometimes creates too much freedom to the point where people don’t really know when they should finish.”

Furthermore, Luciano reiterated his stance on how overtime is important and the way they handled it by offering flexible work hours:

“From Monday to Friday you are required to do 40 hours if you are a full-time employee. You can do them at any time of day and the amount of hours that you want during that day — for instance, this creates space to have a 3-day weekend.“

All in all, giving his employees space to operate as they wish under the 40-hour week restraints proved effective and successful for the team overall, since they reached their goal with ease and released the game as planned.

Benefit #2: Clockify helps you plan ahead

As I See Red received funding and the team grew, expectations rose, and deadlines approached. 

Luckily, Clockify’s entries and analysis proved useful to the managerial staff in determining the length and effort it took for each of the tasks to be completed:

“When you track everything with the massive precision Clockify gives you, your mind unlocks the ability to calculate tasks more precisely. That made the work on sprint planning and sprint reviews far easier. 

Even though Clockify has many great features to offer, using the time tracker solely brought more than enough for the team in their development phase.

Who would Luciano recommend Clockify to and why?

Along similar lines, Luciano shed light on how Clockify is the perfect tool that helps him manage his team and recommended it to everyone who struggles with time delegation:

“It’s a no brainer to recommend it. 

You can handle big teams, see what they are up to in real-time, and know exactly where you are without any hurdles. On top of that, you can see that the tool is made with care and love, everything feels smooth, works exactly as you wanted it to, and that it has care and love put into it.”

In the early stages, the team struggled with keeping up with the projected deadlines, tracking everyone’s assignments, and making sure that daily goals were reached. 

As time went by and everyone’s time tracking skills improved, the team got the hang of it and they were able to build the company now known as Whiteboard Games.

Final thoughts: Hard work and time tracking go well together

It took two years of ups and downs for Luciano and his college friends to accomplish what they had set out to do in 2020 — transforming a passion project into a successful company they can be proud of.

As we wrapped up our interview, Luciano further stated that he is a fan of Clockify and that they’ll certainly use it while working on their following projects in the upcoming years. 

Based on his experience, it’s safe to say that there is a strong correlation between success and time tracking in the gaming industry and that it’s certainly worth a shot — especially if you’re just starting out or thinking about incorporating a time tracker into your daily routine.

Are you interested in sharing how time tracking helped you in your line of work? Tell us your story at blogfeedback@clockify.me, and we might include it in future blog posts. Also, share this article with someone that might find it useful.

One of the most popular “first steps” after college nowadays is venturing into freelancing, which is a topic that our Clockify user, Julmar Grace Locsin, has extensive knowledge about.

In fact, Grace is the founder of a tech-social enterprise called Surge Marketplace that helps companies and independent contractors meet, share ideas, and exchange services.

Her extensive experience and professional background make her a true expert in the field of freelancing and virtual assistance. Precisely because of this, we’ve decided to conduct an interview with her so she could share her thoughts on the following topics:

• Her professional breakthrough,
• The general state of freelancing,
• The relationship between employers and freelancing employees,
• The importance of time management in business, and
• Her experience with using the time tracker, Clockify.

Grace Locsin’s career: Humble beginnings and hard work

Before making it as a freelancing thought leader, Grace had to go through a series of obstacles and tribulations. 

Her professional resume shows the massive impact she had in many industries — from working in administration and education to branching out into digital marketing and virtual assistance.

Cultural impact and education: Grace’s roots

Throughout her journey, Grace had the opportunity to learn new skills and form a leadership personality, which she credits favorably to the people she met along the way.

“I was exposed to different cultures and different types of demands throughout my career. Working with diligent people from the US, India, and Germany has taught me you really have to do the job, no matter how hard it is.”

However, Grace’s heart is primarily rooted in education. 

After receiving her bachelor’s degree in Education and Business Administration, the road to her success was shaped by her experiences as a mentor, which was one of the founding principles behind Surge Marketplace — combining education and business into one.

“I’m an educator by profession and helping people has always been my passion. I started my own school in our city dump just to provide basic education to small kids — education and empowerment have always been in my heart.”

Freelancing safe haven: Surge Marketplace

Having worked both full-time and freelancing jobs, Grace knows what it’s like to be on both sides of the fence. In fact, a huge chunk of her career involves working as a freelancing brand ambassador on Upwork.

Still, that didn’t stop her from pursuing her dream — combining teaching and freelancing into one. That’s how Surge Marketplace was born:

“I was approached by a real estate company to start a virtual assistance company in my city. We started with 5 people and the skillset I had as an educator allowed me to map out the plans for Surge — curriculums, programs, and policies necessary to start.”

The idea was simple — create a place where freelancers can learn more about the industry they’re about to enter, grasp virtual assistance, and get more information regarding open jobs and hiring opportunities. Today, Surge Marketplace offers well over 50 courses, listened by 200,000 students and taught by 28 teachers.

In addition, the mentors at Surge Marketplace would help freelancers connect with future employers and help them share ideas online:

“We help teach people how to position themselves in the online world, how to get clients and create resumes, portfolios, and what apps and tools they need for virtual assistance. When it comes to adjusting to different cultures, managing clients, and managing different students, you have to figure out what their needs are and how we can provide services and serve our target market.”

Grace’s thoughts on relationships between freelancers and clients

To make it as a freelancer, the transition needs to come naturally and gradually, as Grace puts it. 

In order to do so, one must prepare to greet the adult world open-handed, so Grace shared her ideas on the trials that freelancers face in this competitive world.

Tips and tricks for up-and-coming freelancers

Aside from acquiring a certain set of skills, a quality freelancer needs to learn how to establish themselves in their line of work. 

This refers to:

• Specifying their goals,
• Specifying their capabilities,
• Setting their rates, and
• Addressing their expectations.

These are the general ideas, but Grace added a few work-specific tips that many of us could benefit from:

“I think the main issue here is dealing with competitiveness in an emerging, online market. Many are transitioning into the online world that is still being created as we speak, so it’s important to voice your skills and embrace the tools around you to stay competitive.”

However, Grace further adds that humbleness is not to be forgotten. As she put it, freelancers are too choosy nowadays, given that the online world offers many chances to those with outstanding skill sets.

Finding common ground: Alignment in professional relationships

There’s one concept that seems to resurface in most of Grace’s lectures and courses — alignment. 

It’s a broad term that can signify many different things on its own, so we asked Grace to elaborate, and here’s what she had to say:

“I have learned that alignment is one of the most important factors needed for a successful freelancing relationship between the freelancer and the client. Many entrepreneurs face challenges when it comes to hiring their virtual assistants because they’re not very specific with their needs.”

The problem, she states, arises from not being on the same page in terms of supply and demand. In other words, both parties have to figure out how to function together and achieve a win-win relationship:

“Employers are not very descriptive when they’re putting a job description out there. So, when they’re getting all of these applicants with really beautiful portfolios, they still cannot figure out and decide who to hire. Therefore, the first step towards alignment comes from spending time and learning more about the people you want to work with.”

A true connection, she states, comes not only from knowing your employee/candidate but also understanding their needs and expectations in terms of compensation and benefits.

How Clockify helps Grace and her team

During our interview, Grace mentioned that she and her team stumbled across Clockify a few years back. 

Since they started, the number of people that joined Surge Marketplace has skyrocketed, and they needed an efficient way to keep track of everyone’s schedule and projects. That’s when Clockify became a staple in their lives.

“The first thing we noticed was that Clockify was extremely user-friendly. It was easy to use, especially in our apprenticeship programs thanks to the free version.”

Clockify improves accountability

When it comes to Clockify’s functionality, Grace said the following:

“We have interns that don’t wanna jump into the paid version yet, which is where the free version steps in. It covers the hours that they are working; they can pause the timer when they’re taking a break, which gives information to the client regarding their working hours. The accountability that stems from using Clockify is necessary for the relationship between freelancers and their clients.”

Clockify is easy-to-use for everyone

Furthermore, many of Grace’s students that apply for apprenticeships at Surge aren’t tech-savvy and don’t have any real experience. She further explains:

“People that we’re training are from the streets and have little to no tech experience and expertise when it comes to using apps, but Clockify turned out to be convenient for them, even if they’re first time users.”

Clockify helps establish trust

Aside from just tracking your work hours, Clockify consequently helps establish a trust-based relationship between clients and employees. On that note, we asked Grace how Clockify affected her busy schedule and relationships with colleagues, and here’s what she had to say.

“It truly helps us settle into a trust-based relationship, as far as I can tell. I have this tool to monitor what you’re working and I know you’re not just browsing through social media and wasting your work hours, and therefore, I have full confidence in you.”

She also added that Clockify is beneficial to her as a leader, as she can input the hours for everyone that forgot to track the time, as well as approve time off and check out everyone’s schedule.

Freelancers and full-time workers: Who benefits more from Clockify?

We were eager to find out whether Clockify is more beneficial for freelancers or full time workers, and here’s what Grace had to say:

“If you’re able to finish everything at a desired time as a freelancer, you can have more work-life balance. However, if you are on the clock all the time, working 9-5 and you’re paid on salary, it gives you a bit of toxic accountability.”

Therefore, Grace recommends Clockify to all freelancers but is not opposed to incorporating Clockify into corporate environments. 

She further adds that growing pains are hard in any industry and that you should get any help you can — from advice from colleagues to simple apps such as Clockify.

Final thoughts: Hard work and finding your niche will always pay off

Before wrapping up the interview, we asked Grace if she could impart some inspiration to all the readers of the interview. 

She said it’s important to find a unique and profitable freelancing niche but it should definitely be something you can flourish in. If not — it’s not worth the trouble.

Solely based on her success, we think it’s safe to say that we should take every helpful advice we can get from her and it’ll definitely pan out.

Are you interested in sharing how time tracking helped you in your line of work? Tell us your story at blogfeedback@clockify.me and we might include it in future blog posts. Also, share this article with someone that might find it useful.

I either convince myself that the task at hand is way too easy and postpone it until the very last second, or I build it up in my head as something way too complicated, stress about it, and delay it as much as I can.

Human behavior is oftentimes predictable and, therefore, solvable. When it comes to procrastination, there are various time management methods you’ve probably heard of and tried.

My guess is, you’ve probably found a way to procrastinate using the methods as well. 

Having both mine and your best interests in heart, I’ve decided to test out a time management technique that a coworker recommended and see if it can really break the spell.

In the following paragraphs, I’ll tell you more about the 10-minute rule, why it works, and how it helped me.

How to deal with stressful tasks?

When you’re faced with a task of any kind, the first thing you should do is:

• Analyze its proportions,
• Figure out how difficult it is by dissecting it, and
• Scrape together a relative timeframe it’ll take you to finish it.

Then, panic and gaslight yourself into thinking you’ll never get it done in time, right?

Well, not exactly. It’s actually better to go with tested methods of getting things done, such as the 1-3-5 rule or any similar time management methods.

And then comes the 10-minute rule.

What is the 10-minute rule?

In order to beat procrastination, this rule dictates that you should start working immediately, preferably on an easy task that can be finished in at least 10 minutes. If it’s easier for you, set aside a timer and work for exactly 10 minutes.

Once the time is up, stop working and ask yourself: 

Can I keep working, or should I take a break?

If for any reason, you’re not in the right state of mind to continue — you’re overstressed, unproductive, or lacking creativity — you should stop.

In such scenarios, the best things you can do are:

• Take a walk,
• Listen to music,
• Have a snack, or
• Do something entirely different that is not work/task-related.

Why is the 10-minute rule useful?

In layman’s terms, the 10-minute rule makes you feel accomplished.

Our brains are hardwired to avoid difficulties and settle for comfort, but delaying the inevitable creates further pressure. 

On the other hand, doing the bare minimum of any kind of work makes us feel proud and rewarded.

In fact, studies show that performing tasks with intermediate difficulty often leads to intrinsic motivation and a desire to keep studying and working.

The motivation for further development leads to another successful 10-minute cycle, and the loop continues. 

If you manage to keep up the consistency, 10 minutes often transform into 20 minutes of continuous work, which further leads to full focus.

Why did I decide to try the 10-minute rule?

Aside from being lazy at times, the fact is that being a writer is not a rigid profession.

In other words, my time to shine comes from sudden bursts of creativity that do not happen on command. 

Even if I’m feeling up to writing, sometimes, the words simply won’t come out, which is a problem considering I have a 9-to-5 job.

So, I often have to make myself write something, no matter how ridiculous it looks at first, and then work on it and polish it.

Therefore, the 10-minute rule sounded like just the thing for me.

Beating procrastination with the 10-minute rule: My story

In order to get the right information and test out this technique properly, I decided to try it out on 3 different projects over the course of three weeks. 

The aforementioned projects involved:

• Updating a preexisting article,
• Strategizing and creating content with the web developer team, and
• Writing the 10-minute rule blog post.

Well, I didn’t really decide as much as I procrastinated writing this blog post, which actually turned out to be great since I was able to get different perspectives and compare them.

Here’s my account of how the 3-week span unfolded:

Week #1: Update

Writing this blog post has been in the works for about two months now. 

First, a colleague of mine was to write it, but they were swamped with work at the time and just couldn’t find the time.

Then, they delegated and handed it off to me, and I wasn’t any better. I was working on an update of a preexisting blog post at the time, so I decided to put it off until I finished the task at hand.

However, there was a way to simultaneously do both — I decided to read up on the 10-minute rule, see how it works, and test it out while working on the update.

So, work for 10 minutes, take a break and repeat. How hard can it be?

Well, life gets in the way. 

The first time I tried it, I managed to do some work, but it was the bare minimum. I had dealt with some technical issues with the blog, which basically meant I corrected commas and m-dashes.

Utilizing the 10-minute rule

After dealing with the technical issues, it was time to write. This time, I decided to do it by the book.

I used Clockify to set a 10-minute timer:

Then, I turned off music to completely focus and gave it a shot.

But, before I knew it, the 10 minutes were up and I had only three sentences. Naturally, I was not happy and I couldn’t believe I had written so little.

I accredited some of my failure to the timeframe pressure, but still. I did some mental math and concluded the following — the three sentences I had written had 47 words in total, which practically meant my writing speed was 4.7 words per minute. I decided to round it up to 5 so I could sleep better the following night.

However, I was quite annoyed with myself because I knew I could do better. I took a break, made myself a coffee, took a couple of sips, and tried it again.

The same drill happened again, but this time, I had written 136 words. 

Of course, I was subconsciously brainstorming a bit while I drank the coffee, but still — I’ll take it. What further made me both happy and annoyed at the same time was that it worked — I was practically challenging myself to do better as if it were a game.

Week #2: Content creation

The following week, I worked on a joint project with a web developer and a colleague from my team. My assignment was to create and write content for the topic at hand.

Luckily, there was no word limit, and the topic itself didn’t require a lot of content, but it was nuanced and I had to do a lot of research beforehand.

Suddenly, I felt as if I were a student again cramming for an exam. But this time, I decided to start on time with the help of the 10-minute rule.

Utilizing the 10-minute rule

Since the gist of the task at hand was to perform proper research, I decided to use the 10-minute rule principles to immerse myself in documentation. 

Again, I started the timer and off I went.

