This quote nicely sums up what performance review is all about. When done right, performance reviews allow you to recognize your team members’ abilities and identify areas for improvement.

But, if you’re saying performance reviews are challenging, we hear you. To help you out, we’ve created this comprehensive write-up.

In this article, you will learn:

• What performance review is all about,
• The different methods of performance review,
• The major steps involved in the performance review process, and
• Methods of evaluating yourself as an employee.

What is a performance review?

Performance review (also called performance evaluation or appraisal) is a formal process of evaluating employees’ work performance, setting employees’ goals or targets, and providing suggestions for improvement. Managers use different methods of performance review for employee evaluation. 

Apart from managers, the HR team, supervisors, psychologists, and employees can also be part of the performance review process.

During the performance review, managers evaluate both: 

• Hard skills, such as technical skills, job knowledge, etc., and 
• Soft skills, like communication or time management.

While the skills assessed differ based on the job role and the company’s goals, some of the commonly evaluated skills include:

• Job knowledge,
• Communication skills,
• Proactiveness,
• Willingness to learn and improve,
• Teamwork,
• Time and attendance,
• Accountability,
• Problem solving, and
• Culture and values.

In the next section, we will discuss different evaluation methods to help you make an informed decision.

The methods of a performance review

There are many methods of crafting a performance review. In this article, we’ll cover some of the most common performance review methods including:

• 360-degree feedback,
• Management By Objectives,
• Forced distribution,
• Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale,
• Assessment center,
• Psychological review,
• 720-degree feedback, and 
• Custom methods.

Here’s a quick summary of the features, pros, and cons of these methods:

Performance review method #1: 360-degree feedback 

Unlike traditional performance appraisals, which typically involve feedback from a single supervisor or manager, the 360-degree appraisal collects feedback from multiple sources.  

These sources are the individuals connected to the employee including:

• Colleagues,
• Clients,
• Vendors,
• Peers,
• Customers, and
• Supervisors. 

As these individuals know a lot about the employee’s behavior and performance in the workplace, they are your source of information when you want to collect data about the employee.

However, during this process, the sources usually stay anonymous.

The survey provider Qualtrics suggests including several categories of employee evaluation you can analyze for this method, such as: 

• Self-awareness, 
• Communication, 
• Leadership, and 
• Teamwork.  

For example, these are some of the questions that help evaluators assess an employee’s communication skills, according to Aleksandra Babic, Human Resources Generalist at CAKE.com:

“Does the employee effectively communicate with co-workers, managers, and customers? How often? How does the employee react to negative feedback? In what way could the employee contribute to better communication? Are they open to questions, suggestions, or proposals?”

The pros and cons of 360-degree feedback method

The benefits of the 360-degree feedback method are:

• It offers unbiased employee feedback since there are different sources of data, and
• It helps discover issues that may be the cause of an employee’s struggle.

In addition, studies have shown that using the 360-degree feedback method improves teamwork and communication.

On the other hand, here are the major drawbacks of this method:

• It’s not effective for small organizations where there are fewer sources (fewer managers, customers, etc), and
• It requires more time to process data from all sources.

According to Steve Lovig, HR Consultant at Flex HR, another disadvantage is that most people might hesitate to provide any negative feedback on the employee.

“Peers and others the employee works with are often hesitant to say anything negative since they “THINK” — whether true or not — that their input will impact the amount of increase other employees might be eligible for. People don’t want to keep others from getting an increase.”

Performance review method #2: Management By Objectives (MBO) 

Peter Drucker, an Austrian-born American management consultant, introduced the term Management By Objectives in 1954. The goal of this method is to determine the company’s objectives and encourage employees to focus on fulfilling them.

Here are steps involved in the MBO process:

1. The management defines or modifies the company’s goals,
2. Employees set individual goals with the help of their managers, 
3. Managers evaluate employees’ performance by comparing it against the company’s objectives, and
4. Continuous feedback from managers helps employees achieve their goals.

When employees show excellent results, they get rewarded with promotion or a raise. If employees have unproductive results, they will receive further training. 

For the MBO method to be effective, companies need to have fixed goals that are aligned with the SMART goals. So, companies should have aims that are:

• S — specific, 
• M — measurable, 
• A — achievable, 
• R — realistic, and 
• T — time-sensitive.

The pros and cons of the MBO method

Here are the major advantages of the MBO method:

• It provides employees with a clear understanding of their job duties,
• It promotes transparency and hierarchy in the workplace,
• It encourages employees to contribute to the company’s success, and 
• It promotes workers’ loyalty to the company.

However, there are some downsides of the MBO method:

• It can sometimes cause performance failure due to factors beyond employee’s control, such as availability of resources or a toxic work culture,
• It can make employees feel like machines, not individuals as they are expected to work their way towards the set goals, no matter what, and
• It leads to lack of creativity and proactivity as workers are bound to follow fixed objectives.

Performance review method #3: Forced distribution  

In the Forced distribution method (or Forced ranking method), evaluators classify employees into 3 categories: 

• Top, 
• Poor, and 
• Average performers. 

Instead of using predetermined performance criteria, managers compare an employee’s performance to that of their co-workers.

Here’s how this method works — a manager, a supervisor, or a director evaluates each employee in categories, such as: 

• Quality of work, 
• Knowledge, 
• Attitude, 
• Dependability, and 
• Cooperation. 

Based on how they perform, employees can be classified into 3 groups, and this type of distribution is called the 20-70-10 formula:

• 20% of employees are A performers (the top performers), 
• 70% of employees are B performers (average performers), and
• 10% of employees are C performers (extremely low levels of performance). 

When you plot this as a graph, you will get a bell-shaped curve like this:

As you can see, the middle of this bell-shaped curve represents average performers (70% of employees fall into this category). The two ends of the curve represent the top performers (10% on each side of the curve) and the poor performers (5% on each side of the curve). 

The pros and cons of the Forced distribution method

Here are the positive aspects of the Forced distribution method:

• It maintains consistency in measuring employee performance, regardless of the number of workers in the company,
• It reveals new leaders of the company — once the A performers are discovered, the company management can start training such employees for their future leadership roles, and 
• It’s easy to conduct such reviews because the process is the same for all employees.

Nevertheless, the Forced distribution method has several disadvantages as well:

• It can cause unhealthy competition and conflicts between employees, 
• Employees might feel that their performance is underrated, especially if they end up in the C category, and 
• Many HR specialists consider the Forced distribution method unsuitable, because some organizations use it when they need to downsize.

Another downside of the Forced distribution method is the fact that it does not consider the true performance of employees and can demoralize them, according to Steve Lovig.

“The Forced distribution method forces managers to rate a certain percentage of employees as top performers, a larger percentage as average, and a certain percentage as not meeting expectations, regardless of the true performance of the employees. Many may feel the system is unfair; they are being categorized as ‘not meeting’ due to the ‘curve’ (forced ranking), instead of their actual performance.”

Performance review method #4: Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)  

The Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS) method evaluates employee performance by tying it to specific behaviors at the workplace (such as attentive customer service in the customer support field).

The purpose of this method is to compare the employee’s performance and predetermined examples of behavior (how a certain employee should behave). As each job has its own set of specific behaviors that are indicative of their job performance, managers can evaluate employees’ performance accurately. 

Here’s an example of how a company defines the desired examples of behavior. Let’s say that you’re a manager of a coffee shop, and you need to evaluate your employees working at the counter. Their main duties are greeting the customers, taking orders, and handling payments. 

Therefore, you can evaluate your workers in the following categories:

• Customer service, 
• Attendance, 
• Effectiveness, 
• Responsibility, and others.

When it comes to customer service, at the top of your scale should be examples of exceptional employee behavior. For instance, smiling while greeting new customers and using phrases such as:

• Welcome to “XX coffee shop.”
• Can I take your order?

In other words, being polite and friendly to customers, as well as creating a positive atmosphere are some examples of desired employee behaviors. At the bottom of your scale should be examples of unprofessional, unacceptable employee behavior. For instance, being rude and impolite to customers, talking on the phone while taking orders, and not making eye contact with them.

The pros and cons of the BARS method

These are the advantages of the BARS method:

• It provides transparent and concrete evaluation norms with specific examples of employee behavior,
• It offers a clear framework for employees on how to be successful in the workplace, and
• It promotes equality as the performance of each worker is measured the same way.

Then again, there are some drawbacks of the BARS method, too:

• It takes a long time to create different rating scales for various job roles,
• It requires managers to be trained in areas, such as interpersonal skills, goal-setting, or providing constructive feedback, and
• It’s not practical for companies with diverse types of jobs.

Performance review method #5: Assessment center

The assessment center method focuses on creating diverse exercises which simulate various components of the work environment.

The idea behind this technique is to see how employees behave in particular situations at work and how these situations affect their performance. 

This method is handy when the company’s management needs to make decisions about promotions and training needs of employees.

Aside from this, the assessment center method is used during the recruitment process to identify talent.

Here are the different types of exercises evaluators use:

• In-tray exercise: The goal of this exercise is to measure job skills of candidates by giving them tasks that mimic real-world work situations.
• Presentation exercise: Candidates receive a topic in advance on which they have to give a presentation.
• Group discussion exercise: A group of 4 to 8 candidates work together to solve a physical or theoretical problem.
• Competency-based interview: Candidates describe a situation in which they have shown qualities such as leadership, teamwork, etc.
• Role-play exercise: Candidates are asked to imagine themselves in a hypothetical position, for instance, as the CEO of a company. Then, they should explain how they would manage working as a CEO.

There are many professionals involved in the assessment process, including employers, supervisors, HR personnel, consultants, or professional actors.

The pros and cons of the assessment center method

Here are the positive aspects of the assessment center method:

• The data gathered from these exercises makes the selection process much easier and more accurate.
• The skills that employees show during the evaluation process are the true indicators of their current and future performance.
• Ideal for companies that need to recruit a large number of employees or for hiring candidates remotely.

And, here are the negative aspects of this method:

• Time-consuming as it requires considerable planning.
• Can be expensive because it involves professionals from numerous industries.
• May not be suitable for all job roles.

Performance review method #6: Psychological review  

In this performance review method, psychologists perform diverse tests, namely in-depth interviews, psychological tests, and private discussions. By reviewing the results of these tests, psychologists can predict an employee’s future performance.

Qualified psychologists evaluate the main elements of an employee’s work, which are:

1. Interpersonal skills,
2. Cognitive abilities, 
3. Intellectual traits, 
4. Leadership skills, 
5. Personality traits, and
6. Emotional factors.

The tests show how well an employee is suited for a position and helps the management make informed promotion decisions. For example, the psychologist assesses how an employee handles an aggressive customer and other challenging customer-facing situations. Based on the assessment, the management promotes the employee as a customer service team lead. 

The pros and cons of the psychological review 

The benefits of using the psychological review  method are:

• It provides comprehensive data about employees, all their current skills, emotions, and personality type, and
• It reveals new potentials as psychologists can find out some undiscovered employee qualities. Furthermore, this discovery may bring new possibilities for an employee.

The limitations of the psychological review method are:

• Time-consuming and can be quite a complex process due to the necessity for multiple tests and in-depth interviews, and  
• Unpredictable factors may affect the results of the tests. For example, if an employee was nervous during the assessment, the results might be irregular.

While we discussed some of the commonly used methods, many organizations are shifting to other performance review methods that better align with their culture, goals, and the changing expectations of their workforce.

Let’s look at some of these modern performance review methods.

Performance review method #7: 720-degree review 

As you might’ve guessed, the 720-degree review is nothing but the 360-degree done twice over.

In the 720-degree performance review method, there are 2 rounds of feedback:

• In the pre-approach round, the employee gets feedback and suggestions on setting and achieving goals from multiple sources (management, customers, subordinates, etc). The management can also provide training as needed to help the employee achieve the goals, and
• In the post-approach period, the manager evaluates if the employee achieved these goals and provides further feedback as required.

The pros and cons of the 720-degree review method

Here are the advantages of the 720-degree review method:

• It takes a proactive approach to bring out the best in employees,
• It minimizes bias, discrimination, and subjectivity in review, and
• Employees receive guidance to set and achieve goals, reducing the chances of errors.

As with other methods, the 720-degree employee evaluation method also has disadvantages:

• It takes a lot of time to implement the review process, making it unsuitable for companies with time constraints, 
• It may require additional funding to carry out 2 rounds of reviews,
• It’s not suitable for medium or small companies, and
• With multiple people involved in the performance evaluation, the results may not be accurate.