The first web page I visited was filled with technical terminology and jargon I had to translate for myself in order to understand it. With each passing sentence, I could feel the passage of time, but this time, it wasn’t negative.

I knew what I was doing and why I was doing it. At one point, I heard the timer go off, but I ignored it as I was in the middle of taking notes. Once I got around to checking it, I realized 17 minutes had passed, but I was already deep in thought, so I decided to push through it.

When I decided to take my first break, I realized that I had worked for 37 minutes, non-stop, according to my android Clockify app.

I went out to get some breakfast and when I came back, I returned to my research without even realizing I had left the timer on. Seeing my timer ticking, I once again did some mental math, subtracted the time it took me to get breakfast, and concluded I had worked for 1 hour and 24 minutes.

Week #3: The 10-minute rule blog post

Finally, we’re in the meta space, typing as we speak, and reading as we talk. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but hear me out.

When I was writing this article, I couldn’t help but live-test this rule. Even though I didn’t really need to do it, testing the 10-minute rule while writing about the 10-minute rule seemed like a must.

Utilizing the 10-minute rule

By this time, I had gotten used to tracking my time each day of the week and challenging myself, but I now knew what I was going to write about before I had even started writing — my own experiences.

I would start the timer at the beginning of my shift — 9 a.m. — but there was no need to pause it. 

By the end of the first day, I had already written the entire body of the text, so the following days consisted of polishing, retouching, and finalizing some of the thoughts.

Naturally, I had some interruptions:

• Annoying neighbors,
• A doctor’s appointment, and
• An urgent task that had to be finished as quickly as possible.

However, what had changed was my focus — I was able to put the blog post to rest, tend to other things, and come back to writing it as if I had never left.

All in all, a procrastinator like me managed to find hope, and so can you.

The pros of the 10-minute rule

Aside from beating procrastination in general, the 10-minute rule is perfect for everyone who multitasks on a daily level. 

We often feel swamped when we have to deal with multiple things simultaneously, which is why the 10-minute rule is a great way to compartmentalize and focus on one thing at a time.

Furthermore, as you can see from my example, doing something for as little as 10 minutes puts you in motion.

In other words, you jumpstart your work engine and creativity by setting limitations for yourself. 

Also, if you’re anything like me, you’ve probably been preconditioned to cram for exams at the last minute, too, so you’ll see the 10-minute rule instantly work. 

The cons of the 10-minute rule

Depending on your profession, your tasks and projects could differ — some even spanning over the course of weeks and months. The 10-minute rule will help you put things into perspective during a workday, but it won’t really work for large projects.

My overall rating of the 10-minute rule

As a time management writer, I had both the fortune and misfortune of trying out many time management techniques.

The 10-minute rule really hit the spot.

In fact, this might be the best one I’ve tried so far. I believe that many writers and people that do creative work on a daily basis can benefit from this technique, which is why I’m recommending it.

Final rating: ★★★★★

Conclusion: The 10-minute rule helps you focus on one thing at a time

It’s really hard to pinpoint my feelings with this time management technique.

On the one hand, I’m really glad it worked because, while researching for this blog post, the whole process felt a bit monotonous. So, the 10-minute rule really helped jumpstart my mind and worked out perfectly.

On the other hand, I’m quite annoyed as I couldn’t believe something so simple could help me so much.

But, one thing’s for certain — the 10-minute rule works, and you won’t regret it if you give it a go.

The modern world offers many time management techniques and methods to try out. If you tried one that differs in any way from the 10-minute rule, make sure to let us know at blogfeedback@clockify.me for a chance to be included in one of the following texts. Also, If you liked this article, don’t forget to share it with someone who might find it useful.

To get to the bottom of this enigmatic principle, I thought that I’d have to conquer some economic paradoxes and long-forgotten secrets of the trade.

Well, after doing in-depth research on the topic and having a couple of friendly chats at work, I realized that the Pareto principle is a time management technique that can easily be mastered, utilized, and applied in different fields.

Like all writers, I often struggle with mental blocks and a lack of inspiration — which is why I thought this might just be the method to help me:

• Identify the issues at work,
• Track the roots of my problems, and
• Organize my workload better.

So, I tested the Pareto principle, and here’s the account of how everything unfolded. 

In this blog post, I’ll cover:

• What is the Pareto analysis?
• Why did I decide to try it?
• My account of how the analysis unfolded.
• The pros and cons, and
• The overall rating of the Pareto analysis.

What is the Pareto analysis?

Suffice to say, I felt confused when I first heard about the Pareto analysis. At first glance, the definition sounded simple enough — “A statistical decision-making analysis commonly used to identify and bring attention to the crucial problem causes.”

Now, what’s the catch?

Well, the Pareto analysis further states that the majority of problems within a project can often be traced back to 20% of the causes.

In other words, by focusing on the crucial 20% of the problem causes, you’ll subsequently be able to deal with the 80% of the issues that stem from them.

Pareto analysis’ origins

An Italian economist and philosopher, Vilfredo Pareto, first observed this principle towards the end of the 19th century and named it the 80/20 rule.

Namely, Pareto noticed that 80% of the land in all of Italy was owned by 20% of the population. 

After in-depth research, Pareto realized that the 80/20 distribution can be observed in the field of economics, under the premise — “No individual can be made better off without making at least one individual or preference criterion worse off.”

After his research and work were adapted by Joseph M. Juran, a management consultant, the Pareto principle and analysis were born.

What is Pareto analysis used for?

So, what is Pareto analysis used for?

Well, the general answer to this question is — decision-making. Still, there’s more to it.

A more concise answer would consist of a step-by-step process of determining important problems and learning how to address them. The ones you do address are the 20% that will lead to 80% of the project’s benefit.

The main steps of the 80/20 rule go as follows:

• Form a list of common issues and place them on the x-axis in decreasing order of occurrence.
• Count the frequency of their occurrences and display them in the corresponding percentages on the y-axis.
• Add a cumulative percentage curve across the diagram — this curve equals (frequency of occurrences) / (sum of total occurrences) * 100.
• Draw a line from the right side that starts at the 80% mark until it intersects the curve.
• Everything on the left will be your vital problems, while the right side represents 80% of the more trivial causes.

If you’re having trouble understanding this process, don’t worry — so did I until I put it all on paper and tried it out. It will all become much clearer once you go through my example.

Why did I decide to try the Pareto analysis?

While writing, you cannot possibly think about all the intricacies of the process. 

In reality, when inspiration comes, a writer is capable of writing huge blocks of text without any problems.

However, once it’s time to review the text and proofread it, all the details come to light, such as:

• Spelling mistakes,
• Rashness,
• Structural mistakes,
• Improper use of punctuation marks, and
• Many other details that you don’t necessarily think about during the initial rush of inspiration.

Therefore, in an attempt to be more efficient, I searched the Internet for a way to isolate my critical errors and eliminate them to improve my writing. That’s when I came across the Pareto analysis and decided to try it.

Here’s how the entire process went down when I started analyzing my writing patterns. 

Trying the Pareto analysis: A personal account

After reading through a pile of articles and deciphering a bunch of economic mumbo jumbo, I decided to jot down everything I needed to start with the Pareto analysis.

However, it didn’t take long for the first issue to come up — How will I test out this technique?

As a writer, there was no possible way to document every mistake I made, especially if I did it in the process of writing. If I spent too much time stressing over documenting every mistake and issue, it would impede my writing. 

Plus, the entire process would take at least a week of writing.

So, I decided to write a blog post as I normally would, let the editor and proofreader go through the text and find the mistakes for me. This way, I’d practically have all the information I need to do a step-by-step Pareto analysis.

So, I did it, got the results back, and began jotting down the crucial information, starting with the issues — i.e. causes of my writing inefficiencies.

Step #1: Collecting the issues and counting their frequency

As I previously mentioned, the first step in performing the analysis is forming a list of the most common issues that you face. 

In my case, I would wait for the editor to meticulously ravage through a text I had previously written and use the proofreading results to conduct my analysis.

Once I got through the shame of looking through my mistakes, I classified the mistakes and categorized them into 7 distinct groups that I would use for my analysis.

The groups I created were the following:

• Long sentences,
• Link issues,
• Unclear phrases,
• Unclear headings,
• Inadequate sources,
• Punctuation marks,
• Structural mistakes, and
• Problems with visuals.

Once I had my mistakes in a bullet list in front of me, it was time to move on to counting their frequency (and feel even worse).

To spare you the details of sifting through a bunch of numbers, I’ll get right to the core of the problem.

Once I counted the mistakes and placed them in descending order, the bullet list looked as follows:

• Punctuation marks,
• Long sentences,
• Unclear phrases,
• Link issues,
• Inadequate sources,
• Unclear headings,
• Structural mistakes, and
• Visual mistakes.

To make matters simpler, I converted the number of errors into percentages and then decided to visualize them using a graph.

Step #2: Creating the Pareto curve

Now comes the hard part — i.e. the main point of the analysis.

The Pareto curve is used to visually represent the connection between the total count of issues and their frequency. 

The exact formula goes as follows:

{Frequency of occurrences} / {sum of total occurrences} * 100

Here’s what the conversion would look like in a spreadsheet:

Luckily, the total sum of the mistakes I had amounted to 99, and since I’m calculating percentages, they didn’t vary from the frequency by a huge margin.

As you can see, the majority of the problems I faced while correcting my mistakes were punctuation marks — many writers’ nightmares.

Step #3: Finalizing the Pareto diagram

Now, it was time to finalize the diagram by creating a y-axis on the right side and drawing a straight, horizontal line toward the left. The line started at the 80% mark and stretched out until it reached the point where it hit the curve.

Then, I drew a straight line parallel to the y-axis, which created a division between the left and the right side — i.e. the results.

Everything on the left represented the 20% of the sum of all issues that were crucial, according to the Pareto analysis. 

On the other hand, the right side represented the 80% that were deemed non-crucial.

The final representation looked like this:

Step #4: Analyzing the results

The first thought that popped into my mind was — That was both expected and unexpected.

I knew that punctuation marks often pose problems for me while writing. But, I had no idea that long sentences and confusing phrases had such a strong presence in my work.

This led me to go through some of my previous texts and the comments that proofreaders had left on them. Unsurprisingly, there was a pattern that coincided with my Pareto analysis.

Another interesting point is that most of the smaller and insignificant issues can be traced back to the vital ones — the top 20%.

For example, if I rush while writing, I make structural mistakes, which leads to making an SEO mistake or two, which further affects the quality of my work.

All in all, there was certainly room for improvement, and the Pareto diagram was the place to start.

The pros of the Pareto analysis

The immediate pro that comes to mind is the efficiency with which you’ll be able to conduct your work after you establish your 20%. The Pareto analysis is based on crunching the numbers and finding the problems that slow you down on an everyday basis.

For example, people who can truly benefit from this type of analysis are those that work on many tasks on a weekly basis and often encounter errors that stop them from performing at an optimal level.

Coders, developers, and project managers are the ones that first come to mind when talking about the Pareto analysis. But, evidently, writers can also find many benefits from analyzing their work and mistakes in such a manner.

Furthermore, once you get the hang of it, the Pareto analysis is an excellent tool to help you recognize where you should be focusing more of your efforts, especially during your biological prime time. 

The cons of the Pareto analysis

If we exclude the time it took me to figure this principle out, it still took a couple of hours until I was able to form a complete list of all the mistakes and calculations needed to create the diagram.

Suffice to say, Pareto analysis is a somewhat time-consuming technique, and it doesn’t really make sense to rely on it if you don’t perform similar tasks and projects every day.

Still, the outcome is based on statistics, which will further lead you to make improved decisions, and will result in the better use of your time.

Personally, I do not have that many different tasks on a weekly basis, but I will definitely try Pareto on different projects as well.

My overall rating of the Pareto analysis

Although it took me a painstaking amount of time to figure it out, I must admit this technique truly works.

Writers sometimes tend to be argumentative when it comes to their work, but numbers don’t lie. Once I looked back, I realized that the crucial 20% of the problems that Pareto pointed out were the ones I struggled with the most in general.

On the other hand, the Pareto analysis can take a bit more time and effort, which is why my rating for this technique is:

FINAL RATING:

Conclusion: Final thoughts on the Pareto analysis

Pareto is great, effective, and truly makes you wonder — How did I not realize this sooner? 

I certainly recommend it to my colleagues and everyone that struggles with determining the causes that make their workdays harder.

The Pareto analysis is well-structured, organized, and undoubtedly, a unique method to improve your efficiency.

Our team at Clockify explores many time management techniques, which we often try ourselves and give our honest opinions on. If you have any thoughts or recommendations, make sure to let us know at blogfeedback@clockify.me, and we might include your input in one of your next blog posts. If you enjoyed reading this article, please share it with someone who might find it useful.

Ironically, I’m here to talk about a similar thing. But, there’s a twist to it — I’ve actually tried a useful productivity technique and I’m going to tell you all about how it went, for free.

After struggling to stay productive for days on end, I’ve tirelessly scoured the internet for any useful productivity tips I could try as a writer. But, to no avail, I was left sitting in front of my computer staring into the abyss and hoping at least some words would appear in front of me.

That’s when my hopes were answered with the 1-3-5 rule — a productivity method that helps you stay on top of your schedule, with time to spare. 

Naturally, I was skeptical at first, but I had to give it a shot.

This is my account of how the entire process went, with all the insights, pros and cons, and final verdict on the usefulness of the 1-3-5 rule productivity technique.

What is the 1-3-5 rule?

Describing the 1-3-5 rule is relatively easy — but putting it into practice can be challenging due to the intangible nature of this productivity technique. 

In essence, the 1-3-5 stands for:

• 1 large,
• 3 medium, and
• 5 small tasks.

At first glance, it sounds like you’re ordering a full-course meal at a restaurant — you have your main alternating meals, appetizers, salads, drinks, and desserts. And they all have a predefined portion size.

Then, when you inspect this productivity technique further, you realize that that’s exactly what it is — a full-course meal meant to fill up your appetite for productivity.

Namely, the 1-3-5 rule states that, to stay productive during a business day, you’ll have to block out your activities and responsibilities by their:

• Priority,
• Size, and
• Difficulty.

The 1 large task

The large task is your priority for the day. 

If you are working in a corporate environment, the task usually refers to:

• Finishing a project,
• Meeting a deadline,
• Handling an important meeting, or
• Tackling the main challenge of the day.

Of course, there are a multitude of examples, but you get the gist — the problem that irks you throughout the day is the one you should finish immediately.

Brian Tracy, the author of one of the best books on productivity, often referred to the largest task of the day as “the frog.” 

He used the term “eat the frog” as a way of explaining that the best way to stay productive is to tackle the largest task of the day first and only then move on to the next tasks or projects of the day.

The 3 medium tasks

Once your large, priority task is out of the way, you can move on to the next block of responsibilities — the 3 medium tasks. The medium tasks usually represent the activities that are closely connected to the large task.

For example, if you’re organizing a big meeting to discuss the conditions of a new contract, the medium tasks would imply:

• Calling or notifying the parties,
• Setting up the conference room or creating a virtual workspace, and
• Providing the participants with the necessary information that pertains to the meeting’s agenda.