Performance review method #8: Custom performance review

As the name suggests, each company can develop their own method of performance review to align with their goals and workers’ needs.

For instance, Google developed a new system of review called Google Reviews and Development (GRAD) in 2022 based on their employees’ feedback.

The features of the GRAD system are:

• Managers regularly provide feedback and check-in with employees to ensure the workers are on track when it comes to the most important tasks, 
• One of these feedback sessions focuses on discussing the learning and development opportunities at the company, and
• Employees are evaluated with a 5-point rating system where the lowest rating is “not enough impact,” and the highest rating being “transformative impact.”

As the rating is done just once a year, the process is less time consuming and requires less labor commitment compared to some of the other methods. 

Microsoft, on the other hand, uses informal check-ins and annual employee surveys to gather feedback. Employees can also ask for feedback from any other employee or peer whose input is relevant. In addition, employees use performance journals to record their own work-related activities, goals, and achievements.

The pros and cons of custom review methods

Although it is difficult to generalize the pros and cons of custom methods, here are some of the advantages of the methods used by Google and Microsoft:

• Less labor and less time-consuming as there is no rigid structure for performance review,
• Gives employees more control over the process, and
• Focuses on employee collaboration, learning, and development.

These are some of the drawbacks of Google’s and Microsoft’s appraisal systems:

• Not suitable for smaller companies with fewer employees, managers, customers, vendors, etc,
• With employees at Google expected to accomplish ‘the near-impossible’, there is a risk of more workers receiving low-performance ratings, and
• Managers need to be trained in conducting both formal and informal check-ins.

Performance review: Can you use more than one method? 

So far, we have listed 8 performance review techniques. But, note that some companies may use a combination of these methods.

In fact, a combination of methods helps retain objectivity, according to Aleksandra Babic.

“Our company uses the 360-degree feedback method and the assessment center method. From our point of view, these two methods have proven to be the most objective when it comes to assessing work performance. The data obtained from these methods are easy to process and directly represent our expectations as an employer and can easily be compared with what the employee actually did and what the quality of the work was.”

And, according to experienced recruiter and Director of Health Recruiters, Daniel Evans, a hybrid approach helps improve employee performance.

“We utilize a combination of 360-degree feedback and MBO. This hybrid approach fosters a well-rounded evaluation, aligning individual goals with overall organizational objectives. This method has proven effective in enhancing employee performance and development.”

Now that you know more about the different performance review methods, it’s time to focus on how to create an effective appraisal system.

The major steps of creating a performance review

Here are the steps that help you ensure your performance reviews bring the results you desire.

Step #1: Determine the company’s goals and training needs

Before creating a performance review, it is important to establish the company’s goals and assess the evaluator’s skills, according to Aleksandra Babic.

“It is necessary to define what the company’s goals are, as in, what we want to achieve with the employees. Should we motivate them more? Do we want them to work better? Or to be faster? The second thing to take care of is what way the staff will be evaluated and whether the evaluators are sufficiently trained for that.”

Step #2: Create a file for each employee

Remember that documentation is vital to improving accuracy of your reviews.

Shari Harley, a business communication keynote speaker explains how to review employees in one of her video guides. 

Shari points out that managers should create a separate document that contains essential information (such as positive feedback from clients or projects completed) about each employee. In addition, managers should gather feedback on the employee’s performance from vendors, customers, peers, and colleagues. 

To ensure they have complete information, managers should ask employees to keep a record of their accomplishments, too. 

Step #3: Be detailed

In the aforementioned guide, Shari stressed out how performance reviews need to be detailed. Thus, managers should think about:

• 3 Most important cases when an employee has performed exceptionally well, and
• 3 Most important situations that an employee should have done differently.

Therefore, employees will know exactly what they’re doing great and what they should improve.

Step #4: Be specific

When it comes to providing feedback, specificity is a key. The same rule applies to performance reviews. 

So, as suggested by Shari, be specific when writing down 3 accomplishments and struggles. That way, your employees will have a clear understanding of their performance.

Instead of saying “produce more accurate work” to your employee, Shari suggests you use these phrases:

• “Check your work, 
• Be sure to spell check, and
• Have someone proofread your work before you turn it in.” 

Besides, remember that every review should be about the employee’s previous performance, and future plans, as well.

Step #5: Train evaluators and ensure ongoing communication 

According to Scott Jackson, keynote speaker and area manager at Amazon Global Specialty Fulfillment, companies should focus on ongoing communication and training to ensure the performance review process is effective.

“Train evaluators rigorously — they are the analysts of your human capital. Communicate clearly, provide consistent feedback, and adapt like a startup in a dynamic market. It’s a continuous improvement cycle — stay agile.”

You should always keep these steps in your mind, regardless of the method you’ll use for performance reviews. 

Tips for evaluating yourself as an employee

The self-review (also known as self-evaluation or self-appraisal) is a process where employees rate their own performance. These reviews are beneficial because managers can compare their own opinions about the performance of a worker with what the employee points out in the review.

What’s more, many companies prioritize employee self-evaluation as they believe it encourages workers to take ownership of their performance, according to Wendy Makinson, HR manager at Joloda Hydraroll.

“We allow time to be put aside to prepare before review meetings and expect everyone to reflect on progress, suggest their own areas for improvement, and make suggestions for their personal goals. Our culture is one encouraging employees to take personal responsibility for their performance with support and advice from their manager, rather than one where the manager is responsible for setting goals.”

If you’re an employee who has never written a self-performance review, here are some tips for you.

Tip #1: Think about your past performance

Start by reflecting on your performance in the past period, for example, past year. Then,  find the answers to these questions:

• What tasks, actions, or activities went well over the past period?
• What tasks were marked as unsuccessful?
• What should be done differently in the future?

Try to be as realistic as possible. Avoid sugar-coating your activities or underestimating your past efforts. 

Tip #2: Keep track of your accomplishments and challenges

According to Jackson, effective self-evaluation begins with recording achievements using metrics.

“For the workforce, it’s about metrics, metrics, metrics. Use quantifiable measures to assess your own performance.”

Depending on the nature of your job, these metrics can include new customers acquired or revenue generated in a month, etc. 

As suggested by Shari, you can create a “me file” which is a compilation of all your achievements.

This file should contain all the positive feedback that you received, emails of review, your successful tasks, etc.  

Think about your role within the team and how your contributions play a significant part in the team’s success.  

Try to be as specific as you can when writing about your accomplishments. For example, if you’re in sales, note that you’ve managed to sign contracts with 10 new clients, which is a 20% increase compared to the previous period. 

Nevertheless, including all the challenges you’ve had over the last few months is also important. Be sure to explain why particular tasks were more demanding for you, so that your manager can help you resolve these issues in the future. 

Tip #3: Include your future goals and plans

To show your proactivity, include your future goals in your review. But, include only goals that are possible to achieve, depending on your position, skills, and experience. 

For example, an achievable goal can be: 

Attend workshops to improve time management skills and reduce the number of overdue tasks by [X]% in the next quarter.

In addition, if there’s any way your manager can help you enhance your skills and gain new knowledge, don’t be afraid to ask. It can be a training session, a conference, or an online workshop dedicated to the topic you’re interested in. 

Tip #4: Proofread before sending your review

Once you’ve finished writing your self-review report, be sure to carefully review it before sending it to your manager. Remember to spell check it and make edits if needed. Having typos and grammatical errors is not acceptable.

Furthermore, you should have your colleague, a friend, or a family member proofread the review. It’s likely that they’ll notice an error that you’ve missed, or they’ll point out if your tone wasn’t appropriate.

Conclusion: Pick a performance evaluation method that aligns with your company’s and workers’ goals

As you know by now, performance reviews are vital for both the management and employees.

While there are diverse methods of creating performance reviews, you can choose from the techniques that we’ve covered in this article. Keep in mind that the method you’re using aligns with the size of your business, your budget, your employees’ needs, and other factors.  

And, the more accurate and comprehensive the data you have on employees, the more objective your performance reviews will be.

By following the tips we’ve listed in this blog post, you can uncover your employees’ hidden potential, develop their skills, and retain top talent.

Which performance review method does your company use? Maybe you have found the secret to creating and implementing a successful performance review? Feel free to share your insights with us by writing to us at blogfeedback@clockify.me. We will do  our best to feature them in our upcoming blog posts. And, if you found our blog post informative, go ahead and share it with your colleagues and peers.

Or, how time tracking can enhance productivity and creativity?

To get you some answers, we reached out to those who track their working hours daily — our respected customers. Namely, we talked with:

• Filip Kubicki — COO at Riotters,
• Maria Bayley — Marketing Manager at WeComm and Brand Manager at Streeem,
• Cristiana Caserta — Book Advisor, 
• Carolin Hyzyk — Director & Head of Business Development at Keen Ltd, 
• Mordechai Lewis — OCR Document Specialist, and
• Kevin Oliveira — CEO at Kfactor Marketing e Design.

Since they use Clockify to track their time, tasks, and projects, we were curious to find out how time tracking helps them with their work.

And, of course, we wanted to hear more about their impressions of Clockify:

• How they discovered Clockify, 
• What features do they find most practical for work, and 
• If there are any additional benefits of using our time tracker. 

So, read on, because we’re more than happy to present these incredible interviewees and share their stories with you. 

A brief introduction to our interviewees

Now, let’s introduce you to our interviewees in more detail. 

In general, they come from creative fields such as marketing, design, and book advisory, as well as OCR (optical character recognition) technology. 

Filip Kubicki — COO at Riotters 

Our interlocutor Filip Kubicki, a COO at Riotters — a full-service digital design studio — shared with us how this company uses Clockify for work.

Since they offer services such as branding, development, and illustration, Riotters helps entrepreneurs grow their brands. 

This design studio is based in Poland. 

Maria Bayley — Marketing Manager at WeComm and Brand Manager at Streeem 

Our next interviewee is Maria Bayley — a Marketing Manager at WeComm. WeComm is a recruitment consultancy located in the UK.

Maria is also a Brand Manager at Streeem. As she says, she is passionate about all things brand and visual, and she’s a wine enthusiast.

Cristiana Caserta — Book Advisor

We also talked with Cristiana Caserta — a Book Advisor, a digital teacher, and a research and experimentation activist.

Cristiana is based in Palermo, Italy.

Carolin Hyzyk — Director & Head of Business Development at Keen Ltd

Aside from Italy, we have an interlocutor based in another Mediterranean country — Malta. 

The name of the company is Keen, and we talked with Carolin Hyzyk — a Director and Head of Business Development.

Keen is a company that offers digital solutions, such as web design and development, SEO, and link building. 

Mordechai Lewis — OCR Document Specialist | Software Consultant | Tech Consultant | Computer Information Researcher

Also on our list of interviewees is Mordechai Lewis, who describes himself as a tech enthusiast because he helps people choose the best software for their needs.

Mordechai also works as an OCR Document Specialist, and he believes that time tracking plays a vital role in the OCR field. 

Kevin Oliveira — CEO at Kfactor Marketing and Design

Last but not least, Kevin Oliveira is the CEO of Kfactor — an agency that offers marketing and design services. 

Apart from marketing and design, Kfactor provides its customers with services such as publicity, social media, branding, and strategic marketing. 

The company is based in São Paulo, Brazil. 

The story of how our interviewees became our customers

As you can see, the people we introduced in the previous section come from various worldwide locations. But, what they all have in common is that they’re creatives working in fields such as digital marketing and design.  

And, of course — they all use Clockify for their work. 

So, we were curious to find out how our customers discovered Clockify and whether they used some other tools before.

How did they find out about Clockify 

Most of our interlocutors — specifically, Maria Bayley, Mordechai Lewis, Carolin Hyzyk, and Kevin Oliveira — said that a simple Google search led them to Clockify.  

Here’s how Carolin elaborates on this matter:

“As a team, we felt the need to analyze thoroughly and source the best way to fully track how long our team spends on projects and internal tasks. We searched on Google for the best platform for this, and that’s how we came across Clockify. Thanks to Clockify, we can now get a detailed report on specific tasks and projects and compare them with the cost we charge the client.“

However, Cristiana Caserta has a different story of discovering Clockify — she says that a team she’s working for, the team behind an app called Siriusgame, uses Clockify.

What tool did they use before, and why did they decide to start using Clockify 

When it comes to Riotters company, its COO — Filip Kubicki — claims that they previously used Toggl, but they were looking for a tool that’s easier to read and more transparent.

Before switching to Clockify, some of our customers had opted for Google Suite tools like Google Calendar and Google Sheets.

Here’s how Maria Bayley talks about this experience: 

“I used to track everything in Google Calendar, which meant manually going through and adding up the time spent on tasks.”

Moreover, Mordechai Lewis explains that he wasn’t happy with Google Sheets because he had to use formulas to clock in and clock out. For Mordechai, this was very burdensome and annoying. 

Furthermore, here’s how Carolin Hyzyk explains the process of recording time before Clockify:

“Before Clockify, as a team, we were tracking the specific time spent on a particular task or project with project management software, which stopped updating a while back. As a creative agency, the most valuable asset is the time of our creative team — we must treat it with utmost care.” 

Our book-loving customer Cristiana Caserta says she used timesheets before Clockify.

Finally, Filip Kubicki’s and Kevin Oliveira’s teams didn’t use any particular tool before Clockify.

The particular features that made them switch to Clockify

The Riotters team didn’t use any tool before Clockify — Filip says that what attracted them to Clockify was its nice design and useful features.

“Clockify seemed easy to use. Since I was supposed to be the person to configure it, I made a decision to try Clockify. It also offered easier billing options and invoicing.”

Kevin Oliveira says that his goal was to try Clockify to see how much time he needs for each project.

“A feature that I found very interesting was the possibility to divide projects into different categories, where I could separate the hours that each stage of the project took to be completed.”

How time tracking improves work habits 

After a couple of introductory questions, we were eager to find out if our customers believe that time tracking can improve their work habits and enhance their overall workflow.

Kevin Oliveira and Maria Bayley had similar thoughts on this topic — they both believe that time tracking plays a crucial role in determining how much time they need for a particular project.

Maria further explains:

“Tracking time spent on tasks and projects helps me gauge how much time should be spent on similar projects in the future, so I can quote clients more accurately and plan my diary accordingly.”

And, here’s how Kevin elaborates on this matter:

“Tracking time helps me mainly know how much time I need for each project. Once I have that information, it makes it easier to fit new projects and divide the number of hours I will be working per day. It also helps me better price my services.”

For other interlocutors, using a time tracker such as Clockify is important because it ensures better overall control over time.

This is what Carolin Hyzyk highlights as one of the key benefits of time recording:

“We believe that having a set time tracking device within our team is good because, in a way, there is an element of control that we cannot go beyond a certain allotted time.“

On the other hand, Cristiana Caserta points out another valuable advantage of time tracking:

“It encourages me not to make too many interruptions and to work on one project at a time.”

For Mordechai Lewis, time tracking enhances transparency and improves billability. 

“It helps me work better because I know I have one central location to look for. Time tracking keeps me organized in the sense that I’m able to keep track of things. I’m self-employed, and I’m able to let people know how much they owe me, at the end of the week.”

This way, Mordechai can stay more focused at work. 

What Clockify features do our interviewees find most practical for work

Our customers pointed out that time tracking helps them be better at allocating enough time to each project. Moreover, using Clockify to record their time allows them to focus solely on their tasks and avoid any distractions.

But, what about specific Clockify features ⁠— are there any Clockify options they especially enjoy? 

Maria Bayley and Kevin Oliveira say that they love the fact they can separate time entries by clients, projects, and tasks, which Kevin further explains:

“Generally, I use the app on my mobile phone a lot more because of its practicality. The features of identifying tasks that have already been completed, pausing and continuing with tasks that I have started previously, and separating tasks by categories are very practical and make the working day easier.” 

Maria adds that she enjoys setting the billability status for her tasks.

Another Clockify feature that Carolin Hyzyk and Cristiana Caserta find practical for their work is Reports.

Here’s how Carolin and her team use this feature:

“Clockify’s Reports feature is very handy and practical. It helps our Project Manager analyze how long certain jobs took — analyze per project, per team member, and per task over any time frame needed.”

Furthermore, Filip Kubicki claims that, for the Riotters team, Hourly rates are invaluable. Thanks to this option, the team can charge the clients much easier. 

“We charge most of our clients, and with Hourly rates — Clockify is a godsend.

Another feature is PTO and Vacation tracker. It is a very useful tool. No more using spreadsheets or Notion for that.”

For Mordechai Lewis, the most practical Clockify features are the time tracker, Dashboard, Reports, and Projects.

Using Clockify for internal and client purposes 

We also wanted to know whether our customers use Clockify for client or internal purposes.

The vast majority of them — Carolin, Cristiana, Filip, and Kevin — say that Clockify comes in handy both for tracking the time they spend working for clients and for internal reasons — i.e. they record time to understand how they can improve their productivity.

Here’s how Carolin elaborates on this subject: 

“At Keen, we use Clockify both for internal purposes — to see whether certain team members might need training regarding specific job duties — and for client purposes — to see how much time we spend on tasks.”

Kevin was also keen to explain how he and his team record time:

“From a professional standpoint, I use Clockify to know how much time I spend on each client’s projects, but I do use it for personal purposes as well. I put a certain amount of time into studying, reading, playing, and being more productive.”

On the other hand, Maria and Mordechai say they use Clockify solely for client purposes. Maria adds that, if she were a full-time freelancer, she would track her administration time.

Additional benefits that come from using Clockify in work

When it comes to additional advantages of using Clockify, our customers had quite unique answers. 

For instance, Carolin Hyzyk and Kevin Oliveira talk about being able to take control of their time. Here’s how Carolin explains this in more detail:

“Using Clockify has allowed us to have a better sense of control and structure when working internally.” 

On the other hand, Kevin mentions a slightly different type of control over time, which he believes is an additional benefit of using Clockify:

“I did notice a better control of the day-to-day activities and also an increase in productivity beyond the ordinary.”

But, a sense of better control over time isn’t the only advantage that comes from using Clockify. For Maria Bayley, getting to understand how long a project should take based on tracking history has been the greatest benefit.

“It means that not only can I quote and budget time accurately, I can also advise delegates how long they should expect to be working on tasks.”

Furthermore, Mordechai Lewis claims that an additional benefit of using Clockify in his work is that it helped him stay honest in terms of time rates.

Finally, Cristiana Caserta says that she’s more focused at work thanks to recording time with Clockify.

Lessons learned from regularly tracking time at work

If you regularly track your time at work, eventually, you’ll get better at organizing your day and getting things done. 

But, are there any other lessons you can learn from recording your time every day?

That’s what we asked our customers. We also wanted to know whether they use this knowledge to improve their work habits.

Surprisingly, they all had different answers about what they learned while time tracking with Clockify.

Lesson #1: Time tracking improves your billing 

When it comes to billing, Maria Bayley pointed out this valuable lesson:

“I learned that I was often undercharging clients for my time because I wasn’t counting the odd 5 or 10 minutes here and there, which do add up. I’ve also learned to break down my processes and budget time.”

Lesson #2: Time tracking helps you have a better understanding of how you spend your time

On the other hand, Mordechai Lewis believes that recording the time you spend on activities you enjoy doing is crucial.

“Anything you enjoy doing, even if it’s volunteer work, when you see how much time you put into it, it gives you the satisfaction of your devotion to that organization. Clocking in and clocking out the time when doing the OCR for my client gives me the motivation to carry on — at the end of the day, I see I’ve devoted six or seven hours to a book. If I didn’t clock myself in for it, I wouldn’t feel the same. I wouldn’t feel the same level of accomplishment after being devoted for several hours.”

Another point worth mentioning, as Carolin Hyzyk claims, is that time is precious, which is why using Clockify is a good habit for her team — for recording their tasks and the time spent on them. Thus, Carolin concludes that Clockify has become part of their daily routine.

Moreover, Kevin Oliveira shared with us his valuable lesson:

“I started monitoring everything inside my working hours, from answering emails that take me 15 minutes a day to how much time I spend in meetings and resting. This information is valuable and shows me if I can reschedule tasks in order to make more time to meet new clients.”

Lesson #3: Time tracking helps you keep an eye on project progress and expenses

Furthermore, Cristiana Caserta says that she learned to estimate the time needed for various phases of the project, decide on remuneration, and make an adequate estimate.

For the Riotters team, Filip Kubicki highlights their lesson — Clockify has helped them monitor expenses and run the business more smoothly than before.

“Thanks to the possibility of downloading CSV reports, we found it super easy to correlate it with our financial data. Thanks to that feature, we created a management control system (MCS) to help us analyze the condition of our company.”

How time tracking improves productivity and creativity

Apart from improving their work habits, we asked our interviewees whether time tracking helps them enhance their productivity and creativity.

How important is proper time management for creativity?

Maria Bayley and Cristiana Caserta firmly believe that proper time management is quite important for creativity. 

Here’s how Maria sees the connection between creativity and time management:

“I always like to add an extra margin of time to every task, so that if I get stuck in the creative process, I have some leeway to take a step back and return to the project.”

Cristiana has a slightly different explanation on why time management is crucial for creativity:

“[Time management] is very important. When avoiding tracking your time, you run the risk of not materializing and postponing the most boring or difficult parts.”

On the other hand, Carolin Hyzyk claims that time management does not always play a crucial role in creativity — it all depends on the task.

“Sometimes, time management can hinder the creative process — but we feel that once you’ve worked in the creative industry for a while, time management gets better.”

As for the Kfactor company, Kevin Oliveira says that creativity is an essential aspect of their work — they work with marketing, strategies, and the creation of promotional material every day.

“Before Clockify, we had fictitious deadlines on how long it would take to come up with creative ideas. After we started using Clockify and we saved time in certain processes, we were able to have a more defined timeline where we would only be focused on having ideas — so, if it used to take us 5 days to have a successful idea, today, we can do it in 3, for being able to control and save our hours.”

Expert tips on how to improve your productivity in creative work

Now, what should we do on the days when we’re not productive? 

And, how exactly can we regain our productivity?

Luckily, our interlocutors have some practical tips on this matter.

From Maria’s point of view, it’s totally okay to be less productive on some days.

“When I feel less productive or more distracted, I make a list of what needs doing by priority order, keeping in mind how much focus is required to complete each task. If I really get stuck on something, it helps to take a break in a different environment, then come back and refocus.”

Carolin has a great recipe for bringing back your productivity:

“Have an extra cup of coffee, a good chat with a team member, a laugh — take a little break to reset and recharge. Many of us treasure a 15-min break in the sun with fresh air!”

Furthermore, Cristiana has a tip for all of you who enjoy doing sports:

“I rest or dedicate myself to sporting activities — the next day I recover by waking up earlier.”

Finally, when he’s not as productive as he’d like to be, Kevin turns to his hobbies:

“To be honest, I did not have any tricks until not so long ago. Today, I put on a playlist of the songs that motivate me the most, and I relax with my hobby — aquarism. If I do it for about 1 hour, I am refreshed and back to action.”

How time tracking helps set boundaries between work time and free time 

We were also eager to learn more about the link between time tracking and setting work-life boundaries. 

From Maria’s standpoint, it’s helpful to measure your active working time, because sometimes, at the end of an 8 or 9-hour day, it’s hard to say how much of that time was actually spent working. 

“Time tracking helps to identify how much time is spent procrastinating or being distracted, and identifying that helps you understand why you’re not getting the output you expected. From there, you can find ways to improve your productivity so you can actually switch off at the end of the work day.”

Moreover, Carolin believes that time tracking plays a crucial role in achieving work-life balance in teams scattered around the globe.

“It empowers employees who work remotely and in different timezones to be a part of the proper process in their own time and space, without interrupting the in-office team during their leisure time.”

Furthermore, here’s what Kevin has to say about the connection between recording time and work-life balance.

“Regarding my personal life, after I started using Clockify at work, I have got more time to have fun. Now, I am able to do more things during working hours, and therefore, I do not have to spend my leisure time on projects that have not been completed.“

Who would our interviewees recommend Clockify to and why

Our interviewees all agree that time tracking helped them improve their work habits, productivity, and creativity. 

That’s why we asked them who they would recommend our time tracker to and why. 

Recommendation #1: Freelancers and B2B business owners

Here’s what Maria Bayley has to say about this matter:

“I would massively recommend Clockify to freelancers for tracking time spent — when you set an hourly rate, it’s easy to forget to add up the odd 5 or 15 minutes here and there that you do for clients, and you end up undercharging. 

It’s also a great tool for teams for whom time accountability is important. I think for B2B business owners, it can be good to see an overview of how much time their team is putting into a project cumulatively and ensure it remains profitable.”

Recommendation #2: People looking for user-friendly software

Next, Mordechai Lewis would recommend Clockify to anyone who is looking for a way to clock in and clock out using non-intense software. 