Depending on the nature of the 1 large task, you’ll have to make a bullet list to determine which of the 3 medium tasks will have to be completed first and devise a general completion order.

The 5 small tasks

Finally, you move on to the 5 smaller tasks, which are usually described as “nuisance tasks.”

Their description is not a reflection of their general importance — but it does show their relevance when compared to the salient and medium tasks.

If your work day allows it, you can shift small tasks around and complete them when you have a moment to breathe. 

The 1-3-5 rule does not restrict you from moving such tasks to the next business day — but only if you know you’ll have enough time to complete them, alongside the new 5 smaller tasks.

Why is the 1-3-5 rule useful?

In theory, this productivity rule sounds great — you divide your day based on your priorities, make a list of what you should do, and then you do it. 

But, how does it all work in practice and why?

Well, most people rely on to-do lists, which are efficient. 

However, if the line of work you’re in is very demanding, chances are you won’t have enough time to finish everything you’ve set out to do during one business day.

In fact, modern statistics show that approximately 59% of all to-do lists get finished during the day and 41% of tasks are left to float in the “never-gets-done” dimension.

The 1-3-5 rule works because there is no pressure on the user to complete everything. Furthermore, the rule values prioritization more than anything else, and the 1-3-5 pyramid serves as an instruction more so than as an obligation. It also allows leniency when it comes to shifting the schedule based on urgency.

Putting the 1-3-5 rule into practice: My observations

So, after collecting all the data and convincing myself that I knew all about the 1-3-5 rule, I decided to give it a shot the following day as I was just about to embark on a new writing project.

Here’s my account of how the said days unfolded.

Day 1: Ignorance

As you can surmise from the heading, the first day was a nightmare for me. 

I woke up, turned on my laptop, and started writing a draft for all my responsibilities for the day. The main goal of that dreaded Monday was to do research for a project that was supposed to have at least 5,000 words.

Naturally, I wasn’t a bit thrilled — but I knew that the rest of the tasks I had to do that day were simple:

• Contact the design team and ask them to create a cover illustration for my next blog,
• Have a work-buddy meeting with a new employee,
• Discuss the draft architecture with a colleague, and
• Create a visual concept of what I will be writing about.

Sounds easy, right? Very feasible and highly doable. 

Well, once my upstairs neighbor started drilling a hole in my ceiling and accidentally drilled through the ethernet cable, everything changed.

How my first day of practicing the 1-3-5 rule went

First thing in the morning, I had to pack up, go to the local coffee shop, and do my research there. 

However, it was quite crowded and it nearly became impossible to have my meetings there. It even made sense that a pack of high schoolers entered the premises in the following minutes with a huge desire to see who could speak the loudest.

Overrun with anxiety, I was about to give up and call it a day, but then the premise of the 1-3-5 rule dawned on me — “Finish your salient task and move on to the next ones accordingly.”

I gathered my thoughts (and my 125 opened tabs) and started reading. Once I focused on the top-priority task and eliminated the anxiety of not finishing the other tasks, I realized a huge burden was lifted off my chest.

As the day unfolded, the coffee shop became less crowded and I was able to conduct the meeting with the new colleague and even create a draft of my work based on the conducted research.

When it was 5:00 p.m., I realized that I didn’t finish everything I had set out to do, but the “no-routine” concept of the 1-3-5 rule allowed me to shift the unfinished tasks to the following day and go to sleep peacefully.

Here’s my Plaky draft representation of the 1-3-5:

To surmise, constructing a draft and conducting the work buddy meeting took me an hour each, while the research stretched throughout the entire day. 

The day looked like this, viewed through Clockify lenses:

Day 2: Realization

Here we go again — coffee, laptop, and myself versus the machine. 

But first, I decided to set aside the first 2 and half hours of my work time to tend to the tasks I didn’t finish yesterday.

I had a meeting with a colleague to discuss the concepts and the drafts of our following projects, which lasted for about an hour.

Afterwards, I created visual cues to help me with the writing process, which included notes and graphs.

Once that was out of the way, it was time to shift my focus to my salient task of the day — writing the introduction and the first section of my writing project.

How my second day of practicing the 1-3-5 rule went

What I immediately noticed was that the writing process felt a bit peculiar — healthy, to be exact. In other words, I did not experience the writing stress of “I’ll never finish this in time.”

I had to admit that the 1-3-5 rule bore some fruit in this instance.

Knowing how my day would unfold and the schedules that awaited me, I could already envision the pacing and the structure of my text. When I had previously created the visual cues, I also took 10 minutes to block out my day based on the activities and tasks I had to do. I have not experienced such a level of organization until trying out this technique.

I realized that I had to leave out the slot between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m. to do additional research, but I also had a team meeting from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. That left me with a window of 2 and a half hours to focus solely on writing. 

Naturally, the “deadline mode” kicked in because I had conditioned myself into thinking that the writing had to be done that day — and it worked.

Writing the introduction and doing additional research took me about 4 and a half hours, and the unfinished tasks combined with the team meeting lasted for about 3 and a half hours. 

For further clarification, here’s my Clockify calendar entry for the day:

Day 3: Acceptance

Driven by the new-found faith in the 1-3-5 rule, I had set out to conquer the following day, not knowing that a perfect storm was about to hit.

The salient task of the day was writing the body of the text, ideally 1,000 words.

However, that all changed once I created my 1-3-5 draft for the day with the following information:

• My bank account was locked and I had to resolve it ASAP,
• I had to schedule a meeting to discuss the artwork for a previous blog I had worked on,
• I had another team meeting,
• I had to leave my apartment between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. (the neighbor strikes again), and
• I had to do additional research.

But, fret I did not, because the 1-3-5 was there to rescue me. 

Well, it kind of was, but not really — I’ll explain why.

How my third day of practicing the 1-3-5 rule went

Essentially, I used the two hours my upstairs neighbors usually spend remodeling to go to the bank and do research from the coffee shop — luckily, no high schoolers this time.

When I returned, I knew I had to focus on the writing and push the other meeting back for at least 2 hours, so I can get some writing done. I did stay longer in the day to compensate for the hours in the bank, but that was the time I allocated for the meeting — and it fit perfectly.

Unfortunately, I did not write the number of words I had intended — but I knew that I had fewer obligations in the following days, which would consequently allow me to focus solely on writing.

The bank run lasted for about 2 hours and the team meeting lasted for an hour or so, which roughly amounted to 3 hours. When the focus mode kicked in, I wrote for about 2 hours and later had a meeting with the design team. 

Alongside answering emails, the entire day was mapped out like this:

The following couple of days: Finalization

As my hectic schedule came to an end, I had nothing to do besides writing. 

Therefore, the following days consisted of me trying really hard not to lose my mind while writing 1,000 words per day.

Of course, there were the occasional interruptions — helping and getting help from colleagues, answering emails, and participating in online workshops and discussions. 

I could feel and reap the benefits of abiding by the 1-3-5 rule. 

In honesty, there are jobs and professions where this method could greatly shape a person’s work culture — such as high-demanding jobs with a multitude of daily tasks.

As for me, check out my 2 cents on the pros, cons, and conclusions I found about the 1-3-5 rule in the following lines.

The pros of the 1-3-5 rule

Unfortunately, I could not experience the effects of this rule in its full glory as I did not have as many tasks per day as some other individuals would have.

However, I could tell that the organizational tools that come with using this technique truly helped ease some of the burdens that we all experience on a daily basis.

From what I found in practice, the 1-3-5 allows you to map out your day in advance, work around it when you receive new tasks, and juggle everything in between. When something doesn’t go your way, you can always shift some things around and make your schedule more comfortable.

Furthermore, mapping out your day and organizing your responsibilities in a well-timed manner will greatly affect your time tracking and managing skills, in general. 

The cons of the 1-3-5 rule

As you can tell, the benefits of the 1-3-5 rule are not fully visible when you have a couple of major tasks in a day and no smaller tasks. 

Moreover, the 1-3-5 cannot really help you focus unless you truly decide it’s time to get something done.

That is why it’s recommended that you use additional methods to help you stay focused, alongside the 1-3-5. 

For example, many experts suggest listening to video game music during work. Original video game soundtracks were designed to keep the player in a “trance” and fully occupied with the gameplay — but research has shown that the same effect can be achieved in a work environment, if you only choose your soundtrack wisely.

For example, the “main boss” music can be used while you’re dealing with the 1 large task, and you can use the background “tension building” soundtracks for smaller tasks. It’s fun and it improves your focus!

My overall rating of the 1-3-5 rule

From my short experience, I concluded that the main attraction behind the 1-3-5 rule is the lack of obligatory factors.

This time management technique does not confine you to the traditional working dogmas. 

Even though you’re probably working an 8-hour shift, the division of time and responsibilities is up to you and your organizational prowess — for better or for worse.

I have also noticed that this rule can be applied to non-work issues. If you’re going on a vacation and you’re trying to pack a lot of activities into a one-week getaway, the 1-3-5 method can surely be beneficial.

Also, there’s no need for fancy templates when you need to map out your day — you can be as old-fashioned as you want and jot down everything you need on a piece of paper.

FINAL RATING:

Final thoughts on the 1-3-5 rule

In essence, I would recommend the 1-3-5 rule to everyone — employees, students, and anyone who suffers the dread of working too much. It helps you stay on top of things, devise the best plan of action, and finish everything in time.

I wouldn’t necessarily call it the best time management technique/rule out there — but it serves the purpose. It is a neat and clearly structured way of gathering yourself during messy periods — and, at the end of the day, it makes you feel like your time working was worthwhile.

There are many time management techniques and methods to try out. If you know one that differs from the 1-3-5, make sure to let us know at blogfeedback@clockify.me and we might include your thoughts in one of our next blogs. Also, if you enjoyed reading this post, please share it with someone who might find it useful.

The struggles of growing up, trying, and failing are something that Jourdan Guyton is familiar with and brilliantly displays in her comedic TV series, Two Grown. There’s a lot to be heard from this successful content strategist and entrepreneur. 

Thanks to her long and successful career, Jourdan has amassed quite a vast experience that helps her strategize and decide the best course of action in every business situation.

Therefore, we invited her to share her thoughts on the following topics:

• Her professional breakthrough,
• Content production,
• Strategy development,
• Tracking time with Clockify, and
• Time management.

Jourdan’s career launch: Starting from the ground up

It was a rocky start for Jourdan when she first started her career. 

After graduating from the University of Oklahoma as a Mass Communications and Media Studies major, she learned the ropes of the entertainment industry from scratch — starting off as a production assistant and climbing up to managerial positions.

“So, I did everything from behind the camera — casting, I used to work for the Morrie show… I was in front of the camera. I literally did all the things.”

Moving away from her beginnings, Jourdan recalls the hardships that the year 2020 brought upon our society and how it quickly changed everything. She was faced with tough choices, but eventually found her true calling in life — helping others in need.

“When the pandemic hit, I was tired of collecting unemployment. And so, I decided to start a business. Once I knew that I really wanted to do this, I hired a business coach and started building my business and honing in on female entrepreneurs and just amplifying their voices.”

Starting an online community for female entrepreneurs

Jourdan used the accumulated knowledge from the entertainment industry, combined it with her online presence, and started an online community dedicated to helping female entrepreneurs:

• Find their voices,
• Create engaging content,
• Build a brand, and
• Showcase their true potential.

After founding Vera Jean Media, LLC, Jourdan quickly attracted clientele, developed a massive organic presence, and served over 100 clients over the course of 2 years.

She stated that choosing this path was very natural to her and that content creation simply “clicked” with her.

“It was honestly the best way to tell stories on a free level. I could literally be in my little tiny corner desk in my apartment and connect with people all over the world to help them tell their story.”

Overcoming mental barriers

As someone who struggled a lot in the beginning, Jourdan recognizes and highlights the ups and downs that define a person’s career. 

According to her, such experiences shape us and allow us to become the best versions of ourselves — all we need to succeed is a slight nudge.

“People just want that little push, a permission — knowing you’re enough and worthy.”

Showing up, day in and day out, is the key factor for both Jourdan and her clients.

Consistency delivers results and “the push” delivers energy — this is the premise of Jourdan’s business model.

However, even with “the push,” people still need to find a way to express their creativity and authenticity on their own, without outside help. 

If successful, they will be able to overcome any mental barriers that stop them from being their true selves.

“True authenticity does come from within. I think that there has to be a communal space of safeness, where people can catch those feelings and allow you to be yourself — so that when you step in front of the camera and do your reels or hop on TikTok in front of an audience, you feel comfortable to do your thing.”

Jourdan’s mastery of content production

Jourdan has managed to help many businesses generate successful content strategies, business models, and well-received content — especially on Instagram.

Naturally, we asked her to share the secret of her growth with us, considering she started with 6,000 followers, and, as of July 2022, she’s closing in on 80,000 followers.

“I think that my growth was definitely something that was a lot of trial and error, a lot of documentation, and a lot of uncomfortable moments. I also leaned into the thought of how it was my page and my privacy — so I could show as much as I wanted and pull back when necessary.”

Understanding the power of video content

Furthermore, Jourdan states that the key to mastering any social media platform — not just Instagram — is utilizing the tools you have in front of you. 

Jourdan believes that video is a crucial aspect in virality and digital marketing. The true purpose of your intentions is best depicted through video, as it provides a raw and natural representation of your business.

“Whether it’s short-form, whether it’s prerecorded, whether it’s live — the power of live video helped me build a deeper connection with the audience.”

She explains how video helps build that connection:

“It’s a virtual handshake that you have with your audience. Once they see you sweating and being nervous online, people want to hire you. It’s the video connection and the energy that they get from me in real-time.”

Following a step-by-step content creation process

The process of content creation and digital marketing depends on many factors:

• The clientele,
• Client’s business model
• Media format of the content,
• Project framework, etc.

That is why Jourdan has a step-by-step process that she goes through with each client.

“When I teach and lay out the strategy for my clients, we lean heavily into video content and getting comfortable on camera, carrying your notes, and having a framework and a structure. For all of us, the concept of being in front of a camera can be quite foreign and overwhelming.”

While the process can be challenging, Jourdan is persistent. Her mantra is — “Consistency and hard work.”

Dismantling the comfort zone

Jourdan believes that you can create engaging content that sells if you get clear on your content delivery. 

It might sound arbitrary without context, but the statement is actually embedded with layers of meaning. 

We asked her to elaborate — and this is how she defines the essence of great content delivery:

“Getting consistent in how you’re showing up when you’re feeling good, when you’re feeling your best, and really putting out quality work that you can be proud of and look back on — even if it’s embarrassing.”

However, Jourdan also claims that a huge part of consistent content delivery is getting out of your comfort zone. 

Once you find a way to break through — you’ll keep perfecting your content on a daily basis, no matter how you’re feeling that day and how close to the audience you are.

“Content delivery looks like pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone, right? I didn’t want to go live — even though I’ve been on camera. But, the first step to getting outside your comfort zone is to commit.”

How Clockify helps Jourdan manage her time

In our interview, Jourdan also spoke about the difficulties of managing and organizing time in an efficient manner. 

Why are there difficulties?

Well, even in remote work, a ton of obligations tend to pile up to the point where you can no longer stay on top of them.