“I can’t tell you what industry specifically, but I would just recommend Clockify to anyone who clocks in every day to work and is looking for a very easy, user-friendly software to use.” 

Recommendation #3: Entrepreneurs and anyone who has more than one client 

Moreover, Carolin Hyzyk has a slightly different answer than the previous two customers:

“As a team, we believe that Clockify is good for any firm that juggles various accounts — as it will help them review internally if they are making profits on certain projects or tasks and where they can improve.”

Cristiana Caserta also emphasizes the importance of project tracking — and here’s who she recommends Clockify to:

“[I would recommend Clockify] to all those who work on individual or team projects to keep track of the progress of the project and the time spent.”

Furthermore, Filip Kubicki believes that entrepreneurs should use Clockify:

“Every entrepreneur who works and charges on an hourly basis. Clockify offers a lot of tools for that.”

Recommendation #4: Friends and coworkers

Finally, here’s what Kevin Oliveira says about Clockify:

“I recommended it to my coworkers and some close friends. Since it helped me, it certainly can help them as well.”

Wrapping up: Time tracking plays a vital role in improving work habits

As you can see, our customers believe that time tracking can truly help you improve your work habits.

Here are some benefits of time recording that they point out:

• Maria Bayley claims that tracking time spent on tasks and projects allows her to gauge how much time should be spent on similar projects in the future.
• Kevin Oliveira agrees with Maria and adds that knowing ​​how much time he needs for each project makes it easier to fit new projects and improves billing. 
• Cristiana Caserta says that monitoring your time encourages you not to make many interruptions.
• Carolin Hyzyk points out that, thanks to time tracking, her team has a better sense of control and structure when working internally.
• Mordechai Lewis highlights that time tracking helps him stay honest regarding time rates.
• Filip Kubicki believes that recording time at work allows his team to keep an eye on expenses and run the business more smoothly than before.

So, even if you haven’t been tracking time by now, we hope that our interviewees will inspire you to change your mind. 

And, of course, let us know whether you notice any improvement in your work habits thanks to tracking time. 

What about you, do you track your time? If so, does time tracking help you enhance your productivity and improve work habits? Write to us at blogfeedback@clockify.me, and you’ll get a chance to be featured in one of our future articles. And, if you find this article useful, share it with someone you think would be interested in reading it.

Believe it or not, at some point in their lives, they have all struggled with that nagging belief that they’re frauds whose success is a result of luck, not their talents.

In other words, they’ve all experienced imposter syndrome.

The imposter phenomenon impacts people worldwide, regardless of their occupation, age, gender, or race. According to the mini-research I did on LinkedIn, 95% of participants said they have experienced imposter syndrome — both women and men.

But, what can we do about it? 

Is there a way to overcome this terrible feeling?

How to deal with imposter syndrome at work?

Can managers help us combat the imposter phenomenon?

That’s exactly what we’re trying to figure out in this blog post. So, if you have ever experienced such a feeling or you know someone who has, stick around. 

What is imposter syndrome?

The imposter syndrome, also known as the imposter phenomenon or imposter experience, refers to a feeling of self-doubt about our work accomplishments. We may feel like imposters when we believe we don’t deserve our jobs and success. Thus, we feel like a fraud in the workplace. 

Let’s see how the syndrome was first defined and what is now considered an imposter phenomenon.

What was imposter syndrome in the 70s?

Researchers Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes were the first to describe the term in the late 70s, in their study The Imposter Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention. 

Here’s how they defined imposter syndrome:

“The term impostor phenomenon is used to designate an internal experience of intellectual phonies, which appears to be particularly prevalent and intense among a select sample of high achieving women.”

In the aforementioned research, the authors analyzed 150 highly successful women — women who hold PhDs in various specialties and are respected professionals in their fields. 

But, despite their incredible expertise and knowledge, these women didn’t have an internal feeling of success. 

Instead, they felt like imposters. 

What is now considered imposter syndrome?

As stated by today’s definitions, apart from feeling like a fraud, the imposter phenomenon is linked with feelings of inadequacy. 

According to Dr. Gena Cox, an organizational psychologist, executive coach, and author of the upcoming book Leading Inclusion, imposter syndrome has two components:

1. The feelings of inadequacy that can come from one’s own psychological makeup, and 
2. The feelings of inadequacy that can develop as a response to environmental factors. 

She further explains that, in the workplace, the external factors are amplified — because of the power and influence dynamics. 

Thus, people tend to compare themselves to those they perceive as having more power and influence than they do. 

Now, despite the term “syndrome”, imposter syndrome is not a diagnosable disorder of any kind, according to Carolyn Herfurth, a co-founder of Impostor Syndrome Institute, who we had the chance to speak to about the subject. 

Here’s how Carolyn defines imposter syndrome:

“It’s this belief that millions of people worldwide share — that they are not as talented, intelligent, capable, or qualified as others think they are. And, the fascinating thing about it, is that these feelings exist despite all the evidence of our accomplishments — diplomas, awards, business growth, promotion.”

The most common signs of imposter syndrome 

Now, let’s see what the most common symptoms of imposter syndrome are. 

In general, you’re experiencing the imposter phenomenon if:

• You tend to overwork — to stay late or go to work early every day, just to prove yourself that you’re enough — which can lead to career burnout.
• You blame and criticize yourself for minor mistakes. 
• You’re feeling like a fraud who’s fooling the people around you — your coworkers and boss, and you fear you’ll be exposed.
• You believe that your colleagues are organized and have everything under control, unlike you.
• You can’t seem to accept praise because you feel that your work is not good enough, even though others say it is.
• You think that your job defines you.
• You feel uneasy asking for help.
• You can’t seem to start or finish your projects.
• You’re rejecting new opportunities.

Additionally, this is how the authors Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes described this phenomenon in the study on the imposter syndrome in high achieving women:

• Women believe that they are not intelligent — instead, they are sure that they have fooled anyone who finds them intelligent. 
• Women claim that their high examination scores are a result of misgrading or simply luck.

Speaking of accomplishments, Carolyn highlights that imposter syndrome is tied mainly to the achievement arena. 

That’s why we need to distinguish between not feeling self-worth in general and feeling like an imposter at work. 

According to Carolyn, self-worth is the general sense of how we feel about ourselves, that overall sense. On the other hand, imposter syndrome is linked to a specific area of self-worth — the achievement area. 

—

Not sure whether you have imposter syndrome characteristics? Dr. Pauline Rose Clance created the test that can help you find out. 

What causes imposter syndrome? 

Since Carolyn Herfurth works on educating executives and employees worldwide on what imposter syndrome is, we asked her to tell us more about the main triggers for the imposter phenomenon.  

Carolyn refers to Valerie Young, another co-founder of the Impostor Syndrome Institute, and her book The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women. 

In this book, Valerie Young talks about some causes of the imposter syndrome, which we’ll now explain. 

Cause #1: Family messages and expectations

Carolyn points out that one of the causes of the imposter syndrome are family messages and expectations — i.e. how different families have different expectations from their children. 

“Let’s say that you’re the kid who comes home with 4 As and one B on your report card. And your family’s response is: ‘What is that B doing there?’ 

So, that might create the message that everything you do has to be perfect. And all the kid really wants is praise — because, for kids, praise is like oxygen.”

On the other hand, Carolyn adds, other families may have diverse reactions.

“In another family, when you come home with straight As, your family may not even acknowledge that. It might be so because, for this family, success is defined as you growing up to be part of a family business. Or, just getting married and popping up grandkids. Or going into the military. It’s always a little different.”

Cause #2: Confidence gaps between genders

Carolyn continues that another cause is the confidence gap between people who identify as men and people who identify as women.

“When they’re in their 20s or 30s, women don’t have as much confidence as men. They get a little more confident in their 40s and 50s, and by their 60s, women are like: ‘We’re more confident than men.’ ”

Cause #3: A lack of diversity

Is your culture inclusive? That’s another aspect to consider when talking about the main causes of the imposter experience.

Carolyn gives an example:

“If you walk into a room and nobody else looks like you or sounds like you, you’re not going to feel the same sense of belonging as you might when you walk into a room where everybody does look and sound like you.”

Carolyn highlights that diversity also refers to different age groups. 

“Valerie did a talk at Facebook. When she asked people: ‘Have you ever felt underestimated because you were the youngest person in the room or the oldest person in the room’, the thirty-year-olds raised their hands about feeling underestimated, as the oldest people in the room. So, it’s all relative.”

Cause #4: Increased pressure due to working in specific industries

Now, this source of imposter syndrome refers to people working in specific industries, like STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), which is a rapidly evolving field. 

Carolyne elaborates:

“People in tech often feel like they have to keep up with all the latest technology developments — and that’s impossible. People in fields like STEM might have a sense of that.”

In Carolyn’s opinion, these are the industries that can trigger the imposter feeling — the feeling that you don’t belong or don’t measure up.

The 5 types of impostors

According to Valerie Young’s research, we can distinguish between 5 types of imposters:

1. The Perfectionist, 
2. The Expert,
3. The Soloist,
4. The Natural Genius, and
5. The SuperHuman.

Imposter type #1: The Perfectionist 

This type of impostor focuses on how something is done. 

Even a minor mistake — no matter the fact that the rest of the performance is impeccable — can make this imposter feel failure and shame. 

Imposter type #2: The Expert

Unlike the Perfectionist, the Expert aims attention to what and how much they know or can do. 

Since Experts believe that they should know everything, when mistakes occur, even minor ones, they experience shame and failure.

Imposter type #3: The Soloist

The primary concern for Soloists is who performs tasks. 

They think that they should do everything on their own. Thus, Soloists believe that asking for help, tutoring, or coaching, clearly indicates failure that causes shame.

Imposter type #4: The Natural Genius

For Natural Genius, it’s not only important how and when you’ll accomplish your goals. This type of imposter believes that finishing a task quickly is a sign of one’s competence. 

So, struggling to improve skills or failing to finish an assignment on the first try means failure for them, which further causes shame.

Imposter type #5: The SuperHuman

SuperHumans focus on how many roles they can juggle and be successful in. 

These roles usually include being:

• A partner,
• A parent, 
• A friend, 
• An employee,
• A volunteer, etc.

When they fail in some areas, they feel ashamed — because they believe you need to excel in all roles at all times. 

—

If you’d like to find out what type of imposter applies to you, the 5 types of imposter syndrome test can help you find out. 

How common is imposter syndrome in the workplace? 

Studies by Gail Matthews, KPMG, and Kajabi, presented on the Imposter Syndrome Institute website, show that:

• 70% of successful people said they felt like imposters at some point in their lives. 
• 75% of executive women claim that they’ve struggled with the imposter phenomenon.
• 84% of entrepreneurs and small business owners say that they’ve felt like imposters at some point in their lives.

In the 2021 State of the Workplace Report, which gathered 802 respondents, we can see that 96% of people were dealing with imposter syndrome at work. 

How common is imposter syndrome across genders?

Now, what about genders?

Do women experience imposter syndrome more than men?

Here are the findings we found in the LeadMD research:

• Nearly the same percentage of men (16.1%) and women (17.1%) say they feel they’re performing unsatisfactorily at work.
• Almost the same percentage of men and women (19% of men and 20.7% of women) feel pressured to work longer to prove their commitment to work. 

So, according to this study, there’s almost no difference between genders when it comes to imposter syndrome.  

When I asked her about how different genders experience imposter syndrome, Carolyn Herfurth confirmed that it’s just a myth that only women deal with the imposter phenomenon — men do experience it, too. 

However, there are some differences.

She explains:

“These are current expectations — men are expected to perform their job. 

Women are also expected to perform and excel at work. But, they’re also expected to excel as a parent, as a spouse, at taking care of their home, and dealing with her parents — all while maintaining a rock-hard body. 

In other words: we, women, have more areas of achievement in our lives to feel badly about. So, the bar is set higher for women than it is for men.”

Carolyn continues that, generally speaking, women care very deeply about the quality of their work. And, because of that, they might exhibit more perfectionist tendencies. 

Are some employees more prone to feel like imposters?

In short — no.

As explained in the TED-Ed video on imposter syndrome, it’s not only the highly skilled employees who experience the imposter phenomenon. 

In fact, everyone is likely to be influenced by the phenomenon called pluralistic ignorance. The term is defined in the study on pluralistic ignorance:

“Pluralistic ignorance is the (incorrect) belief that one’s personal attitudes are different from the majorities’ attitudes, and thus, one goes along with what they think others think.”