At first, Jourdan struggled with managing her time — until she heard about time tracking and how it can effectively change the way you perceive a working day or week.

“One of the coaches that I worked with was talking about time tracking, and they mentioned that there were free platforms where you could check your time — and I’m all about a deal. So I started Googling, and then I think that’s when you guys came up. And there was another [tool] too — I don’t remember what it was called — that I tried, but it was too complex. [With Clockify,] I loved the fact that I could just be like — type, start, type start.”

Most of Jourdan’s audience was not aware of the process of time tracking — so she decided to share her experience with using Clockify.

Here’s why Jourdan loves using Clockify:

“Clockify helps me see what I really need to do — what I can delegate, how much it takes me to write an email, and it also helps me to eliminate things. There was stuff that was taking up two hours where I just thought — ‘We can either scale this back or get rid of it.’ ”

Jourdan’s way of using Clockify

Jourdan loves using Clockify on her second monitor in real-time while she’s juggling multiple projects. It lets her track the exact time she needs to finish a task and later analyze it to see how she can improve her efficiency.

“Am I playing games or do I need to tighten up a little bit? [Tracking time with Clockify] has been so helpful in keeping me on track. I do like doing it from my desktop and then going back and reviewing the activity.”

Planning ahead

Furthermore, Jourdan is a firm believer in planning ahead. 

In our interview, Jourdan mentioned that she always plans at least a month ahead in order to visualize her future projects and not be overwhelmed when the time comes to finish everything.

“I usually use my Sundays to plan ahead. I have specific focuses and I try to break them down at the end of the month to get a bigger picture and not be overwhelmed by the upcoming projects.”

The Pomodoro technique

When asked about her favorite time tracking technique, Jourdan shared an experience from a productivity workshop:

“We learned all about productivity in the workshop, and we set up our minds before the work sprint — no phones were allowed. We worked for 45 minutes straight. When you come out of that work sprint, you feel like you’ve been working for three hours — because you were so laser-focused on one task.”

Something similar to the time tracking technique Jourdan describes is called the Pomodoro technique — a process of dividing a project into working blocks with no distractions and short breaks that help you catch your breath.

Generally, the way it works is the following:

• Start a timer for a specific amount of time.
• Work on it with no distractions — phones off!
• Take a 5-minute break.
• Repeat the cycle until you finish the project in question.

Final thoughts: Wake up and take control of your life

The interview with Jourdan provided a fresh perspective on how Clockify helps different people and how it can be applied in various situations and fields of work.

Jourdan is a great example of how time tracking can do wonders for content creators — especially those who have to manage their own time.

At the end of the day, we all struggle with doing the most with the time we have.  And, Jourdan Guyton’s success story is proof that we can overcome that issue with the right tools.

Are you interested in sharing how time tracking helped you in your line of work? Tell us your story at blogfeedback@clockify.me and we might include it in future blog posts.

This includes team chat apps — which are an important element in helping virtual teams communicate and collaborate on a daily basis.

In the following lines, we’ll focus on some key features regarding the best team chat apps and give you some insight into the types of business models that can benefit from utilizing these types of workplace tools.

What are the characteristics of the best team chat apps?

We all know a thing or two about chat applications, especially due to the fact that we all use them — employed or not. 

After all, messaging tools such as Meta Messenger and WhatsApp are some of the most used applications worldwide in the past year, according to a Forbes article in late 2021.

However, when it comes to virtual teams, WhatsApp is likely not going to cut it — remote teams require more than just simple messaging. Therefore, let’s see what the best team chat apps are all about — and what features they should ideally offer.

Collaboration features

If you’re choosing a new business messaging platform for your firm or a virtual team, it’s vital to know that the best software also includes advanced collaboration features. Such tools and extensions allow your employees to share multimedia files and work on them in real-time scenarios.

Moreover, some applications allow their users to assign each other tasks, monitor, and track their progress.

A variety of pricing plans

All chat apps have a certain financial plan that offers extra functionalities and is usually regulated on a monthly or yearly basis. However, the best chat apps offer free plans that let you use their service with limited access to certain crucial features.

When it comes to paid features, they usually include:

• Advanced collaboration options,
• Administrative and channel permissions,
• Larger cloud storage, and
• Customizable effects.

Third-party integrations

There are a huge number of extensions and accessories that the best team chat applications integrate within their platforms in order to maximize efficiency and make it easier to share projects with others.

Some of the most popular integrations include tools from the Google Workspace package, such as Google Drive, Docs, Spreadsheets, and Slides.

Furthermore, some chat apps allow you to integrate certain developer platforms and communities, such as GitHub, GitLab, and certain project management tools, such as  Teamwork.

Search options

Working in teams often means that there will be a lot of open channels for communication — daily updates, progress reports, and general notifications will always stockpile your workspace. 

That’s why the best chat apps offer unlimited messaging storage and advanced search options.

In most cases, you’ll be able to search certain keywords and phrases, users, and files.

A list of the 10 best team chat apps

If the question of what makes a team chat app great is clearer now, it’s time to dig deeper into the specifics of these best team chat apps.

There are many tools that are considered to be efficient and applicable in both business and personal spheres — so we decided to list them and give you an overview of the top 10 chat applications you can use for business:

• Pumble
• Slack
• Discord
• Microsoft Teams
• Chanty
• Google Chat
• Ryver
• Twist
• Flock
• Rocket.Chat

So, let’s dive right in for more details.

Pumble — for organized team collaboration

What is Pumble?

Pumble is a free team chat app developed for virtual teams that require a structured platform for messaging, file-sharing, and meticulous workflow.

Based on the type of communication you usually need, the app offers:

• Private 1-on-1 or group conversations (DMs),
• Private and public channel discussions,
• Replying in threads, and
• File-sharing options.

Moreover, Pumble allows you to reference certain files and messages that might be of importance to you by letting you easily browse through channels and files. 

The software is quite intuitive — and signing up is a relatively straightforward process.

Why use Pumble?

Thanks to its versatility, Pumble can connect teams all around the world in a quick and easy fashion that requires no previous training. 

Moreover, most of Pumble’s crucial features are available in the free version, so there’s no need to invest in premium plans if you’re not interested in advanced packages. 

On the other hand, if you do decide to upgrade to a paid plan, you’ll gain access to:

• 10GB of storage per user/unlimited storage (depending on the plan),
• Customizable sidebars,
• Guest access, and
• Posting permissions across all channels.

Pumble’s highlight features:

With Pumble, you’ll have access to free unlimited chat history and 10 GB of free storage space per workspace.

You’ll also be able to create an unlimited number of channels and add an unlimited number of people to your Pumble workspace.

Moreover, you’ll get the ability to collaborate with guests outside your company.

Pumble is available for:

Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS

Slack — for large-sized businesses

What is Slack?

Slack is one of the forerunners when it comes to the integration of chatting apps into the business industry. It helped create an environment where business meetings and collaboration was done virtually instead of via face-to-face meet-ups.

Similar to Pumble, Slack offers open communication through channels and DMs. In essence, it could be argued that Slack is more of a task management tool thanks to its versatile arsenal of features. 

You can still operate quite efficiently with the free version, but, to get the most out of Slack, you’ll have to purchase the premium plan. For example, when you upgrade to the Pro plan, you’ll be able to create multiple channels for various topics and different projects, with the addition of channel recommendations. Also, the free plan offers 5 GB of file storage for the entire workspace.

Why use Slack?

Slack is an excellent solution for large-scale teams that require constant communication on a daily basis. 

It’s steady and it allows you to communicate with multiple people at a time.

Slack’s highlight features:

Slack Connect is a feature that lets you work with other firms and businesses with enterprise-grade security and screen-sharing options.

Slack is available for:

Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS

Discord — for outstanding audio experience

What is Discord?

Generally accepted as a gaming app, Discord has managed to win the hearts of many teams in the last couple of years, especially during the pandemic. It allowed harmonious workflow and quality communication among colleagues with a simple click.

Discord’s advanced audio channels have driven firms to try and design similar features. Aside from this, Discord also offers:

• Direct communication through DMs,
• Text (general) channels,
• Screen-sharing options,
• Easy-to-navigate display, and
• In-channel bots that connect to other apps.

What makes Discord special and appealing to remote teams is that most of its features are free, while the premium version (Discord Nitro) offers symbolic upgrades, such as customizable emojis. It does, however, come with the ability to upload large files only within the paid plan — which is an upgrade compared to the 8MB limit available in the free version.

Why use Discord?

Discord is extremely intuitive and easy to get the hang of. Plus, it’s considered a viable tool for both personal and professional use. 

Also, the Discord Nitro plan lets you upload files that are up to 100 MB in size, which is adequate for various types of videos and photos. 

In addition, Discord has an advanced screen-sharing feature that’s applicable for more than just video games — the high-resolution video and Go Live streaming features have found their way to the business sphere, as well.

Discord’s highlight features:

Discord allows you to set up high-quality audio channels, but also low-quality channels for users with slow internet connections. 

In other words, Discord lets you manually set the audio quality of a channel by reducing bitrates, which massively affects the bandwidth usage. If you’re on the road and have a bad internet connection, you can ask your colleagues to switch to a low-quality channel for a better experience.

Discord is available for:

Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS

Microsoft Teams — for business collaboration

What is Microsoft Teams?

Ever since the pandemic struck, more and more teams have turned to Microsoft Teams as their salient chatting tool. It is a part of the Microsoft 365 package that includes Microsoft Office, Skype for Business, and others.

This app allows you to communicate with your team members via channels, direct messages, and video conference calls. 

It comes with an abundance of features, but they’re usually packaged around the 365 service, which means you’ll have to choose a paid plan if you want the full experience.

Why use Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is considered to be one of the more “formal” applications when it comes to business management and collaboration — unlike Discord, for example.

Moreover, teams that are reliant on the tools that Microsoft offers will greatly benefit from Microsoft Teams due to organic third-party integrations. 

Also, each member will receive 5 GB of cloud storage in the free plan.

Microsoft Teams’ highlight features:

The addition of Spotlight, a highlight feature that lets you pin someone’s video in the middle of a conference meeting, has given its users a new and exciting way of screen-sharing.

Microsoft Teams is available for:

Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS

Chanty — for software development firms

What is Chanty?

Unlike most chat apps, Chanty earned its reputation by incorporating a mode of communication that’s closely connected to task management and distribution. In other words, all members of a channel work together on a specific assignment and they can assign each other roles on the given project.

Furthermore, unlimited messaging is available in the free plan, but you’ll gain access to more advanced features in the premium plans, such as integration with other tools like YouTube, social media platforms, Coub, etc.

Why use Chanty?

Thanks to its organized workspace, Chanty is the perfect solution for large businesses that need structured communication and workflow. 

Furthermore, all teams get 20 GB of storage and its intuitive interface allows quick adaptation to new users.

Chanty’s highlight features:

Chanty allows its users to share snippets of code and edit them inside the application. 

Chanty is available for:

Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS

Google Chat — for simplified communication

What is Google Chat?

Formerly known as Hangouts, Google Chat has evolved to a simple chatting application that anyone can use without any prior knowledge. 

Even though it has a basic design and approach, G-Chat actually mimics a lot of the features that other optimized communication tools have. 

Some of them include:

• Separate “rooms” (channels) for discussions,
• Replying in threads,
• Integration with third-party applications, and
• Advanced search engine powered by Google.

Another reason people turn to Google Chat is the optimized use of Google services inside the Chat application. You can:

• Share and edit spreadsheets,
• Access Google Docs,
• Store up to 15 GB of storage on Google Drive cloud,
• Edit presentations through Slides, and
• Share calendar events.

Why use Google Chat?

It comes as a part of the Google Workspace package, which many teams across the world already use. 

Also, its simplistic design makes it very approachable and appealing.

Google Chat’s highlight features:

Internal and third-party integrations with other tools make Google Chat a beneficial app for large and small businesses.

Google Chat is available for:

Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS

Ryver — for small teams

What is Ryver?

Slack might be one of the popular chatting applications that remote teams use, but its pricing system has driven more and more teams to Ryver, the somewhat more affordable alternative. 

It doesn’t have a free plan, but the starter plan offers everything a small business needs, including:

• Audio and video calls,
• Simplified log-in process, and
• Task management features.

The beauty of Ryver lies in the fact that it’s practically a 2-in-1 application — a chatting software and a task management tool. 

Similar to many task distribution tools, Ryver also lets you create, assign, and reassign tasks on a Kanban board — which eliminates the need to turn to additional software, such as Trello.

Why use Ryver?

It lets you keep track of your colleagues’ progress on certain tasks and allows you to maintain constant communication. 

The standard plan, the most popular one, offers its users unlimited chat and file sharing features that are available to 30 users.

Ryver’s highlight features:

Aside from being fully functional across almost all platforms (except for Linux), Ryver also offers its users the ability to create open channels for discussions and general announcements. 

Also, even though it doesn’t have a free plan, a demo version lets you use the app for 14 days without asking for credit-card information in advance.

Ryver is available for:

Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS

Twist — for deep work

What is Twist?

Most business messaging apps are designed to engage users in real-time conversations, with many features that facilitate this mode of communication. For example, most chatting applications have status updates and “the user is typing” options.

Twist, on the other hand, is a chatting and collaboration tool that focuses on “deep work engagement” — creating an environment that allows users to be more efficient by eliminating distractions that would otherwise take up too much time and interfere with the workflow dynamic.

This is achieved by eliminating features such as push notifications and status updates.

At the same time, this is Twist’s main flaw. Instant messaging and fast-paced communication benefit teams that work on a schedule — which is why Twist might be more suitable for smaller teams who tend to communicate asynchronously.

Why use Twist?

Twist is one of the best chatting applications that relieves its users of digital stress and working under nagging pressures of deadlines.

Twist’s highlight features:

New updates allow third-party integrations within the Twist application. 

Also, to ensure deep-work ethics, Twist doesn’t have presence indicators or ways to monitor it.

Moreover, the unlimited plan offers priority support for users that have upgraded from the free version.

Twist is available for:

Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS

Flock — for clutter-free environments

What is Flock?

Flock is an easy-to-use messaging application that also serves as a collaboration tool and project management software. Similar to the majority of the apps that we’ve covered so far, Flock supports direct messages and communication through channels, but it has some features that make it authentic compared to its competitors.

For example, Flock users can create polls within a certain channel or even take notes with a built-in feature. This eliminates the need to use multiple tools at work, which consequently creates a clutter-free environment.

Also, it’s worth mentioning that the advanced search engine in the Enterprise plan lets you scour the application for individual posts, files, and keywords that were shared in a specific channel.

Why use Flock?

In addition to its great messaging capabilities, Flock also offers up to 20 GB of file storage per user.

Flock’s highlight features:

Similar to many popular messaging apps like Messenger or WhatsApp, Flock also lets its users send voice messages — which saves employees a lot of time in crunch hours.

Flock is available for:

Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS

Rocket.Chat — for complete optimization

What is Rocket.Chat?

Rocket.Chat is an open-source messaging application for teams of various sizes. It has a similar platform as most popular messaging apps, with the inclusion of channels and public groups.

However, it differs in two things — customization and self-hosting.