For example, let’s say you are listening to a quite complicated lecture in a classroom. After some time, the lecturer asks if anyone has any questions about the subject. You look around you and nobody’s raising their hands. So, even though you don’t quite understand the lecture, you don’t want to raise your hand because you believe you’ll look foolish. Since no one raised their hands, you believe that they all comprehend the lecture.

Let’s tie this to the imposter experience. 

It’s difficult to know whether our peers doubt themselves, how difficult they find tasks, and how hard they work. Thus, we can’t let go of feelings that we’re less capable than our peers — which can make anyone feel like a fraud.

Tips for overcoming imposter syndrome at work

Now that we’ve seen that many employees feel like frauds at some point in their lives, the obvious question is — how to deal with imposter syndrome at work?

Luckily, in the following lines, we gathered some invaluable tips on how to get over imposter syndrome at work.

Tip #1: Recognize your emotions and make a list of accomplishments

To find the most effective way to deal with imposter syndrome at work, we reached out to Amy Clark, Founder and Executive Coach at Growth Minded Leadership Group. 

In her opinion, the first step to overcoming imposter syndrome at work is recognizing emotions and fears — and then naming them.

“By doing this, you are redirecting your brain to facts and reclaiming your power over these emotions and fears. Building your understanding of emotions helps you become wiser in your response to them.”

Next, Amy recommends making a list of accomplishments — the list that contains details about what you specifically did to get where you are today. 

As she points out, this is a great reminder that you created the successful position you are in today and can continue to achieve success in the future.

Tip #2: Try positive reframing and cognitive restructuring

Another expert we reached out to is Claire Randall, the Human Resources Director at Heat Pump Source.

Much like Amy previously pointed out, Claire also believes that it’s important to be aware of the symptoms of imposter syndrome — so that you can identify when you’re feeling them. 

Claire elaborates that these symptoms of imposter syndrome can be:

• Perfectionism, 
• Constant self-doubt, and 
• Fear of failure. 

Once you’re aware of the symptoms, these are the techniques Claire recommends for dealing with imposter syndrome:

“One is called ‘positive reframing.’ This means looking at your past successes and reminding yourself that you’ve accomplished things before, so you can do it again. 

Another technique is called ‘cognitive restructuring.’ This means identifying your negative thoughts and challenging them with evidence to the contrary.”

Tip #3: Try not to compare yourself to others

Amy Clark shared another valuable tip with us. 

She says that comparing yourself to others is not a healthy way to grow — so you should stop doing it. 

“Instead of comparing yourself to others, lead with a growth mindset. Identify where you believe you can be better. 

Replace: ‘I’m not as good as…’, with ‘What do I need to learn to do this well?’ ”

Dr. Gena Cox agrees with this belief. She further explains that, when you compare yourself to someone, you give your power away.

So, to help overcome this tendency, Gena claims that we need to remind ourselves that each human is unique and has their own strengths and weaknesses. 

Instead of comparing ourselves to others, she suggests the following:

“It is better to:

1. Set your own vision for what you desire — and create a plan to achieve it. 

2. Keep your vision to yourself — but work towards it every day. 

3. Celebrate your small wins. 

4. Step out and share your progress when you have something to share and want others to see your progress. 

Then, repeat this all over again for your next goal.”

Tip #4: Talk to someone about your problem

Claire Randall believes that it can also be helpful to talk to someone you trust about your imposter syndrome. 

“This can help you get some outside perspective and realize that other people feel the same way sometimes. 

Finally, remember that everyone makes mistakes — even successful people! It’s okay to mess up occasionally, and it doesn’t mean that you’re not good enough.”

Tip #5: Focus on how you’ll react to potential mistakes

In line with our previous tip, when mistakes happen, you should focus on how you’ll react to them.

One thing is for sure — you can’t travel to the past and prevent yourself from making mistakes. 

But, what you can do is reflect on it and take effective steps to make things right:

• Analyze what went wrong, 
• Find the way to fix this problem, and 
• Think about how to prevent the same mistakes in the future.

Tip #6: Find a mentor

Once again, you shouldn’t have to deal with imposter syndrome all by yourself. Instead, you can find a mentor — such as your colleague or someone in your field of expertise. 

This way, whenever you’re doubting yourself, you’ll be able to hear the other side — and see whether your doubts are justified. 

Tip #7: Predict imposter syndrome

If you’ve noticed that particular situations or events make you more likely to experience imposter syndrome, use that information to your advantage. 

Be mentally prepared for such situations, so that you can deal with the imposter experience more effectively. 

For example, you may find filling out self-assessment reviews stressful because this makes you feel like an imposter. So, how to prepare yourself better?

You can keep a list of your accomplishments throughout the year. Whenever you finish a project successfully or get positive feedback from your manager, be sure to write that down on your list.

This way, you’ll have proof that you’re doing your job right — and maybe you won’t feel like a fraud anymore.

Tip #8: Normalize imposter syndrome and reframe your experiences

According to Carolyn Herfurth, to overcome imposter syndrome, it’s vital to normalize it first. 

“Just say: ‘Hey, a lot of people experience this, it’s ok’. Share what’s going on.”

The next step is, as Carolyn believes, reframing your experiences. 

“When an imposter moment hits you probably think: ‘Oh, my god, I’m going to get fired because they’re going to find out I’m not as smart as they think’. 

That is a feeling. That is not based on facts. Separate those things and reframe them, by saying: ‘Ok, how do I look at this in a different way?’”

Carolyn recommends finding out where that feeling is stemming from and looking at the facts of the situation.

“Our feelings can create a lot of stories and drama that don’t need to be there. And that’s why we need to look at the facts.

An example might be asking ourselves: ‘What happens if they find out I really don’t know what I’m doing and I get fired? 

Well, what happens if you actually do know what you’re doing and you don’t get fired?”

Carolyn also emphasizes the importance of understanding what imposter syndrome is. The more people know about it, the more likely they are to identify with it. And, it all comes down to how you frame the situation you’re in.

“Let’s say you’re in a meeting and they’re asking you these questions that you’re not sure you know the answers to. 

You can walk out of that meeting and say: ‘I really blew it in the meeting. I’m really in trouble.’ 

Or you can say: ‘Boy, did I have an imposter moment in the meeting today!’”

Carolyn concludes that we shouldn’t diminish someone’s feelings and experiences when they’re going through an imposter moment. 

What can leaders do to support their employees in combating imposter syndrome?

Now that you’ve seen how you can help yourself fight the imposter phenomenon, let’s take a look at what managers can do to show support for their workers experiencing this syndrome.

Tip #1: Educate your team about imposter syndrome

Carolyn Herfurth encourages managers to be proactive and educate their teams about imposter syndrome. 

“First and foremost, you can normalize the conversation by letting everyone know what imposter syndrome is and isn’t and what to do about it.”

Now, what happens when managers have no clue that their employees are experiencing imposter syndrome?

Carolyn highlights that there are many costs and consequences to imposter syndrome. 

“A manager may be like: ‘Oh, that’s great, my employee is always working late. But, that comes at a cost. That person may burn out, managers might lose that great employee because they just flamed out. That ends up creating a turnover, training costs, and mistakes. Lots of things can happen to not just individuals on their level, but also to teams and organizations.”

Tip #2: Create an environment that tolerates mistakes

According to Claire Randall, managers need to try to create an environment that allows occasional mistakes. 

“Try to create an environment where mistakes are okay. This will help employees feel more comfortable taking risks and trying new things.” 

Tip#3: Provide regular feedback

Claire believes that another way managers can help employees experiencing imposter syndrome is to give them regular feedback — both positive and constructive. 

“Feedback — this will help them see that you value their work and that you’re willing to help them improve.”

Tip #4: Show your employees that you believe in them

Amy Clark points out that team leads should let employees know that they have confidence in them. 

“Showing your employees examples of when they have been successful will reinforce strengths and show employees that they are valued members of the team. 

Finally, placing them in situations where they shine will generate a feeling of accomplishment and excitement about their contributions. 

To overcome any feelings of doubt, managers can offer employees the space to practice or review materials with them ahead of time to build confidence.”

Tip #5: Promote transparency within the team

Dr. Gena Cox emphasizes that managers cannot, nor should they, do anything about a team member’s internal feelings. 

However, here’s what Gena recommends team leaders do:

“Managers must make sure that:

— They do not create inequities by choosing favorites. 

— They make pay, promotion, and other decisions fairly. 

— Everyone who is a logical candidate gets a chance to be considered for opportunities.

— They allocate their resources and time fairly so that all team members get the attention they need. 

— They also provide stretch assignments and coaching to help build team members’ confidence to tackle new opportunities.”

Tip #6: Encourage employees to speak openly 

When experiencing imposter syndrome, some people may find it difficult to speak freely during team meetings, out of fear of coming across as incompetent for their job. 

To let their employees speak up, and thus, fight the imposter phenomenon, managers should focus on improving team collaboration and communication.

Here are some ways to do so:

• Make sure nobody interrupts their coworkers while speaking.
• Give all team members equal time to share their thoughts during meetings.
• Create an environment where team members can discuss mistakes, find ways to fix them, and celebrate examples of good work. 

This way, employees will not only feel more comfortable expressing their thoughts and ideas, but also more valued.

Wrapping up: Overcoming imposter syndrome can be difficult, but you don’t have to do it alone

You’re beating yourself up over tiny mistakes. You feel like a fraud who’s about to be exposed. You tend to overwork. 

These are the common signs that you’re experiencing imposter syndrome — a feeling of self-doubt about your accomplishments. And there are many causes of the imposter phenomenon, such as family messaging and expectations, confidence gaps between genders, and diversity. 

So, if you’ve ever had such feelings, that’s perfectly normal. I know I’ve struggled with imposter syndrome many times throughout my career. And guess what — many celebrities admit they’ve felt like frauds at some point in their lives.  

The point is — whenever the imposter moment hits you, tell yourself that it’s ok because many people worldwide have the same issue as you. 

More importantly, you don’t have to fight this battle alone. Talk to a person you trust and tell them how you feel. Raising awareness about imposter syndrome is vital, especially in the workplace. This way, we’re more capable of recognizing how others are feeling and whether they’re experiencing imposter syndrome. 

Finally, we hope that the tips we covered in this blog post will help you deal with the imposter phenomenon more effectively. 

And, here’s something you need to hear more often — don’t be so hard on yourself all the time.

Have you ever experienced imposter syndrome? How did you manage to fight such nagging thoughts? Let us know at blogfeedback@clockify.me, and we may include your answers in this or future posts. And, if you liked this post and found it useful, share it with someone you think would benefit from it.

So, you can’t tell if you have a family, what your hobbies are, or what you do on weekends. Thus, while at work, you aren’t upset or sad if anything bad happens in your private life — because you have no way of remembering your personal life when you’re at the office. 

This rather sci-fi story is actually a plot of the TV series Severance, which I highly recommend. Luckily, in real life, our minds and our memory are not so drastically divided between work and free time. 

On the flip side, this also means that, whenever we’re going through any kind of a personal crisis, we’ll struggle to stay emotionally stable during work hours. Even when the reason we’re feeling under the weather is job-related, we’ll give our best not to show our emotions at work. 

But, how should we manage our emotions in the workplace?

That’s exactly what we’re trying to explore in this blog post, by covering:

• The types of emotions in the workplace,
• Selective vulnerability and how it affects work,
• How to achieve psychological well-being at work, and
• Practical tips on managing emotions at work.

What are the types of emotions at work?

We can divide emotions at work into four categories:

• Positive and negative emotions,
• Useful and useless emotions, 
• High-intensity and low-intensity emotions, and
• Types of emotions according to the Affective Events Theory.

We’ll now explore each category in more detail.

Positive and negative emotions in the workplace

The positive emotions list includes the following feelings:

• Calm,
• Comfortable, 
• Energetic,
• Enthusiastic,
• Excited,
• Happy,
• Joyful,
• Peaceful, 
• Relaxed, and
• Satisfied.

According to the Quantum Workplace’s research, the most frequent positive emotions employees feel in the workplace are:

• Comfortable — 47.8% of employees,
• Satisfied — 37.1% of employees, and 
• Enthusiastic — 36.6% of employees.

On the other hand, the negative emotions list includes the following feelings:

• Annoyed, 
• Anxious, 
• Bored, 
• Disinterested, 
• Frustrated, 
• Gloomy,  
• Sad, 
• Stressed, 
• Upset, and 
• Worried.