In terms of customization, it’s worth noting that Rocket.Chat gives its users full access to its code, meaning you can change and optimize certain blocks of code according to your needs. These changes can vary from small things, such as themes, design, and fonts to large-scale security assurance changes.

Why use Rocket.Chat?

With its customizable features, Rocket.Chat is one of the best applications for ensuring absolute protection in terms of data security.

Rocket.Chat’s highlight features:

Rocket.Chat allows integration with popular third-party applications such as Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp, and Meta Messenger.

Rocket.Chat is available for:

Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS

Final thoughts

Once you master them, you’ll realize that team chat tools are more than just messaging platforms. Aside from sharing GIFs and memes, you can also maximize your productivity and overall efficiency, if you have the right tool.

Well, we have listed ten of them — with each one having a distinct feature that might change the way your team performs on a daily basis. All you need to do is give these team chat apps a shot, try out your options, and pick the most appropriate solution for your team.

If you’ve already chosen your next chat app, let us know if you’ve liked our selection and what we had to say about individual tools. You can write to us at blogfeedback@clockify.me and we might include your opinion in this or future posts.

There’s no need to despair, as there are plenty of ways to properly manage a virtual team in an efficient manner. We’ll go into a thorough analysis and offer some insight into the tips and techniques that the best managers nowadays use.

What are the challenges in managing virtual teams?

Both you and your employees are bound to face certain challenges in tackling everyday tasks. They range from simple acts of misunderstanding tasks to more complex issues, such as mental detachment from the work environment.

Working in a virtual office will most likely have you face some of these challenges:

• Decreased productivity and poor performance
• Misunderstanding the given tasks due to lack of face-to-face interaction
• Depersonalization in terms of connection with your colleagues
• “Separating the church from the state” — the lines between work and home get blurred

These are some of the most common obstacles a lot of at-home workers face. But, don’t worry if you’re experiencing something that’s not in this list — chances are, whatever you are facing, you’re still not alone.

How do you overcome the challenges of managing virtual teams?

The short answer is — gradually and methodically. 

Overcoming the challenges of managing virtual teams is relatively easy to accomplish — with the help of these 12 tips:

1. Allow flexible work hours
2. Undergo virtual teams training
3. Nurture a reward-driven environment
4. Organize meetings according to different time zones
5. Ask for progress reports
6. Use communication tools
7. Use management tools
8. Look for the right kind of people for your team
9. Harbor a virtual team culture
10.  Have understand for the personal needs of your team
11.  Organize 1-on-1 meetings
12.  Find inspiration in famous virtual teams

Tip #1: Allow flexible work hours

What if your team is virtual because your team members live across the globe?

Well, working from different parts of the world means that your entire team will rarely be able to work at the exact same time.

After all, your UI designer from Warsaw won’t be able to work at the exact same time as your back-end developer from California.

So, you’ll need to be more flexible with their work hours — both to accommodate different time zones and help your team strike a work/life balance. They’ll be happier for it, and, as a result, more productive with their work.

So, have your team work according to their natural predispositions, and instruct them to track time on tasks and projects they work on during their work hours. 

This way, you’ll be able to see:

• When each individual team member likes to work
• Who is working on what at any moment
• Who is currently available to take on a new task

As a result, you’ll be able to pinpoint the times when your schedules overlap and arrange real-time group activities accordingly — for the times when your team absolutely needs to work together. You can use this overlapping time to set up a conference meeting, discuss strategies, and check in with everyone.

By tracking your flexible work hours, you’ll also be able to measure productivity levels — and identify bottlenecks and potential time-wasting activities you’ll then know you need to eliminate in the future.

Tip #2: Undergo virtual teams training

If you want to master anything in life, chances are you’ll have to work on it. The same goes for managing remote teams — sometimes, it’s best that you undergo training before tackling it.

There are several ways of managing virtual teams, so managing virtual teams training courses also involve three separate types of training: technology training, group processing training, and cross-cultural training. 

Technology training

Your team will have to be well-versed with the virtual team management tools you’ll all be using in your work.

So, you’ll need to cover:

• What types of tools to use,
• What situations require specific types of tools,
• How to choose the tools to fit your individual needs, and
• How to handle tech issues — including tool issues and having no Wi-Fi.

Group processing training

Your team will have to be able to tackle various project-related challenges.

So, you’ll need to cover:

• Proper goal-setting,
• Problem-solving skills,
• Building trust among remote team members, and
• Collaboration exercises

Cross-cultural training

This type of training is vital if you work in a multicultural team — your virtual team will need to understand how best to function in a cross-cultural team.

So, you’ll need to cover:

• How to overcome cultural differences,
• How to work according to each culture’s customs and work routines, and
• How to overcome prejudices and ignore stereotypes

You can join in on an official “Managing Virtual Teams” course to learn the best strategies for managing virtual teams. Or, you can do your own research on how best to conduct the training.

Tip #3: Nurture a reward-driven environment

In most cases, working from home can make a huge impact on your productivity levels and the way you approach each project on a workday. Based on the experiences of many virtual teams, not being surrounded by people affects the quality of your work by a huge margin.

Working side-by-side with your colleagues often creates a competitive drive, which can be a productive trait. However, it loses its intensity when you work from home, especially if you’re not able to visit the office from time to time due to geographical differences. 

Therefore, the best way to go around this is by creating a reward system or a meritocratic system that thrives in a competitive environment. You can: 

• Congratulate your employees on a shared platform for performing a difficult task
• Offer incentives to the best worker of the week/month
• Include days off for the best performers
• Organize friendly events and gatherings on a virtual platform

Tip #4: Organize meetings according to different time zones

We touched upon this in an earlier point — if your team is virtual because you are located across time zones, you’ll need to take this into account when planning the entire team to “get together” and work.

And, this especially includes group meetings of any kind.

When it comes to the process of finding the ideal time slots for meetings, it’s best that you:

• List all your team members on a paper,
• Add in their time zones,
• Add their clock-in and clock-out times you’ve gathered from their time tracking results, and
• Find the ideal time slots for meetings through comparison.

You can use an online time zone converter for this purpose.

Once you’ve decided on the time, you can then handle remote meetings by holding video conferences or through a communication system.

Tip #5: Ask for progress reports 

You don’t want to micromanage your team — but you’ll still have to keep an eye on what they’re doing and whether they’re making the planned progress with their tasks.

You can do this by:

• Glancing at their time tracking reports,
• Establishing and carrying out regular daily meetings, and
• Arranging occasional one-on-one meetings.

As a result, you’ll be able to spot and discuss potential challenges and deal with hold-ups in a timely manner.

Tip #6: Use communication tools 

When it comes to tips for managing remote teams, nothing beats efficient communication. 

Nowadays, there are many ways you can get a message out without having to wait for someone to check their email or answer the phone:

• Team messaging tools — apps like Pumble are great for asking quick questions and clarifying some matters about your work. 
• Video conferencing tools — they are great for carrying out video meetings and video conferences with your team.

According to a digital marketing specialist, Jason Whaling, establishing clear communication with your team relies on three principles:

• Having a set place for communication,
• Having a predetermined meeting schedule, and
• Encouraging people to have a thumbnail.

Maybe these principles seem arbitrary to you, or even obvious if you have management experience. But, when they’re accomplished, they make communication easy for everyone.

Using a number of different communication tools ensures you handle discussions, comments, questions, and answers quickly. 

Furthermore, having a variety of communication solutions will strongly improve your ability to adapt to certain professional situations that require different modes of behavior.

Tip #7: Use management tools 

There are plenty of tools for managing remote teams you can try out — most of them help you cover virtual management of virtual projects:

• Project management tools — great for keeping track of project progress “from afar” and keeping an eye on deadlines.
• Task management software — great for defining and tracking tasks, as well as storing documents you need for work.
• Team management tools — great for facilitating collaboration among team members.
• Screen sharing tools — great when you need to help a team member set up a new program you’ll both be using, or anything else you need to perform from afar.
• Online spreadsheets — great when you have to work on documents simultaneously and have all changes saved and synced in real-time, automatically.

Using a number of management tools will greatly facilitate your project, task, and team management — as well as ensure you save time by working in one document at the same time.

Tip #8: Look for the right kind of people for your team 

When looking for the people you’ll hire to work in your virtual team, make sure you:

• Post your job vacancies on reputable freelance websites — conduct technical interviews with candidates who apply, but have them also go through a couple of personality tests, to make sure they’re a culture fit.
• Test new hires — before signing up with individual team members full-time, take them on for smaller projects first, to test out their skills and potential for further cooperation.
• Give an advantage to people with experience in remote work — this shouldn’t be a must, but people who have already worked remotely know how to work in a virtual team efficiently. This is knowledge they can extend to the rest of the team.

By hiring the right individuals, you’ll compile a group of people right for forming a successful team — regardless of the fact that they may never meet face-to-face. 

Tip #9: Harbor a virtual team culture

Virtual team culture is just as important as any other team culture — the group of people within a virtual team will still have to form some kind of understanding, as well as build mutual trust.

You can make it happen by:

• Meeting face-to-face from time to time — if you all live in the same country, you can organize a get-together every couple of months. Organize a team dinner, go out bowling, and get to know each other beyond your company titles.
• Trying to establish virtual friendships — as you won’t be able to throw pizza parties and play Fussball together all that often, you can encourage people to strike online friendships. As a manager, you can lead the way — add your team members on Linkedin and Twitter, or even Facebook and Instagram.
• Making all the meetings remote-friendly — sometimes, only part of the team is virtual, and the non-virtual part of the team may be tempted to hold separate meetings. To avoid the remote crowd feeling left out, establish the practice of holding all meetings, even the quick ones, online.

According to Rahul Vij, the CEO of a digital marketing agency WebSpero Solutions, one of the best ways to motivate workers and protect them from the feeling of “detachment” is to set aside a couple of hours in a week for extracurriculars.

”Keep them involved in different office activities and events. Plan virtual interactive sessions like virtual lunches, virtual games, and chit-chatting sessions where everything will be discussed except the office and its work.”

Building a virtual team culture helps the team feel more like a whole — and not just individuals in front of their computers, merely doing their share of the work and punching out the clock.

Tip #10: Show understanding for the personal needs of your team

Similarly to allowing flexible work hours, you should also try to take into consideration that your employees have personal lives and commitments. This can often interfere with their work efficiency, especially when they’re working from home as there’s no way to “run away” from their problems.

This is why today’s businesses often have large HR teams that are there to help their co-workers with any issues they might be experiencing. 

However, there are a couple of steps that you, as a manager, can take to make sure your employees find a way to balance their personal and professional life:

• Encourage employees to talk with you HR team if they’re experiencing any issues that are affecting their work
• Create a healthy environment where employees are not stressed regarding their tasks and projects
• When possible, let team members leave the less important and less urgent tasks for tomorrow — be realistic about the workload

Tip #11: Organize 1-on-1 meetings

Even though harboring a virtual team culture establishes better connections with your employees, it’s still important to set aside some time to get to know them and see how they’re doing. 

Having individual, 1-on-1 meetings is important for three reasons:

• Removing authority-related stress for some employees,
• Discussing potential obstacles and difficulties in the everyday workplace, and
• Getting acquainted with capabilities and limitations of each employee.

The director of communications at JotForm, Annabel Maw, stresses the importance of 1-on-1 meetings by arguing that they are a crucial part of motivating her colleagues. 

Aside from 15-minute weekly meetings for progress reports, she also sets aside 30 minutes each Friday to organize 1-on-1 meetings with each employee and discuss how the workweek affected them. 

She notes that it’s an excellent way to blow off steam and have a friendly chat, while maintaining a healthy work environment. 

“Having a good amount of touchpoints with each other helps to understand where everyone is at, get feedback, and make sure the team is feeling happy and productive with what they’re working on.”

Tip #12: Find inspiration in famous virtual teams 

Whenever in doubt about how to handle your virtual team — take inspiration from virtual teams who’ve been successful at what they do for years.

Here are only some of the successful virtual teams examples — as well some insight into how they operate and what makes their remote work policy successful:

Basecamp 

Founded in: 1999

Headquarters: Chicago

The number of people who work remotely: 50 employees located across the world.

What you can learn from them: They offer special benefits to their remote workers — for example, if any of them wants to buy a standing desk to improve productivity, the company covers the costs.

Fun Fact: The founders of Basecamp, Jason Fried and David Hansson, even published a guide on running a remote company called Remote.

Zapier

Founded in: 2011

Headquarters: San Francisco

The number of people who work remotely: 20 full-time employees, all remote.

What you can learn from them: They use a number of tools to bridge the geographical gap and facilitate collaboration and project management.

  Fun Fact: They prefer the term “distributed” instead of “remote” — because they’re in contact the whole time during their workdays.

Trello

Founded in: 2011

Headquarters: New York

The number of people who work remotely: The entire marketing department is virtual + 50% of other departments.

What you can learn from them: They stay connected and current through frequent video meetings.

Fun Fact: The Trello team uses the Trello project management app to manage their projects remotely.

Clockify (yes — we work remotely, too)

Founded in: 2017

Headquarters: Palo Alto

The number of people who work remotely: Members of our team frequently travel between Palo Alto and Novi Sad — so, we often collaborate online.

What you can learn from them (well, us): We stay current about project progress by tracking time with Clockify, a time-tracker software we developed ourselves

  Fun Fact: Whenever you’re reading a post from our blog, chances are you’re reading a piece written while “on the road”.

So, when in doubt, you can always learn something from famous successful virtual teams — whatever challenges you may have, chances are they went through them as well, and then shared with the world.

Wrapping up…

All of these tips might seem like a lot, but there’s no need to follow each step in order to improve your management skills. Focus on a couple of them and you’ll see that your work environment will start lighting up.

The most important thing to remember is to value your employees, have an understanding for their needs, and set up a friendly environment. After you’ve done this, you’ll notice improvement and you’ll be able to implement these steps a lot easier.

This comprehensive guide will show you which aspects of your work should be automated by using business management software, as well as help you decide on the one that best suits your company.

What is a business management software?

Business management software encompasses all of the tools that help you run your business smoothly.

They range from timesheet apps to complex accounting platforms that let you juggle several dozen clients.

These tools are meant to automate certain processes, such as payroll, for example. They can also cut down on tedious tasks like inbox management. But they can also handle large-scale tasks, like project management.

Therefore, we’ll use the following paragraphs to demonstrate the capabilities of business management software and the best way to apply it to help your business prosper. 

You use it to maximize efficiency

As you’ll see in the following paragraphs, business management software encompasses all major aspects of running a company. If your business is having issues with delivering results, investing in an app that will improve team collaboration and performance will surely be impactful in the long run.

Furthermore, the overall efficiency is reflected in the time your team spends to finish a certain task, which can be greatly improved with applications such as Clockify or Everhour.

You use it to resolve business challenges

Needless to say, the type of business management software depends on the areas you struggle with the most. Maybe it’s financing, maybe it’s insufficient data storage, HR, customer management, and so on. Decide which aspects of the business are a priority and patch those holes first.

You can make a choice between free and premium plans

It goes without saying that the software will need to match your budget. If at all possible, you should try signing up for a free version until you know for certain that a paid plan can benefit the company.

You use it to grow your business

If you plan on growing your business, then you’ll want software that can scale along with the company. Look for tools and solutions that can help with the workflow whether you’re at 10-50 employees or 150-300. 