The aforementioned study from Quantum Workplace mentions these negative emotions as the most frequent ones employees feel:

• Frustrated — 56.2% of employees,
• Stressed — 45.1% of employees, and 
• Anxious — 30.4% of employees.

Useful and useless emotions in the workplace

According to Biljana Rakic, our very own VP of Human Capital, instead of dividing emotions into positive and negative, we should distinguish between:

• Useful, and
• Useless emotions.

Here’s how Biljana defines useful and useless emotions:

“Useful emotions are the ones that inspire us to be better at work or better at connecting with our colleagues.

Useless emotions are the ones that stand in our way of making any progress at work. These can even be happiness, excitement, or anger and rage.” 

She says that sometimes, we can even experience pleasant emotions — like excitement — and have such emotions make us unproductive, despite being pleasant. 

In contrast, there are some less pleasant emotions — like shame — that can make us more productive, in a way. For example, we feel ashamed when we do something that isn’t aligned with moral, social, or professional values in the workplace. This shame we feel also inspires us not to make the same mistake again and to be better in the future.

Biljana elaborates:

“Emotions can be unpleasant, and at the same time, they can imply good things. On the other hand, emotions can be pleasant, and simultaneously, they’ll make us unproductive at work.”

Here are some more examples.

We can feel angry when we get an assignment we believe is below our level of qualifications. 

Or, we can feel anxious when a manager gives us a task we feel is way above our level of qualifications.  

But, as Biljana suggests, fear is what helps us not make a mistake. At the same time, when managers believe we have what it takes to do such a task, they support us in getting out of our comfort zone. 

High-intensity and low-intensity emotions in the workplace

Another way psychologists divide emotions is by their intensity — so there are:

• High-intensity emotions, and
• Low-intensity emotions.

For example, positive emotions with high intensity are:

• Excited,
• Elated, and
• Ecstatic.

On the other hand, positive emotions with low intensity are:

• Calm,
• Serene, and
• Content.

Here are some negative emotions with high intensity:

• Angry,
• Anxious, and
• Scared.

In opposition, negative emotions with low intensity are:

• Sad,
• Bored, and
• Tired.

It’s interesting to point out that different cultures have different preferences when it comes to the intensity of emotions. 

Namely, as one study on Affect Valuation Theory suggests, European Americans like to feel “excited states” — i.e. excitement, enthusiasm, and elation. 

In contrast, Hong Kong Chinese prefer “calm states” ​​— i.e. calm, peacefulness, and serenity, more than European Americans.

Elliot Berkman, professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, mentions in one HBR article that she conducted the study with Jeanne Tsai of Stanford University. 

In this survey, they wanted to find out why Americans prefer high-intensity emotions. The results showed that Americans believe that high-intensity emotions are vital if you want to succeed — i.e. to lead or influence. 

So, they even adjust the language they use in the workplace when describing the achievement of goals to reflect these emotions. For instance, they use phrases like:

• To get fired up,
• To get pumped, 
• To get amped up,
• To crush projects, and
• To crank out presentations.

As you can see, even the language we use can imply our preferred state of emotions at work. 

The problem of high-intensity emotions in the workplace

The problem with high-intensity emotions is that, as Berkman claims, they are physiologically demanding. 

And, the interesting thing is that both negative and positive emotions with high intensity are physiologically taxing. 

For example, excitement is linked with “physiological arousal”, which activates our sympathetic (fight-or-flight) system. 

So, whether we are excited (positive) or angry (negative), we’ll experience the same physiological arousal — for instance, our heart rate gets higher. 

Thus, Berkman suggests that calm activities are important in all aspects of our lives. Dedicating some time to such activities will restore our health and well-being.  

Biljana adds that, from her experience, high-intensity emotions can be tiring for us, especially in the long run.

“What would happen if you were constantly hyped? How long would you be able to go on? Especially if you’re not the kind of person who’s used to experiencing intense emotions.”

She suggests that we should strive to achieve contentment — a state that is usually intertwined with happiness, accomplishment, success, and anticipation. 

Such states and such emotions are not too intense, so they won’t prevent us from being productive.

“When we analyze the intensity of traumatic events and how they affect our mental health, we can see that diverse life events, such as childbirth, a divorce, or moving, are similar in intensity. And, we all love experiencing high-intensity emotions because they’re fun — but they’re not good in the long run.”

In a way, Biljana says that we can link high-intensity emotions with emotional labor. She adds that communicating with our coworkers is a type of emotional investment that can make us tired. 

Types of emotions according to the Affective Events Theory

Researchers Howard Weiss and Russell Cropanzano created the Affective Events Theory (AET) — the theory that explains the connection between emotions, attitudes, and behavior at work.

According to their findings, there are 6 kinds of emotions in the workplace:

1. Anger,
2. Fear,
3. Joy,
4. Love,
5. Sadness, and
6. Surprise.

The AET explains that different events that occur at work influence different emotions in employees. 

As per this theory, diverse emotions can encourage employees to take action. The action can manifest as:

1. Affect-driven behavior. For example, a colleague brings you breakfast in the morning. This is a pleasant surprise that you didn’t expect. You’re happy, so you may feel inspired to do something nice yourself — like helping a coworker on a project.  
2. Judgment-driven behavior. On the other hand, let’s say you get a written reprimand from your manager — for something you didn’t do. You’ll experience negative emotions and, as a result, you might be mean to your coworkers. Or, in more extreme cases, you may even quit your job.

What is selective vulnerability and how does it affect work?

Liz Fosslien, author and illustrator, talks about embracing emotions at work in one of the videos from TED’s series The way we work. 

She highlights that, when it comes to emotional expression, there are two types of people in the workplace:

• Under-emoters — people who find it difficult to talk about their feelings, and 
• Over-emoters — people who tend to constantly share how they’re feeling. 

Fosslien adds that we shouldn’t behave like either of these categories, but rather find a balance between the two extremes.

She talks about the importance of selective vulnerability — expressing your emotions, and at the same time, thinking about the psychological safety of your colleagues.  

So, how does this work in practice?

Here are some ways to practice selective vulnerability:

• If it’s a non-work-related event — point out your feelings, but don’t reveal too many details. Fosslien says that it’s better to be honest with your colleagues and let them know why you’re upset, but without any details. You can say: “I’m having a bad day. It has nothing to do with you.”
• If it’s a work-related event — identify what’s going on. For example, if you’re irritable, try to reflect on that and find out why you’re feeling this way. You might be nervous because you’re approaching a deadline. If there’s anything your team members or your manager can do to help you feel better, feel free to reach out to them and say what’s on your mind.

Apart from these suggestions, Fosslien also adds that it’s vital to read the room. If you notice that one of your colleagues is exhausted due to working long hours, be sure to show some empathy. 

For instance, ask your manager to postpone a team meeting for a day, so that your colleague has more time to finish work.  

How to achieve psychological well-being in the workplace?

When it comes to managing emotions in the workplace, it’s crucial to point out the importance of psychological well-being. 

The term “psychological well-being” refers to an individual’s emotional health and overall functioning. 

But, what does psychological well-being mean in the workplace? And, how can you achieve it?

We asked Dr. Jack Wiley — Ph.D., an award-winning organizational psychologist, researcher, and leadership consultant.

According to Dr. Wiley, to achieve psychological well-being in the workplace, people must meet three important needs.

“These are the needs for:

• Competence — this means to feel competent at their job, to be able to perform their job according to expectations.
• Relatedness — this means to have stable, supportive, friendly working relations with their manager and co-workers, and to feel that they are an important part of the team.
• Autonomy — this means to be trusted to do their work without micromanagement; to be able to do their work with little intervention, with a reasonable degree of independence.”

He adds that, when managers are attuned to these needs and provide employees with what they want, they enable their employees to thrive and achieve psychological well-being.

Tips for accomplishing competence, relatedness, and autonomy

Dr. Wiley suggests some ways managers can help employees reach competence, relatedness, and autonomy. 

According to Dr. Wiley, to help employees satisfy their need for competence, managers should communicate clear performance expectations. Dr. Wiley further explains:

“[Managers should] praise the good work of their employees, reward their performance contributions with better pay, training and development opportunities, and demonstrate skill in helping employees solve work-related problems.”

Now, when it comes to relatedness, Dr. Wiley claims that managers need to show support and understanding. He also adds:

“[Managers should] treat employees with dignity and respect, thank them for their good work, be fair, honest and trustworthy to enable the satisfaction of their employees’ need for relatedness.”

Finally, to help employees satisfy their need for autonomy, here’s what Dr. Wiley suggests managers should do:

“Managers should treat employees with dignity and respect by giving them the psychological space to choose how to do their work, and communicate clear performance expectations, thus defining the performance outcome.”

Dr. Wiley also adds that managers who behave this way will increase employee motivation and accelerate their performance. Besides, their employees will have high levels of employee engagement and positive interpersonal team chemistry. 

How to manage emotions in the workplace

Finally, let’s go through some practical tips on how to manage emotions in the workplace.

We reached out to experts in the field of human resources, sociology, and psychotherapy, to hear their invaluable opinion.

Tip #1: Don’t let emotions lead you — you lead them

We asked Biljana whether it’s acceptable to show our emotions in the workplace, or if we should suppress them — especially when we’re sad or angry.

She believes that depends on the company culture. 

Namely, a healthy company culture supports expressing emotions — but these feelings shouldn’t be high in intensity. 

Biljana adds:

“How can we tell the intensity of our emotions? One way is — we shouldn’t let emotions lead us, we should lead them.”

For example, you’re angry at a coworker and get into conflict with that person. 

You do so because the emotion is still here, you still feel it. 

After some time, you’ll figure out that you said something hurtful while being angry, so you’ll want to apologize to your coworker. 

This means that the intensity of our emotions during the conflict was not appropriate.

So, this is how we know whether an emotion is appropriate at work:

“If we regret our actions, this indicates that the intensity of emotions is not appropriate for the workplace. Thus, we need to be able to figure out whether we’re in tune with our feelings — if we feel good or not. It’s also worth noting that we shouldn’t give feedback or make decisions while we’re overwhelmed with intense emotions.”

Tip #2: Nurture a company culture that encourages expressing emotions

Another valuable piece of advice Biljana has shared with us is that companies shouldn’t punish their employees for experiencing particular emotions — even when these emotions are anger or frustration. 

She claims that company culture should encourage employees to experience their emotions when needed, instead of suppressing them. 

For instance, if you’re furious after a meeting, you should be able to take a moment for yourself and go for a brief walk. This way, you’ll allow yourself to feel this anger — and, after a while, let this anger go away. In turn, as other coworkers likely aren’t experiencing the same emotions as you currently are, you won’t risk upsetting them. 

It’s also important not to suppress your emotions because emotions always convey particular messages, as Biljana claims:

“Anger is always a request for a change of behavior. Rage implies losing control. For instance, when parents yell at their children — they do so because they’re losing control.”

Biljana concludes that expressing our emotions at work is vital for our mental health. 

However, keep in mind that we shouldn’t allow these emotions to affect our colleagues. 

We need to be aware that our emotions can sometimes be too intense for the people we work with.

“I recommend sharing emotions and always keeping in mind why we share them.”

In addition, the company culture should encourage employees to initiate sessions with their managers and talk about how they feel. It’s up to managers to create a trusting atmosphere where employees will feel comfortable opening up. 

Tip #3: Think about the goal of sharing your emotions and who you are sharing them with

Now, should we talk about our feelings in front of our team? 

Or, should we leave such conversations for one-on-one sessions with our manager?

It all depends on the goal we’re trying to achieve, Biljana believes.

If we’re sharing our emotions with our managers, we expect some kind of reaction from them. 

For instance, we may want to talk to our manager about the tasks we’re doing if we need more time for them or require any other kind of modification.

Biljana continues:

“Managers are in a position of power. Thus, when we’re talking with our managers, we expect them to change the current situation. A manager shouldn’t be our shoulder to cry on, but a person who can take actions that will help us.”

When it comes to sharing our emotions with team members, Biljana thinks that we also have to figure out why we’re doing that. One of the reasons can be that we need support from our team members.

In general, she claims that sharing emotions with your team depends on:

• The relationship between team members,
• The team leader, 
• The topic, and 
• The goal we’re trying to achieve.

As mentioned earlier, the company culture should support sharing emotions within the team. As for the team members, they should be honest with each other. 

Biljana further explains that there are moments when we can’t avoid or prevent high-intensity emotions — for example, when we find out that our work bestie got fired. When that happens, it’s crucial that other team members give enough time and space to a person experiencing intense emotions. 