In most cases, all-in-one software platforms are the most efficient, but they’re also the most expensive choices. Therefore, try to find the middle ground between a budget solution and features your company needs.

You can collaborate 24/7 with your team

Finding a software that caters to all devices is something you’ll definitely need, even if you’re working from the office. Nowadays, most teams operate from remote locations, so it’s not a bad idea to invest in a software that offers full accessibility, both online and offline.

You can customize the management software to your liking

Apps and software that have at least a dozen different integrations will give you more freedom to mold it to fit your business. In the end, you’ll be taking that software and tailoring the service to maximize its potential.

Now that we’ve, hopefully, clarified what business management software is, it’s time to go in-depth with the subcategories and offer some examples of the best software on the market for your business.

What are examples of business software?

Apps, tools, and solutions are there to make our jobs easier by finding shortcuts or automating certain tasks. So let us first take a look at what type of work can be automated, and to what extent it should be automated.

It’ll give us a better overview of what our business management software should entail.

Activities and processes that can be automated for optimal business management are:

1. Tracking employee and team work hours
2. Managing workforce
3. Customer relationship management and sales
4. Project management and collaboration
5. Accounting and invoicing
6. Storing and sharing documents

If you’re not quite familiar with the aforementioned processes, we’ve dedicated some lines to clear up any confusion. Also, we have the appropriate tools for each category that are considered by many to be the best in the business.

1. Time tracking software tools

For time management, you will need a tool that tracks your time, helps with scheduling and ensures you (and your employees) stay focused when needed.

More specifically, time management apps need to: 

• track time,
• act as a timer (Pomodoro or other),
• keep distractions away, and 
• have schedules/to-do lists/habit trackers.

Any tool that saves you time on mundane tasks and helps with the day-to-day schedule is irreplaceable.

Clockify — Best free time tracker for businesses of all sizes

Clockify is an easy-to-use tool with a robust set of features. Made for freelancers and big businesses alike, you can easily track and log your time, check your progress and even improve your overall productivity. And with complete transparency on designated projects, you can see what everyone is working on at any given time.

Notable Clockify features: 

• Individual and team-wide time tracking 
• Time audits
• Timesheets
• Identifying wasted time
• Improving productivity with daily/weekly/monthly reports

Best value for: Freelancers, businesses of all sizes

Platforms: Browser extensions for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Edge; Mac, Windows, and Linux Desktop applications; Android and iOS mobile platforms.

Everhour — Best lightweight tracker

If you want a tool that simply tracks time, without any bells and whistles, then Everhour might just be for you. It is an online-only tracker that acts as a supplement to an already-established business model.

Notable Everhour features: 

• Individual and team-wide time tracking 
• Time audits
• Editing time entries
• Lightweight invoicing system

Best value for: Freelancers, mid-sized businesses

Platforms: Web app, extensions, as an integration (Asana, QuickBooks, etc)

2. Workforce management software

These types of tools are intended to help you manage staff — their work schedules, project tasks, to optimize productivity, etc. Workforce management software is a be-all-end-all solution that will do wonders for company transparency and boost workflow.

WMS needs to have:

• time tracking and timesheets
• project transparency/task scheduling
• monitoring and analyzing the workflow
• expense and productivity reporting

Clockify — Best for time, project and team tracking

Aside from tracking time, Clockify can easily become an indispensable workforce management tool. Track your and others’ time, have full transparency over projects and tasks, calculate rates for separate projects and more. Useful for automating the more tedious sides of project management, whether you’re a freelancer or a business.

You can also choose the premium package that offers some advanced features, such as scheduling and GPS tracking, which are quite useful for large companies with a lot of teams working on different projects.

Notable Clockify features: 

• Individual and team-wide time tracking 
• Time audits
• Task categorization and labeling to improve workflow
• Billable vs non-billable hours in different currencies
• Set estimated times and compare them to actual progress
• Advanced scheduling system and project visualization

Best value for: Freelancers, businesses of all sizes

Platforms: Cloud-based, Mac, Linux, and Windows desktop, Apple and Android tablets and smartphones, Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browser extensions

ADP Workforce Now — Best for payroll, benefits, and attendance tracking 

ADP Workforce Now was created with the intent to automate staff-related administrative tasks. Both managers and employees can use the software. Employees get access to paychecks, can calculate taxes, check their balance, submit work hours, check benefits, etc. Managers can track the same, with the addition of analytics and benchmarks, as well as compliance requirements.

Notable Workforce Now features:

• Access to timecards, payrolls, benefits
• Integrated human resources to optimize teams
• Predictive algorithms to help with staffing
• Cost control

Best value for: Mid-large businesses

Platforms: Cloud-based

3. CRM and sales tools

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. As such, it concerns your business’s relationship with customers, both present and potential. Today we are able to automate some of the more tedious parts of the CRM process, including:

• customer service and relationships,
• sales — helps with understanding the sales targets,
• marketing — helps with forecasting, and
• social media — helps with customer interaction and engagement.

CRM is on this list of absolutely necessary tools because of its large role in company growth.

Hubspot CRM — Best in simplicity and usability

Hubspot is a smart solution for all aspects of CRM.  It boasts a wide variety of features for each department: sales, marketing, customer service, operations, and business owners.

Notable Hubspot features:

• Email, prospect and deal tracking
• Sales pipeline management
• Ad management
• Chatbot creation

Best value for: Businesses of any size and from any industry

Platform: Cloud-based, Apple and Android device

Bitrix24 — Excellent for large companies

Bitrix24 is a relatively new platform that offers its user the ability to perform multiple operations from running sales and team management to billing and financial analysis.

Primarily, it is a CRM tool that’s absolutely free, but the paid version offers more versatility when it comes to management capabilities and customer contact services. 

Overall, the pricing suggests that it’s most applicable for large companies, but the free features aren’t something you should miss out on.

Notable Bitrix24 features:

• Practical CRM management
• Collaboration tools
• Kanban boards
• Time-tracking software

Best for: All types of businesses (all-in-one platform)

Platform: Mac and Windows desktop applications

Salesforce — Best for growing businesses

Salesforce is a more serious player in the CRM game. Its complex set of features and tools extending beyond other versions of CRM software make it a valuable asset to any growing or large company. Because as the business grows, one can integrate new features and expand the platform along with the business.

Notable Salesforce features:

• Automated B2B marketing
• Thousands of integrations (both Salesforce and third-party)
• User forum/community for peer-to-peer help and exchange

Best value for: Large, growing businesses

Platform: Cloud-based

Apptivo —Best for beginners, most user-friendly

Apptivo works as a smart collection of integrations that together form a strong CRM tool. Housed on a single platform, this powerful solution lets you customize any process to fit your business. It’s user-friendly, especially for CRM beginners.

Notable Apptivo features:

• 40+ integrations to choose from depending on the type of business
• Easy accounting and invoicing
• Syncing timesheets, projects and data for accurate reports

Best value for: Small-medium sized businesses

Platform: Cloud-based

4. Project management and collaboration tools

Project management requires the aid of all-encompassing tools. Your teams should have a platform that allows them to communicate, collaborate, delegate tasks and discuss issues.

Likewise, a business owner needs a place for monitoring the project’s progress and overseeing the work. In these regards, a good project management tool contains at least:

• project planning — funds, milestones, deadlines, progress tracking
• resource management — pre-planning, allocating resources and staff according to deadlines, scheduling
• task management — assignment, analysis, overview

Naturally, certain platforms will offer more intricate features for a price.

Pumble — Best intuitive collaboration tool

Taking the industry by storm, Pumble has proven to be a worthy competitor to apps such as Slack or Discord when it comes to collaboration and team messaging.

The interface is extremely user-friendly and intuitive, messaging has never been easier, and you can use it on all popular platforms with no limitations on the number of users. Also, guess what? It has a free version and a premium version with extra features.

Notable Pumble features:

• Unlimited number of users
• Communication through channels and DMs
• Text messaging and file sharing
• Advanced filtering system

Best value for: Freelancers, small-to-mid sized businesses, and large companies.

Platform: Linux, Mac, and Windows desktop applications, Android and iOS apps, and web version.

Wrike — Best for IT companies

Wrike has surfaced as a great tool for growing IT companies. With its scalability option and high customization, it’s become a fast favorite of many.

Notable Wrike features:

• Ease of use — creating and assigning tasks
• Kanban boards, Gantt charts, lists, tables, etc
• Highly customizable project dashboards
• Detailed reports and report templates

Best value for: Mid- to large-sized businesses

Platform: Mac and Windows desktop, Apple and Android tablets and smartphones

Active Collab — Best tool for creatives

Active Collab is a good choice for businesses that tackle multiple projects at one time. It’s also a great help for any one team member involved in several projects, as it makes “project-hopping” seamless.

Notable Active Collab features:

• Organizing tasks based on features, urgency, type, etc
• Setting task dependencies
• Setting and tracking budget/resources and time for each task
• Ease of use and simple UI

Best value for: Small- to mid-sized companies

Platform: Cloud-based

Trello — Most adaptable to any industry 

Trello has been in the game for a long time. It made a name for itself, and rightfully so. Trello is easy to use, very user-friendly for beginners and small teams, and by having only the kanban-board view, Trello also minimizes clutter. Many project managers swear by this organizational tool. It’s a deceptively powerful solution with a simple design.

Notable Trello features:

• Collaboration with external users
• Intuitive interface
• Kanban board exporting
• Easy overview and task organization
• Highly customizable

Best for: Freelancers, small, mid and large-sized businesses

Platform: Web browser, Apple and Android devices, Mac and Windows OS

nTask – Best for Project Collaboration

nTask is an amazing business management software to use in 2023. With its user-friendly interface, you can easily organize and manage all your projects and tasks in one place. 

It helps you to stay on top of deadlines, track progress, and collaborate with your team. Its features include task boards, Gantt charts, project timelines, time tracking, reminders and notifications, and much more. 

Notable features:

• Task Management: Manage tasks, assign them to team members, track progress and due dates
• Gantt Charts: Visualize project timelines and track progress with Gantt charts
• Time Tracking: Track how much time is spent on each task 
• Collaboration: Share notes, comments, and documents with team members
• Reminders & Notifications: Receive automated reminders for upcoming tasks and activities

Best for: Suitable for teams of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises

Platform: Web version, iOS and Android apps

Google Workspace — Best long-standing tool

Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) has been around for a long time. As such, it had the opportunity to grow and evolve into the most widely used collaborative tool to date. Even now, it is essential for schools, large enterprises, and organizations. With a vast number of integrations and user-friendly UI, it remains among the top tools.

Notable features:

• Large cloud storage

• Video conferencing, screen sharing, remote meetings
• High email security
• Fully collaborative

Best for: Freelancers, small, mid and large-sized businesses

Platform: Web browser, Apple and Android devices

5. Accounting tools

One key tool for good business management is, of course, accounting. More than with any other tool, we aim to eliminate the possibility of human error and automate as much as possible. Luckily, we can find plenty of accounting software solutions to choose from. And when you go looking into the right one for you, pay attention that they have the following basic features:

• invoicing
• budgeting
• finance management
• reporting (for clients)

Depending on the size of your business, the features you require will vary. Keep that in mind before any purchase, or else you end up with a tool that is too robust, or too barebones.

FreshBooks — Best accounting tool for beginners

While FreshBooks had made its name as an invoicing tool, it is now a full-fledged accounting app. It’s ideal for freelancers and small businesses due to its ease of use and intuitive design. Larger companies will want a more robust tool to be able to cover all avenues.

Notable FreshBooks features:

• Connectivity to Stripe
• Data import from financial institutions
• Automated reminders for late payments
• Double-entry accounting

Best value for: Freelancers and small businesses

Platform: Web browser, Apple and Android devices, Mac and Windows OS

Xero — Best all-around accounting

Xero keeps being the strongest contender to the leading QuickBooks in the accounting world. And for those of you managing a bigger company, it will be a better option than FreshBooks. In order to compete, they had to expand their palette of integrations and offer features very few in the market did. But it does come with a price.

Notable Xero features:

• Double-entry accounting
• 800+ integrations
• Unlimited users
• Project management
• Multi-currency support

Best value for: Mid-large sized businesses

Platform: Cloud-based

Wave — Best free accounting software

Wave is an excellent tool for freelancers and small businesses which plan to remain small. It provides all the necessary tools and features without having to pay a hefty monthly price. It’s especially useful for service-based businesses that have a limited budget.

Notable Wave features:

• Account coaching (for an additional fee)
• Cloud storage and automatic backups
• Multi-business support 
• Unlimited collaborators

Best value for: Freelancers and small businesses

Platform: Cloud-based, for Apple and Android devices

6. Document storing and sharing tools

When it comes to in-office (or remote) collaboration, having easy access to sharing and storing data is crucial. You also need a tool that facilitates communication between teams, helping project transparency. A good tool for this aspect of the work should feature:

• intuitive and easy to use interface
• a platform with varying degrees of access
• easy storing and sharing of data
• integrated chat rooms/other communication channels
• project/task boards and progress visuals/reminders

How well your staff collaborates mainly depends on their own dynamic. However, a quality document sharing/storing tool can make communication much easier.

Bit.ai — Best versatile tool

Versatility is everything with storing and sharing documents. That’s what Bit.ai is all about — flawless search options and document organization, dynamic environment, and easy-to-use platform.

Also, Bit.ai supports both small and large teams, as well as guests outside your work environment.

Notable Bit.ai features:

• Modern and intuitive UX
• Excellent organizational structure
• Customizable work structures
• Team collaboration

Best for: Small and mid-sized businesses

Platform: Cloud-based 

Evernote Business — Best multipurpose document storage

While Evernote Business doesn’t seem as versatile as some of its competitors when it comes to advanced features, it’s a fine tool in and of itself. It makes document sharing, archiving and storing much easier.

Notable Evernote Business features:

• User activity monitoring
• Limited access and restrictions setup
• Supports multiple file types (audio, video, documents, pdfs, spreadsheets, etc)
• Offline access

Best value for: Small-mid- large-sized businesses, too pricey for freelancers

Platform: Cloud-based, for Apple and Android devices, Mac and Windows OS

Dropbox Business — Largest file storage

Dropbox Business is an upgraded version of the regular dropbox software. It offers a good set of features that a document management software needs today.

Notable Dropbox Business features:

• A large number of integrations

• Ease of access and sharing with clients
• Starts at 3TB of storage, with the option to expand for no charge
• Simple and easy to use

Best value for: Small-mid- large-sized businesses, too pricey for freelancers

Platform: Cloud-based, for Apple and Android devices, Mac, Windows, and Linux OS

Wrapping up

We’ve seen that finding the right business management software isn’t as easy as we think. It requires you to know what aspects of a business can be automated, and to what extent. You need to know what it is that your business needs to grow and improve, and if the appropriate software will help. Because with the right tools, your work will be streamlined better, you save yours and your employees’ time and boost overall productivity.

If you’re not new to business management software, we’d like to hear more from you and your experiences with different applications. We value each opinion, so if you’d like to share it with us, you can do so by sending us your thoughts to blogfeedback@clockify.me.