Tip #4: Create a “psychologically safe” environment for everyone

This tip mainly refers to managers and team leads.

According to Biljana, it’s up to them not to judge any kind of emotion. Moreover, they should create an environment that encourages employees to share their emotions. 

Here’s why that’s important in the workplace:

“Employees need to feel ‘psychologically safe’. So, when someone’s feeling under the weather or simply tired, they should be able to share that feeling with coworkers and managers. Furthermore, nobody should take advantage of that information.” 

This environment ensures that employees feel psychologically safe and that they’re allowed to make mistakes occasionally.

How exactly can you create such an atmosphere within the company?

Biljana highlights one key aspect — trust. This is one of the most important values managers need to promote. 

Thus, team leads should:

• Be there for their team and support them emotionally, 
• Educate their employees so that they can advance their careers,
• Teach their employees how not to make the same mistakes, and
• Keep the focus on what employees are good at — i.e. their strengths.

This way, managers create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing how they feel, without any judgment. 

Tip #5: Learn how to share openly and help others manage their own emotions

In the opinion of Daphne Pedersen, a Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, and Department Chair at the University of North Dakota, managing emotions in the workplace is important to our professional development and success, and the healthy operation of the organization.  

“It’s up to employees and managers to effectively cope with the immediate physical response our bodies have to strong positive and negative feelings so we can effectively communicate. This can be done in a number of ways, including:

• Pausing and taking a deep breath, 
• Taking some time to reflect and putting a pause on a conversation or email, and 
• Trying to take the perspective of the person we are engaging with.”  

She highlights that, in the long run, managers need to be aware that the ability to share openly in constructive ways is critical to a healthy workplace environment and employee performance. 

Pedersen shares another thing you should keep in mind:

“Being good at emotional labor is also important — this can be seen as a type of emotional intelligence. Emotional labor is the ability to rein in our emotions to have appropriate professional interactions and can sometimes involve helping others manage their own emotions, like frustration or anger.”

Tip #6: Take a three-step approach to deal with negative emotions

Now, if you’d like to beat negative emotions, here’s how you can do that in three steps:

1. Recognize emotions,
2. Understand them, and
3. Manage your reaction to such emotions.

Step #1: Recognizing emotions

When emotions start to emerge, take a deep breath and try to recognize what you’re feeling.

Also, try to identify what triggered the emotion. 

Whatever emotions you’re experiencing, don’t judge yourself for feeling them.

Step #2: Understanding emotions

Now that you’ve recognized the emotion you’re feeling, try to understand why you’re feeling it. 

Here are the questions that can help you along the way:

• What is causing you to feel such emotion?
• Are the emotions triggered by internal or external factors?
• Is the emotion familiar to you?

When it comes to familiar emotions, you can recall previous situations when you felt the same. Then, try to remember how you responded to it.

This way, you’ll be able to reflect on your previous experiences and think about whether you’d like to respond to such emotions differently this time.

Step #3: Managing emotions

The final step involves responding to the emotion you’re currently experiencing.

Here are some questions you’ll find useful:

• Do you still feel the need to deal with these emotions?
• Did you overreact?
• Is there anything you still need to resolve to better manage your emotions?
• How are you going to express your emotions, and how might others react?
• What did you learn from previous experiences, and how can you apply that knowledge?

Hopefully, once you go through these questions, you’ll have a better understanding of how to respond to emotions. 

Tip #7: Model positive emotional management 

Valentina Dragomir is a psychotherapist and founder of PsihoSensus Therapy and PsihoSensus Academy.

She specializes in emotional intelligence and helps her clients efficiently manage their emotions, at home and in the workplace.

In Valentina’s opinion, it’s important to be able to manage both positive and negative emotions in the workplace to be successful.

“If you are feeling overwhelmed by negative emotions, it is important to take a step back, calm down, and, after you are able to see things more clearly, assess the situation. Once you have identified the source of the problem, you can take steps to address it.”

She points out that managers need to encourage employees to express their emotions. 

“This can help prevent a build-up of negative emotions and allow for productive problem-solving.

Also, model positive emotional management. As a manager, you can set the tone for how emotions are handled in the workplace.”

Another valuable point Valentina has mentioned is that team leads should encourage breaks and regular check-ins. Thus, employees will be able to avoid burnout. 

Wrapping up: Share your emotions while having a clear goal in mind

We’re humans, and as humans, it’s only natural that we’ll sometimes feel angry, anxious, or sad, because of work-related or non-work-related events. 

Now, should you express such emotions in the workplace? 

If it’s about a non-work event, it’s always better to be honest with your colleagues and tell them how you’re feeling without revealing too many details. That way, you’ll practice selective vulnerability.

If it’s about a work-related event, you should try to figure out why you’re feeling that way, and ask for help from colleagues if needed.

It’s crucial to point out that we shouldn’t let emotions lead us, but we should lead them. Also, when we’re experiencing intense emotions, we should avoid making decisions or giving feedback. 

Another point worth mentioning is that employees need to be able to express their emotions freely — at the same time, they should think about the goal of sharing such emotions and the people they’re sharing them with. 

It’s up to managers to model positive emotional management so that workers are comfortable expressing how they feel. 

Apart from managers, company culture plays a vital role in emotional management. But, bear in mind that these emotions shouldn’t be high-intensity. 

We hope that the tips we covered in this article will help you manage your emotions more effectively in the workplace. Once you’re able to do so, you’ll also find it easier to help your coworkers speak up about how they’re feeling.

What about you? Do you share your emotions in the workplace, or do you suppress them? Does your company culture support expressing emotions? Let us know at blogfeedback@clockify.me, and we may include your answers in this or future posts.

One of the reasons behind such growth is the fact that restaurants need to effectively manage their work. After all, when you think about it, running a restaurant involves dealing with a lot of processes — such as managing staff and trying to provide your customers with the best possible service.

Restaurant apps help you achieve all this by tracking the essential tasks in the business and sometimes even simplifying the booking process. As a result, restaurants can better streamline their businesses. 

So, if you’re a restaurant owner, you should start using a restaurant management software to level up your business. 

If you don’t know what tool to choose — we’ve got you covered.   

In this blog post, we’ll go through the list of the best restaurant management software on the market. 

In addition, we’ll explain why you should use each app for your business, and we’ll cover the key features of each tool.

Let’s get started!  

What is a restaurant management software?

A restaurant management software is an app that restaurant managers and staff use to:

• Improve the overall catering process, and 
• Enhance employee work rate and productivity.

The key features restaurant management software should have are:

• A point-of-sale (POS) — a system that enables customers to pay for services or goods. 
• Inventory management — a system that helps you have a clear picture of restaurant inventory levels, to avoid understocking or overstocking.
• Table management and restaurant reservation systems — customers can book a table by using a website interface, mobile app, or web widget. In addition, proper table management helps restaurant staff allocate a particular number of tables for reservations.
• Staff timesheets and attendance — restaurant employees can simply clock in and out, as well as track their breaks. Managers can then review employee attendance.
• Waitlist system — this feature especially comes in handy on busy nights. When a restaurant is full, the waitlist system adds guests to a waiting list. Thanks to this feature, guests get notified when a table is available. 

Some additional features — i.e. the nice-to-have features of restaurant apps — include:

• Employee management system — includes a wide range of features, such as managing payslips and requesting time off. 
• Customer satisfaction — allows customers to share feedback about their experience, which helps restaurant owners improve their business. 
• Customer loyalty — allows customers to get discounts and free meals after a particular number of visits. 

Top restaurant software market trends

We already mentioned that the restaurant management software market is on the rise. So, let’s look at some details about restaurant software market trends.

When it comes to key reasons customers choose to download a restaurant app, these can vary. As per Bluedot’s latest study State of What Feeds Us, the top reasons are:

• Fast and easy to order food — for 52% of customers,
• Earning and tracking loyalty points — for 49% of customers,
• Exclusive deals or coupons — for 48% of customers,
• Bypassing a long line — for 47% of customers, and
• Ease of payment — for 42% of customers.

Moreover, people use different ways of ordering food.

Namely, Deloitte’s 2021 report The restaurant of the future: A vision evolves shows that:

• 57% of people use a digital app to order food from restaurants. 
• 37% of customers opt for drive-through when ordering their food. 

As mentioned earlier, ease of payment is another important reason people choose a restaurant app. Luckily, many restaurant management tools offer an option such as contactless payment — a feature that is predicted to grow to $6 trillion across the globe by 2024. 

Now that we’ve covered the top restaurant software market trends, let’s go over the list of the best restaurant apps.

The best restaurant management software — top 10 picks in 2022

If you’re not sure what app to choose for your restaurant business, we can help you. We gathered the top 10 best restaurant management software:

1. Clockify
2. Lightspeed
3. Revel Systems POS
4. Toast POS
5. TouchBistro
6. 7shifts
7. Beyond
8. Clover
9. When I Work
10. CAKE 

To help you better understand these traits, we’ll now go through each app and see how they can help you run your restaurant more efficiently.

Clockify — best for the clock in and clock out option

Clockify is a time clock app for restaurants that both employees and managers can use.

Employees can easily clock in and clock out their working hours. 

At the same time, managers can have a better overview of employee attendance.

Why use Clockify for restaurant management?

This restaurant app allows restaurant managers and employees to streamline their operations with ease.

Clockify offers a time kiosk feature that allows employees to clock in and clock out by using the same, shared device, such as a tablet. Moreover, workers can track their breaks, too. 

Apart from time recording options, Clockify allows managers to schedule shifts. Later, they can publish the schedule, so that employees know exactly what they’re supposed to work on.

Restaurant managers can also export reports and timesheets for payroll.

With a free Clockify plan, you can use all the essential time kiosk options, such as clocking in and out and reporting. In addition, Clockify also has 4 paid plans with additional handy features.  

Clockify — key features for restaurant management

With its free time clock punch-in feature, Clockify ensures that all restaurant staff members properly log in their working hours. 

Team leads can set up a shared kiosk on a device like:

• A tablet, 
• Mobile phone, or 
• Computer. 

The kiosk should be set for one location only. 

Then, each team member can sign in with their own PIN.

Moreover, managers can have an overview of team activity — who’s currently available and what team members are working on at the moment. This will help team leads delegate the workload and create schedules for team members.

Furthermore, Clockify allows users to add hourly rates, which is especially useful in the restaurant industry. 

If there are different rates for different jobs at the restaurant — for example, if hosts and cooks don’t have the same hourly rate, managers can add different hourly rates for each position. 

Finally, team leads can manage and approve employee timesheets. The approved timesheets include details about the exact number of hours an employee has worked over a particular period and their hourly rate. Then, managers can send the data to a restaurant’s accounting team so they can calculate payroll.

Lightspeed — best for contactless ordering and payments

Lightspeed is a POS (point-of-sale) app for restaurants. 

Apart from the POS system, this restaurant management software also provides users with other significant features for restaurants — such as inventory tracking and synching with major food delivery apps.

Why use Lightspeed for restaurant management?

Lightspeed is also suitable for anyone managing restaurants in multiple locations — you can add all restaurant locations and have all the essential information in one POS system.

This restaurant app offers free one-on-one onboarding for new users ​​— which comes in handy if you’re not sure how to make the most out of this software. 

Lightspeed offers a free trial, during which users can try out all features. However, this app doesn’t have a free plan, but offers 4 paid ones.

Lightspeed — key features for restaurant management

When it comes to POS systems, Lightspeed offers valuable options, such as contactless online ordering — customers can order and pay straight from their mobile phones. 

Besides, this tool also provides customers with bill splitting — a feature that’s especially useful for groups of people. 

Furthermore, Lightspeed offers great reporting options. 

For example, managers can see an End of Day report — an overview of overall sales and sales per worker. 

Another useful option within reporting is a Staff report. Here, managers can see employee work hours and find out who their best servers are.

Revel Systems POS — best for table management 

Revel Systems POS is a restaurant management software that helps restaurants manage their:

• Employees
• Inventory
• Sales reporting 

Why use Revel Systems POS for restaurant management?

One of the best things about this restaurant software is that it allows you to include all the features and integrations that your business needs at the moment — then, you can also expand in the future, if needed. 

If you need help with deciding what features are crucial for your restaurant, you can take a look at the Revel Virtual Restaurant Experience. This is where you’ll see an illustrated map of a restaurant, along with all the services such a business needs to cover.

Keep in mind that Revel Systems POS does not include a free plan — and there’s only one paid plan for the POS software.