Moreover, the rise of accounting software has offered a much needed break for everyone that has to dabble in finances, tax, and accounting processes.

So, we decided to scour the web and find the best accounting software that you can use for free. We tested loads of accounting software and carefully pin-pointed the ones we believe to be the best on the market right now.

Therefore, don’t fret, because the following segments include:

• The factors that went into our decision when choosing the best accounting software,
• The list of tested apps with a detailed breakdown of how each app works,
• The necessary information regarding the intricacies behind the software (pricing, pros, and cons), and
• A small part explaining the modern-day application of the said software.

What are the best accounting tools?

After testing some of the best accounting software with free trials and plans, we’ve narrowed it down to 6 apps that we believe take the crown:

• Clockify — best for expense management,
• Zoho Books — best for invoicing,
• ZipBooks — best integrations,
• Odoo — best for AI invoicing,
• Wave Accounting — best for payroll, and
• ProfitBooks — best for tracking account activities.

Clockify — best for expense management

Clockify is a time tracking software that, simply put, tracks your projects’ progress throughout the day. However, due to a number of integrated features, businesses can effortlessly track and manage expenses with Clockify.

What does Clockify offer?

Using Clockify as an employer comes with a number of benefits that make your day-to-day extremely easy. Also, your accounting team won’t be in need of a separate accounting software if they’re Clockify users since it lets them:

• Set cost and billable rates,
• Mark hours as billable/non-billable,
• Track billable hours,
• See and analyze the time in reports, 
• Create invoices, and
• Send tracked time to integrated payroll software.

For starters, Clockify gives you an overview of your employees’ work hours that can be recorded through the Timer (automatically) or Timesheets (manually). You can mark time entries as billable or non-billable.

To get an accurate portrayal of billable hours, you should instruct your clients or employees to define their hourly rates.

In the end, all their earnings are automatically calculated based on their billable time, and you can view them in Reports. Either way, you get the numbers you need in order to prepare invoice documentation, as well as payroll and tax calculations, all while staying compliant to FLSA and DCAA requirements.

The data is later broken down in the Attendance Reports, which can later be exported through PDF, CSV, and Excel files.

Why is Clockify best for expense management?

As a Clockify user myself, I’ve always loved the number of things you can do within the app — from time tracking and requesting time off to creating invoices within minutes.

However, what I found most useful from an accounting perspective was the expense tracking functionality.

Namely, Clockify lets you track and record expenses in different categories: fixed fees and unit-based expenses. 

Expenses such as day rates, retainers, overtime pay, reimbursements, salaries can easily be marked as fixed fees and reported to invoices. 

If, on the other hand, you have to account for office materials that are not fixed fees, you can do so by marking them as additional unit-based expenses. The expense tracking data can also be recorded and submitted via mobile if you’ve installed the Android or the iOS Clockify app.

Another handy feature I liked was the fact that you can create invoices that include travel expenses. What makes the process so appealing is the fact that you can attach receipts to your records and have all your expenses accounted for.

Overall, it makes the entire process of expense tracking much easier and more efficient, especially for employees that do not know much about accounting

Clockify’s pros

• Its intuitive interface lets employees and clients from various fields track time and expenses easily with no prior training, and
• The integration with Quickbooks helps accountants send time entries directly to payroll processing.

Clockify cons

• There is still not an option to send neither invoices nor expenses directly to Quickbooks.

What’s new in Clockify?

In earlier versions, Clockify workspace admins were able to assign only one currency for all clients within a single workspace — the updated version allows admins to set multiple currencies depending on the currency the client uses.

As of Oct. 12, 2023, Clockify implemented a feature where employees can switch between projects and tasks via kiosk.

Best fit for: Businesses of all sizes in need of expense management 

Zoho Books — best for invoicing

If you’re in need of an all-around accounting software that puts the I in invoicing, you’ve found it. Zoho Books offers a variety of accounting solutions, from vendor bills and expenses to tracking billable and non-billable hours.

What does Zoho Books offer?

After signing up for Zoho Books, its users can fully customize their account with the specific needs for their business, all while using a double-entry accounting system — recording of financial transactions in two accounts (liability and equity). 

The system helps ensure accuracy in recording financial data — If there is an error in one entry, it will result in an imbalance, making it easier to detect and correct mistakes.

Once set up, the users can perform some of the following:

• Create invoices,
• Upload expense receipts and track their payments,
• Upload stock details and keep track of them in the inventory, and
• Import bank statements and transactions directly into Zoho Books.

Thanks to Zoho Books’ integration with many payment gateways, users can import their bank statements and stay on top of their account activities at all times. When you combine that with time tracking capabilities that track your billable hours and seamless invoicing capabilities, you’ll be the master of managing receivables at all times.

Why is Zoho Books the best for invoicing?

Creating invoices has always been a drag for me, especially when I worked as a freelancer. Then, once I realized how incredibly easy the entire process can be, I regretted not finding this software earlier.

The first thing I noticed was how intuitive it was to make a simple invoice.

The software prompts you to choose one of the precrafted invoice templates that are tailored to individual needs. Once you choose one, categories start popping off such as dates and customizable entries.

What’s more, if you frequently craft the same or similar invoices, you can check the Recurring Invoices option. It allows you to automatize the entire process and never worry about making invoices again.

Finally, the last thing I liked was the fact that you could mark the payment plan you wish:

• Cash,
• Cheque, and
• Web payment.

Zoho Books pros

• Incorporates all accounting features a business might need in one software, and
• Displays all financial information for its users in a simple format and offers automation features to save plenty of time.

Zoho Books cons

• The automation features that make Zoho Books special, require some coding knowledge.

What’s new in Zoho Books?

As of October 13, 2023, Zoho Books users can integrate with Zoho Notebook and enable their employees to have their very own notepad within the app.

Also, the October update now allows users to import up to 2GB of CSV files and export user files in CSV, XLS, XLSX, and TSV, allowing them to choose the format most suitable for their requirements.

Best fit for: Large businesses in need of versatile invoicing software

ZipBooks — best integrations

Are you in need of a software that lets you share and work on financial documents with your team? ZipBooks is a top choice when it comes to integrating with other team collaboration software.

What does ZipBooks offer?

The first thing that appealed to me was ZipBooks’ easy-to-use platform — everything you need is displayed right from the home dashboard. The dropdown menu offers a variety of functions, such as:

• Payments,
• Documentation,
• Reports,
• Invoices, and
• Billing.

When it comes to managing expenses, ZipBooks is one of the top applications to do it effortlessly. Their Expense Management functionality lets users record and report all payments while saving receipts for future transactions.

Another excellent point of this software is smart accounting. In other words, features such as Business Health and Invoice Quality Score help you:

• Practice clean bookkeeping with smart suggestions,
• Measure your “success” by keeping track of payments and repeating customers, and
• Craft a quality invoice by suggesting edits to your document.

Finally, I noticed a unique feature — Location Tracking.

Namely, you can use this feature for locations that you’d like to track and identify matters such as unnecessary expenses and profits. 

Firstly, choose the locations on the maps that you use for your businesses. Then, tag all the transactions when you click on the said locations and identify areas that need improvement by tracking time and expenses on a daily level. 

Such a feature comes in handy when a company, for example, has multiple stores around the city and you want to investigate certain problems with bookkeeping or to find clues on how to improve the business.

Why does ZipBooks have the best integrations?

Almost all accounting software I’ve tried have some ability to integrate with other team collaboration apps. However, ZipBooks seems to have the most diverse options available.

You’ve created an invoice and want to share the time tracking results with your team? Simply install the integration for Slack, and you’ll have the option to share your tracked time.

Speaking of Slack, the user experience is greatly improved with the use of quick commands. After you connect Slack to ZipBooks, typing simple commands that require no coding knowledge helps you get accounting data in seconds. How?

Well, for example, typing “/zb-who-owes-me” will give you a ZipBooks overview with a list of clients that have unpaid invoices.

Or, maybe you want to have your team members work on an assignment with you? ZipBooks’ integration with Google Workspace lets you use a variety of platforms such as Sheets and Docs.

ZipBooks pros

• Integrates with a number of different apps, such as Zapier, Slack, HubSpot, Google Workspace, Trello, and others.

ZipBooks cons

• ZipBooks mobile platform offers less range than the web version, and
• Free plan is quite limited in comparison to the premium versions.

What’s new in ZipBooks?

Even though the mobile version of ZipBooks is still limited, the 2023 updated version has gained better functionality in terms of improved time tracking results and marking paid payments from invoices.

Best fit for: Large businesses with multiple offices which require expense tracking

Odoo Accounting — best for AI invoicing

If you’re a small business owner and you’re looking to expand, you’ll want to cut back on unnecessary costs. Well, by investing in Odoo, you’ll get an open-source platform with a ton of business-related software.

What does Odoo offer?

First off, Odoo is a multi-functional platform that offers a variety of apps that modern businesses use. 

Such apps include:

• CRM (Customer Relationship Management),
• Project management,
• Accounting,
• Sales,
• Manufacturing,
• Inventory management, and 
• Purchasing.

As an open-source platform, Odoo lets its users change the design and dabble in coding to make the software more accessible and user-friendly for their environment. 

As a mere novice in coding, I couldn’t really experience the power of customization, but I could see the benefits of it for many developers, such as:

• Changing the appearance of the platform,
• Redesigning the dashboard, and
• Making the experience more user-friendly, tailored to their requirements.

When it comes to accounting, it’s important to note that Odoo integrates with over 28,000 banks around the world.

However, what I found beneficial when using this app was the Trial balance feature. 

Simply put, a Trial balance offers a snapshot of a company’s financial position at a given moment, with an emphasis on the equality of debits and credits.

Odoo supports real-time data updates when it comes to Trial balance, which means that transactions entered into the system are noted in the financial reports. This real-time functionality is beneficial for obtaining an accurate and up-to-date trial balance.

Why is Odoo the best for AI invoicing?

Speaking of accounting, Odoo is perfect when it comes to AI invoicing. 

Getting used to the design and interface wasn’t intuitive at first, but I gave it a shot. Once I crafted my first invoice, Odoo’s AI-powered system kept track of all my entries for future processing. As I created more invoices, the software recognized the similarities and helped me create patterns in seconds.

Furthermore, the AI for mobile helps you create invoices by simply capturing an image of a receipt and taking the essentials such as dates, amounts, and names. Naturally, the type of receipt does influence the final outcome and a manual help is often required, but it still helps automate the entire process.

Odoo’s pros

• Importing and exporting accounting data to other Odoo apps which can later be shared in your workspace, and
• Affordable plans for moderate and large-scale businesses.

Odoo’s cons

• Even though Odoo comes with a free plan, it only allows one user to use one app, which presents an issue for smaller businesses.

What’s new in Odoo?

As of November 9, 2023, Odoo made the switch from its 16.0 to 17.0 version which brought upon many changes for all apps. When it comes to accounting, the most notable difference comes in the multi-page thumbnail that lets the users scan through all their previous invoices at a glance.

Also, Odoo’s Scam Protection checks vendors and clients’ bank information and searches for shady bank inputs and alerts you if it finds something suspicious.

Best fit for: Moderate and large-size businesses

Wave Accounting — best for payroll

In order to get the most out of an accounting software, many opt for the one with the most features, usually the one with payroll. Well, if you’re in the same boat, Wave Accounting might be the best option.

What does Wave Accounting offer?

In general, Wave Accounting is often the preferred software by many freelancers and small businesses. Why? It’s due to its simplicity, number of features, and most importantly, free plan.

I was able to test out both Invoicing and Accounting functionalities in its free plan, while Payments and other pro features come in the paid plans.

After dabbling around the software, my eyes came across the Mobile Receipt feature. Namely, by using the mobile app, users can scan receipts by utilizing OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology and import the numbers directly into invoices. Furthermore, the data is stored on a cloud server for further use. 

Also, Wave Accounting can connect to users’ bank accounts and facilitate the transaction operations. This feature makes it easier for users to reconcile their financial records and keep track of transactions without manual data entry.

Why is Wave Accounting the best for payroll?

Firstly, it’s important to note that not many accounting software include payroll in their feature repertoire. They usually integrate with other payroll software, so it was great seeing an “all-in-one” software such as Wave Accounting.

Furthermore, I noticed that Wave lets you generate W2 and 1099 forms for tax season, which is a huge plus for US employees.

Also, your employees can input their bank information into the payroll system and get paid within minutes, without needing additional software to calculate payments.

Wave Accounting’s pros

• Wave Accounting offers financial consultation to its customers. Essentially, you choose a paid plan to get personalized help from Wave Accounting accountants.
• Navigating around Wave Accounting is quite intuitive and everything is represented simplistically, eliminating the need for any prior training to use the software.

Wave Accounting’s cons

The software is capable of filing and paying state and federal taxes in the US, but only for businesses in certain states:

• Arizona, 
• California,
• Florida, 
• Georgia, 
• Illinois, 
• Indiana, 
• Minnesota, 
• New York, 
• North Carolina, 
• Tennessee, 
• Texas, 
• Virginia, 
• Washington, and 
• Wisconsin.

What’s new in Wave Accounting?

The newest update released in November of 2023 presented Wave Checkouts — a new feature that delivers solutions for upfront payments or standardized payments without creating invoices every single time.

You’ll have to enter specific information for your payments such as descriptions and amounts and, once you’re done, you’ll go to Checkouts and generate a link or QR code that you can share with your customers and make payments much easier.

Best fit for: Mid-sized businesses looking for a all-in-one software

ProfitBooks — best for tracking accounting activities

Finally, we’re down to the last software that most people will choose due to its simplicity and lack of complicated features. Even though it’s not the obvious choice for larger businesses, most smaller entrepreneurs and freelancers will undoubtedly benefit from using ProfitBooks due to its free plan.

What does ProfitBooks offer?

When it comes to invoicing, ProfitBooks surely does offer a lot in the free plan. Namely, users can create an unlimited number of invoices. Similar to Clockify, ProfitBooks lets their users dabble with different currencies, which is a fine solution for freelancers that work for different clients.

Every invoicing document that ProfitBooks lets you create contains the SAC (Service Accounting Code that applies to all the services rendered within India) code, place of supply, contact details of a customer, tax breakup, etc. Therefore, you can rest assured knowing that your invoices will be free of human error and on point.

Why is ProfitBooks the best for tracking accounting activities?

The thing that immediately caught my attention as soon as I created the account was the fact that audit logs were displayed right there on the dashboard. Generally, recent activity and audit logs are included in the paid versions of accounting software, which is why I was pleasantly surprised.

Furthermore, as I inspected the functionalities of the app, I noticed that Inventory Management is one of the key features that ProfitBooks offers. Namely, it allows you to track your entire inventory lifecycle, as well as manage product stock levels. You can further track your inventory status’ from the dashboard as well, thanks to the recent activity panel.

What’s new in ProfitBooks?

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a value-added tax levied on goods and services that are sold for domestic consumption. Users from India can rest assured knowing that ProfitBooks is designed to be GST-compliant.

ProfitBooks’ pros

• Enables users to match their bank transactions with entries in the accounting system, ensuring accuracy in financial records.

Profitbooks’ cons

• Lacks pro accounting features and payroll.

Best fit for: Smaller entrepreneurs and freelancers will undoubtedly benefit from using ProfitBooks due to its free plan.

Why are accounting tools useful?

Even if you’re not tech-savvy, you can use accounting tools to deal with mundane tasks that would generally take a lot of time to finish. 

In general, accounting tools are great for:

• Tracking expenses,
• Producing financial reports,
• Reviewing and auditing accounting records,
• Performing tax calculations, and
• Collaborating with your accounting team.

With them, you’ll automate and speed up your accounting tasks, as well as minimize the risk of errors, and even save money.

In conversation with CAKE.com’s Renewal Specialist Gordana Veljković, we found out that accounting software do not only help businesses automate their processes, but they also minimize human error:

“In many conversations I had with our clients, I almost always encountered the same issues — customers complained how manual accounting often caused errors in calculations and damages ensued to both their business and their customers.”

Furthermore, she shared her thoughts on Clockify and how it helps her customers resolve these issues:

“Once I explained the benefits that automation brings in accounting, my clients found true relief once they realized they can perform pretty much everything with Clockify — from calculating billable hours to exporting data.”

What criteria helped determine the accounting apps we chose?

According to CAKE.com’s accounting specialist, Marijana Stojković, most accounting software serve a similar purpose, and choosing the right one is a rather difficult task:

“All accounting software are similar and choosing the right one boils down to what you need exactly. The key is in the small intricacies and details that affect your day-to-day as an accountant.”

She further noted that tasks seem effortless if the software in question covers a variety of core operating functions:

“What makes my life easier is the ability to create a database within the software where I can store additional data and information regarding payments, accounts, etc. Also, exporting files in various formats and general customizability is crucial in choosing an accounting software.”

Therefore, we decided to search for the little details by testing the apps and using them as an accountant would, thus paying attention to the following and finding the good and the bad along the way:

• User-friendly interface — due to the abundance of features, finding your way around the app is crucial, especially when dealing with a number of invoices and financial statements, 
• Core functions — every good accounting software should possess a number of functionalities that seamlessly help the user track expenses, produce financial reports, review records and taxes, and process payments, and
• Integrations — every business’ needs expand way beyond accounting. Most modern businesses use various software for time tracking, project management, and payroll that often integrate with accounting software, and thus lighten the workload and make processes more efficient.

Final thoughts: Accounting software improves the efficiency of businesses of all sizes

You might think that accounting software is not necessary in order to run a successful business, and you might be right. 

However, you’ll spend a lot of money and resources to perform operations that software can run in mere seconds.

Therefore, it doesn’t really matter which software you choose, as long as it satisfies the needs of your business and helps you run your operations smoothly. Give it a shot and you won’t regret it.

What accounting software do you use? Does it help you more than the apps we included in the list? Let us know at blogfeedback@clockify.me for a chance to be featured in this or one of our other articles. Also, if you liked this blog post, share it with someone you think could benefit from it.

Even though times have significantly changed since this world-renowned author shed these words of wisdom, the statement still holds true. Nowadays, although the prospects of eating an actual live frog are daunting, we can interpret these “frogs” as the tasks we dread.

Stick with us in this blog post and we’ll shed some light on the following topics:

• The meaning behind Twain’s “frog”
• Brian Tracy’s implementation of “eating the frog”
• Tips on mastering and prioritizing one’s time in a work day
• Advantages and disadvantages of using this technique
• How to use and apply the “eat the frog” technique

What does the phrase “Eat that frog” mean?

“Eating that frog” means you have to do the task you dread first, before all other tasks. Once you have “eaten” your “frog”, you can rest assured that the worst is behind you, so you’re likely to take on a positive approach throughout your day.

In other words, “the frog” is an abstract representation of the obligation you’ve been putting off, hoping it’ll resolve itself or get done in the meantime — which is a faulty, preconceived idea that leads to decreased performance.

Who said “Eat that frog”?

Brian Tracy, author of one of the best books on productivity — Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time — was the one who coined the term, inspired by the previously mentioned Mark Twain’s quote.

In his book, Tracy advocates that focusing on your most important task, i.e. “ugliest frog”, is the best way to gain success, status, respect, and happiness in life — hence the whimsical name of his time management technique, i.e. “Eat that frog”.

Aside from recognizing the issue, in this book, Tracy also goes in-depth to showcase some of the best techniques to actually deal with your “frogs” in a way that can be accomplished by anyone.

Who can use the “Eat that frog” technique?

The highest percentage of people that are looking into this topic are usually business-oriented people searching for creative and quick solutions to boost their productivity levels. However, “eating your frogs” can be applied to various fields other than professional ones.

In essence, this technique is great for anyone who:

• Juggles multiple projects at a time,
• Faces deadlines throughout the week,
• Has trouble focusing on a specific task,
• Isn’t used to a daily routine, and
• Has issues prioritizing tasks.

What tasks can be “frogs”?

In essence, any task can be a “frog” — as long as you procrastinate to no end before doing it.

However, the following types of tasks are most likely to be classified as “frogs”:

An extremely difficult task

This is a task you keep putting off because:

• It would take too much of your time, 
• It’s too difficult, or 
• It’s simply boring.

For example, your “frog” may be doing an extensive research for a project, or filling out a lot of accounting paperwork.

An extremely important task

This is a task you keep putting off because it’s too important to be glossed over — but, it also seems to be too demanding for you to fully focus on it for a longer period of time. 

Quite often, the fear of negative feedback or undesired outcome can greatly affect your confidence and willingness to do a certain task. Therefore, you postpone it until the very last minute and often find yourself in a time-scramble.

For example, it can be a call to a demanding client, or cost and time estimates you have to set for an elusive project.

An extremely important and difficult task

Sometimes, if you’re really out of luck, a task can be both boring and crucial for your work.

If you are a student, you might find yourself in a situation where you have to finish a project or an essay in a couple of hours because you’ve procrastinated for too long. Writing a 50-page paper is difficult enough as it is, let alone with time constraints — especially if you’re working towards a passing grade.

How to “Eat that frog”?

The gist to the “Eat that frog” time management technique is simple:

1. Label your tasks to identify your “frog”
2. Work on your “frog” first thing in the morning
3. Once done with the “frog”, shift your focus to less crucial tasks in your schedule

In order to properly label your tasks and identify frogs, you’ll need to prioritize — by using the Eisenhower Matrix time management technique.

By proxy, the Eisenhower Matrix labels tasks according to their level of importance and urgency — but the system works just as well with “frogs”. 

First, you’ll need to create a list of tasks you have to do the following day. Then, divide your to-do items into 4 quadrants, describing how much you want and need to do a task:

• Quadrant 1 — tasks you don’t want to do, but need to do
• Quadrant 2 — tasks you want to do, and also need to do
• Quadrant 3 — tasks you want to do, but don’t need to do
• Quadrant 4 — tasks you don’t want to do, and also don’t need to do

Your “frogs” are always the tasks you place in Quadrant 1 — i.e. the daily tasks you don’t want to do, but still need to do. At the start of each workday, simply work on the task from Quadrant 1 — only once you finish this task, should you move on to the tasks from the other quadrants.

It may seem relatively easy to accomplish, but the gist is not in the order in which you perform the tasks — it’s setting the precedent that you must not move on the next quadrant until you’ve completed the tasks from the previous one. 

Once you get accustomed to the routine of jumping through quadrants, you should notice a spike in your overall performance. Therefore, applying the Eisenhower Matrix method can be your first step towards learning how to “Eat the frog”.

What if you have 2 “frogs”?

No two ugly frogs are equally ugly, and no two tasks are equally problematic.

But, when in doubt about several potential “frogs”, Tracy advises you use the ABCDE technique to identify the task you should tackle first.

Once again, you should create a list of tasks you have to do the following day. Then, label them with letters:

• “A” — your most important task, the one most likely to have serious consequences if you don’t finish it.
• “B” —the next most important task, the one not as serious in terms of consequences, but still important.
• “C” —the task that you could do, but it wouldn’t have any real consequences if you didn’t do it.
• “D” — the task that you can delegate to someone, to free more time for doing the “A” task.
• “E” — the task that you don’t really have to do, so you can eliminate it.

The important thing is that you don’t move on to the “B” task, or any other task, until you’re finished with the “A” task. 

Differentiating between tasks and determining which one is more important than the other could be problematic. So, the best way to organize your time is to make a list of tasks and put them all together. 

Take into account the factors that are universal, i.e. — deadlines, the time it takes to complete them, the level of research, and difficulty — and you’ll have a clearer picture regarding the distribution of tasks to each label (ABCDE).

“Eating that frog” with an app

There are several apps that are designed to help you “Eat your frog” — let’s see how you can apply this time management technique with the free time tracker Clockify:

1. First, create a project where you’ll manage your regular tasks and “frogs”.

2. Add tasks to this project – when naming the tasks,  implement the ABCDE technique to mark them in order of importance

3. Once you have a clear list of your tasks for that day, you can select the “TASK A” in the time tracker and start working on it, before starting work on “TASK B”.

4. You can leave “TASK C” for later, delegate, or assign the “TASK D” to other members of your team in the project’s Task tab, and simply delete the “E” task from your schedule.

Theories that support “Eating that frog”

A couple of theories support the premise that you should do the most important task first, as is advised in the “Eat that frog” technique.

According to the Serial-position effect, when people have to remember items on a list, they are more likely to remember the first and last items better than the middle ones.

Also, according to the Attention decrement hypothesis, people are more likely to pay attention to the information they hear first, than the information that follows.

This effect and hypothesis support the idea that you should do the most important or most difficult task first, because you are more likely to be able to focus on it at the beginning of the day.

Advantages of “Eating that frog”

It might seem scary, but dealing with your frog often outweighs the discomfort and cons that come with putting it off. 

Here’s why.

“Eating that frog” develops a positive addiction

In his book, Tracy also refers to developing a type of “positive addiction” that stems from the sense of accomplishment you get when you finish a complex task. The release of endorphins — neurotransmitters that increase the pleasure levels in your brain — becomes associated with your work and regular completion of tasks, which in turn develops into a positive addiction. 

He also notes that individuals who develop this type of “dependency” often experience high levels of clarity and confidence, even outside the professional spheres of life.

“Eating that frog” is an impact-driven technique

Doing the most difficult or the most important task first thing in the morning will have a great positive impact on the rest of your day.

This little achievement will help energize and motivate you, and you will glide through the rest of the day because you’ll know that all the other tasks that await you are easier.

“Eating that frog” makes prioritizing easier

When you start thinking about your tasks in order to find “frogs”, you’ll gain a great perspective about your daily workload.

You’ll be more likely to recognize what tasks aren’t important, what tasks you can discard entirely and what tasks you should really focus on.

In contrast, if you don’t prioritize your tasks, and do your work in random order, you may spend too much time on trivial tasks, and have no time left for your most important assignments.

“Eating that frog” leaves you with more time for enjoyable tasks

Everyone has a certain type of task they don’t enjoy.

Some don’t like creating project estimates, some don’t like writing reports, and some don’t like making phone calls or answering emails.

In any case, if you do these “dreadful” tasks first thing in the morning, you’ll feel like you have more time for tasks you actually enjoy.

Disadvantages of “Eating that frog”

This time management technique also comes with some disadvantages — at least to some people, and in some situations.

Here’s why “Eating that frog” may be a challenge to you.

“Eating that frog” makes the start of the day difficult

Focusing on a new “frog” each day can be difficult, because we are essentially labeling out the start of our workday as the time for our worst ghouls, which may be demoralizing on its own.

But, discipline and practice can help you finish these worst tasks faster.

In order to finish these “frogs” faster, you can practice your “ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task”, or “deep work”, as Cal Newport calls it.

When you start this demanding task, don’t shift your focus on anything else until you’ve finished it; you can take breaks, but when you’re working, avoid distractions.

By practicing your ability to perform “deep work”,  you’ll finish these important tasks faster, move on to “regular” tasks quicker, and even finish your daily workload earlier in the day.

You’ll have a great sense of progress, which will help you feel more motivated, and your productivity levels will be on the rise.

“Eating that frog” may be too rigid and impractical at times

The rules of the “Eat that frog” technique state that you must tackle the most important/difficult task first, which can be a strict rule.

What if your most important task changes during the course of the day, and you have to focus on something else?

In such cases, it’s best that you act according to your new priorities. For example, you can add the new task on your ABCDE list and label it as “A”, marking all the other tasks as less urgent.

In the end, the best you can do to thwart the disadvantages and make the most of the advantages of this technique, use the “Eat that frog” rules as a starting point — and tweak them to fit your needs.

“Eating that frog” may not be dynamic enough for everyone

Having a workplace routine is a good thing when you need to finish a lot of tasks each day. But, it can also be overwhelming with each passing day. This results in decreased productivity due to lack of motivation, which in turn results in employee disengagement.

In relation to our topic, the ABCDE technique combined with “the frog” can nurture a lack of creativity, which may reflect poorly on your performance. Therefore, it’s important that you learn to recognize when this technique is useful and when you should go “off the books”.

Tips for “Eating that frog” easier

You’ve made it here, read everything, and you’re still left confused on how to resolve the issue of doing your worst task first. Well, here are some frog-eating tips that’ll surely be of benefit to you.

Practice planning

The “Eat that frog” technique is all about planning, as you: 

• Think about your tasks
• Write your ideas down
• Make priorities
• Identify your goals
• Take necessary actions

It may sound time-consuming to write down all your tasks each day, but this actually saves you time. According to Tracy, 1 minute of planning may save you as much as 5 –10 minutes during execution, if planned out right.

As time goes by, creating these lists and prioritizing tasks on paper will become a habit, and you’ll learn to do it faster, which will save you even more time.

Build a sense of momentum

Once you have made your plan, don’t hesitate, just dive right into your work. Focus on what you are doing, and focus on your goals and objectives.

You’ll notice that it’s much harder to start working on a task than to continue working on it. This is known as building your momentum — once we start going, we’ll keep going until we reach a sense of accomplishment. 

So, if you feel demoralized at the thought of doing your most demanding tasks first thing in the morning, remember that the first step is always the hardest. It’ll be easier once you gain momentum and really focus on the task.

Parse the tasks into smaller chunks

When working, people love the feeling of reaching their goals, because they love the sense of completion.

But, reaching the end goal of a project may seem far from reach, especially when you’re just starting.

In order to get that sense of completion at equal intervals in the project, and not just at its end, you should parse your project into smaller tasks — this will make your goals seem more manageable, because you’ll be striving for one part of that goal at a time.

For example, your “frog” is a project you have to complete in 2 hours.

So, you put this project on paper, and notice you can parse it into 3 tasks — these tasks are parts of a larger goal, and you can treat them like mini-goals you have to complete.

Once you complete each of the three mini-goals, you should take a short break and reward yourself for your efforts thus far.

You’ll feel a sense of completion, and the end of the project will come quicker than expected, at least from a psychological point of view.

Final words

Eating your frog, i.e. dealing with your most demanding task first thing in the morning is like the wind beneath your wings when it comes to your work schedule — because finishing 1 crucial task will always bring your quicker, more efficient results, less fatigue, and a stronger sense of accomplishment than finishing 5 out of 6 mundane tasks.

And that’s why you should always aim for it.