Revel Systems POS — key features for restaurant management

Revel Systems POS helps restaurant staff members manage tables and floor plans more effectively — this can help team leads identify slow-turning and high-volume tables. Then, managers can adjust staff accordingly — so that all guests get adequate and fast service. This feature is also great for improving staff scheduling. 

Moreover, this tool enables flexible payment options — so customers can choose how they want to pay.

Another practical feature Revel Systems POS provides its users with is inventory tracking. Thanks to this option, restaurant staff can keep an eye on inventory at all times, to understand when to restock some products and ingredients. 

Toast POS — best for menu management

Toast POS is a restaurant management software that provides users with options such as:

• Tableside service
• Online ordering
• Analytics and reporting

Why use Toast POS for restaurant management?

This restaurant software offers POS, payment services, and menu management. With such features, it improves both customer experience and employee efficiency.

Toast gives you an option to sign up for a free demo and explore all the features this app offers. Users also have 24/7 support via Toast Central.

It is free for small restaurant businesses looking for one or two POS terminals. On the other hand, this tool also has two paid plans, for restaurants that need more than just a POS system.

Toast POS — key features for restaurant management

When using Toast POS, restaurant management staff can easily create menu updates from any terminal at the restaurant or even via a smartphone. 

In addition, staff can track item countdowns — which gives employees a better overview of the currently available products and ingredients.

Apart from this feature, Toast has Self-ordering kiosks. 

Guests can place orders and also receive SMS updates about their orders. 

This option reduces wait times and improves staff productivity.

Finally, Toast POS offers reporting and analytics — restaurant owners and managers can analyze restaurant performance and keep an eye on sales and other important business metrics. 

Toast’s only potential drawback is that the app is only available for businesses located in the US.

TouchBistro — best for reporting and analytics

TouchBistro is a restaurant management software that allows users to customize their POS features by adding add-on products — like online ordering and gift cards. 

This tool helps restaurant owners automate all key processes within the restaurant business. 

Why use TouchBistro for restaurant management?

This restaurant app provides users with all features needed for a better customer experience. 

At the same time, TouchBistro covers options related to employees and their performance.

Furthermore, this restaurant management software offers mobile payment processing — which comes in handy, especially for customers looking for easy payment options.

However, TouchBistro doesn’t have a free plan. As for their paid plans, the pricing depends on what your business needs are. For instance, there’s a particular price for TouchBistro POS system. And, if you want to include their add-on products, you will have to pay more for such options.

TouchBistro — key features for restaurant management

TouchBistro offers a wide range of reports you can use to have a better understanding of how your business operates. 

These reports provide you with details about customer behavior and their food and drink preferences. 

At the same time, managers can use these reports to evaluate staff performance. 

In addition, this restaurant app supports various payment options. However, this functionality is limited to US customers only.

Another valuable feature this restaurant management software offers is Table Status Tracking — restaurant staff can better manage restaurant capacity and keep an eye on guest waitlists. 

7shifts — best for employee scheduling

As its name suggests, 7shifts is an employee scheduling tool for restaurants. 

Apart from scheduling shifts, this restaurant management software also provides time tracking services and task management.

Why use 7shifts for restaurant management?

This tool is specially designed for restaurant managers. With this app, team leads can:

• Schedule employee shifts, 
• Track employee attendance, and
• Create checklists for every shift — to ensure employees complete all the tasks.

In addition, 7shifts allows users to integrate POS and payroll needs. This way, managers can monitor sales and labor targets. 

This app has a free plan, which is only available for single locations. For multiple locations, there are two paid plans to choose from.

7shifts — key features for restaurant management

The most prominent feature of this restaurant app is scheduling. Team leads can easily: 

• Create shift schedules, 
• Filter staff, and even
• Make schedule templates. 

Once the schedule is published, staff members get notifications. 

Aside from scheduling, this app allows users to track time. Employees can clock in and clock out by using a clock app on tablets, mobile phones, or POS systems. 

Besides, there’s an option to sync timesheets with a payroll system — which ensures that all employees get paid for the hours they’ve put in. 

7shifts also provides users with task management features. Managers can:

• Create tasks, 
• Assign them to team members, and 
• Keep an eye on task completion. 

Beyond — best for the centralized POS data reporting system

Formerly known as PeachWorks, Beyond is a restaurant management software that offers:

• POS services, 
• Employee management, and 
• Inventory management.

Why use Beyond for restaurant management?

This restaurant app covers front-of-house solutions — which involve payment and POS systems.

At the same time, Beyond provides back-of-house management — which includes employee onboarding, managing employees, and payroll.

Beyond doesn’t offer a free plan, and you have to contact vendors to find out the prices of paid plans.

Beyond — key features for restaurant management

To ensure better employee performance, managers can use Beyond to check employee preferred shift times and availability before creating a schedule. 

In addition, team leads can create rules regarding breaks and overtime.

When it comes to the POS side of the equation, Beyond has a centralized POS data reporting system that gathers information from different terminals, locations, and machines.

This is especially useful for business owners who have restaurants in several locations. 

Finally, if you’re looking for a way to retain your current customers and attract new ones, Beyond also has gift cards and loyalty solutions. 

Clover — best for multiple payment options 

Clover is an app that offers a POS system and credit card processing services to small and medium restaurants.

Why use Clover for restaurant management?

Clover helps you effectively run your restaurant business by managing both customers and employees.

This restaurant app also allows users to customize their POS system so it fits the needs of their business. As your company grows, you can upgrade the system. 

Clover offers a 30-day free trial. As for the paid plans, there are several plans you can choose from, depending on your business type.

Clover — key features for restaurant management

This restaurant app offers multiple payment options to customers, such as:

• EMV chip cards
• Swipe cards
• Contactless NFC payments
• Checks
• Cash

Apart from payment services, Clover provides users with email invoicing — customers receive invoices in emails, so they can pay online by using cards.  

Moreover, Clover offers various reporting options. 

With Clover reporting, managers can:

• Track sales in real-time across all locations,
• Review performance — i.e. see what the best and worst-performing items are, and
• Generate end-of-day reports — these reports contain data about employee performance, gross sales, and credit card transactions.

When I Work —  best for employee scheduling 

When I Work is an employee scheduling and time tracking tool that restaurants can use to run their business successfully.

Why use When I Work for restaurant management?

This restaurant app helps managers save time spent on scheduling shifts. Team leads can even schedule teams across multiple locations and create schedule templates.

When I Work also offers a time clock feature — so teams can track time and employee attendance, and manage time off. 

Bear in mind that the app doesn’t offer a free version — but it has a 14-day trial. There are 4 paid plans you can choose from, depending on the size of your team and your particular business needs. For example, some plans are focused on features such as an employee scheduling system, while others are focused on automation. It’s worth noting that When I Work charges by a number of users. 

When I Work — key features for restaurant management

As we already mentioned, employee scheduling is one of the most vital features this app has to offer. 

With this feature, managers can assign the right employees to a shift, by having their availability and qualifications in mind. 

Once the schedule is published, workers can:

• Confirm their availability, or 
• Trade shifts with their coworkers. 

Managers can also track employee overtime hours.

Apart from shift scheduling, this app also allows employees to track their time. Then, team leads can integrate employee timesheets with payroll providers.

Finally, restaurant staff members can communicate within the app — by sending one-on-one or group messages. 

CAKE — best for curbside management

CAKE is a restaurant management software focused mainly on the POS system. 

Apart from the POS system, this tool provides services like guest management and curbside service.

Why use CAKE for restaurant management?

If you’re looking for an easy way to manage your point-of-sale system and your customers by using solely one app, CAKE can be a good fit.

Its guest management service allows restaurant managers to tackle the most crucial activities, such as taking orders and payments.

Unfortunately, this app doesn’t have a free plan — but there’s a free trial listed on the pricing page. Speaking of paid versions, there’s separate pricing for the Point-of-sale plan and the Guest manager plan. 

CAKE — key features for restaurant management

As for its guest management service, CAKE offers table management — which ensures guests don’t wait too long to be seated. 

Aside from this, servers can take orders and accept payment at the table, which reduces the time guests wait for the food and improves employee productivity.

Another valuable feature is waitlist management. You can even customize your waitlists according to guest preferences — for instance, whether they’d like to sit outside or inside. 

Moreover, CAKE has one rather unique feature — curbside management, which is similar to drive-in services. In this case, customers place their orders and wait for them at the assigned parking spots outside the restaurant.

Final thoughts

So, there you have it — we covered the 10 best restaurant management tools. 

Now, the question is — which one to choose for your restaurant business?

That depends on your needs. 

If you’re looking for an app that has a free plan, beware that there are only 3 of them listed here:

1. Clockify
2. Toast POS
3. 7shifts

Additionally, some tools offer a free trial, which comes in handy if you’d like to test them for a while. 

Next, the question you’ll need to consider is — what exactly do you need from restaurant management software? And what do your needs mean, in terms of features?

In the table below, we summarized the key features of each app, and whether they offer a free plan. Having such details about each app will help you choose the best for your business.

If you’re still unsure, opt for a tool that offers a free version or at least a free trial. This way, you’ll be able to test its features and better understand what you need to successfully run your business. 

What about you? What apps do you use to effectively run your restaurant business? Have you tried any of the apps we listed in this article? Let us know at blogfeedback@clockify.me and we may include your answers in this or future posts.

But, is this true?

Well, people really do appreciate having enough time off for all kinds of out-of-office activities. 

So, providing your staff with the ability to take paid time off every now and then could increase your employees’ morale and help you attract the best talent. 

But, where should you start from?

Luckily, we’re here to guide you through the entire process of creating a PTO policy. 

In this blog post we’ll:

• Go over the basics of PTO and a PTO policy, 
• Cover many different types of PTO policies,
• Look into the benefits of a great PTO policy,
• Get into the laws that regulate this matter, and
• Help you select the right PTO tracking system for your company.

What is PTO?

Paid time off (PTO) is the time employees spend not working — but they still get paid for these hours. 

PTO is an umbrella term that includes:

• Vacation
• Personal days
• Sick leave
• Bereavement
• Jury duty
• Maternity and paternity leave
• Volunteer work

As seen above, PTO refers to the time off employees may take for many purposes. 

But, some states require employers to offer employees separate days for sick leave or maternity/paternity leave — so make sure you’re familiar with your state’s labor laws before creating a PTO policy.

What should be included in a PTO policy?

Now, a PTO policy should necessarily include:

1. The total number of PTO days workers get each year — The number of PTO days employees are entitled to per year depends on multiple factors, such as their tenure, location, etc.
2. The way employees obtain their PTO days — Employees can either get a single PTO sum at once or receive accrued PTO over time. The accrual allows workers to earn their PTO over time, and the number of days depends on the years of service employees have. 
3. The rules for using PTO days — Employees can either use all their PTO days until a certain date or lose them, in line with the use-it-or-lose-it policy. Or, they can roll over their unused days to the next year’s balance and use them next year, if the PTO policy permits. 
4. Who’s in charge of approving time off — A PTO policy should also state who’s in charge of approving time off so that employees are familiar with whom to contact whenever they need to take some time off.
5. When’s the best time to request time off — Employees should be familiar with the right time to ask for a leave. For example, they should request their time off two weeks before going on vacation. 

It’s worth noting that PTO policies aren’t the same for salaried and hourly workers. 

Hourly employees don’t get unlimited PTO because they’re entitled to overtime pay. 

On the contrary, salaried employees can’t receive overtime pay, but they can get unlimited PTO. 

Three types of PTO policies

If you’re an employer, it’s necessary to have in mind that there are 3 types of PTO policy:

• Traditional PTO
• Flexible PTO
• Unlimited PTO

Let’s go over each of these policies to see what’s the difference between them.

Type 1: Traditional PTO

When companies opt for the traditional PTO policy, they make several specific categories for days off, like:

• Vacation, 
• Sick leave, and 
• Personal days. 

This way, employees need to choose a particular category when requesting their time off.

Advantages of traditional PTO policies

For workers, the key advantage of the traditional PTO rules is that the number of PTO days increases the longer employees work in a company — which helps decrease employee turnover.

Disadvantages of traditional PTO policies 

Still, the main downside of the traditional PTO policy is that employees may be reluctant to use their time off due to the fear of not having enough days off in case of an emergency. 

When this happens, they are more likely to end up with unused sick days that they’ll want to use all at once.

When should employers use the traditional PTO policy?

If employers want to know exactly how their employees use their time off, their best choice is to create a traditional PTO policy.

Type 2: Flexible PTO

Flexible PTO (a.k.a the PTO bank) is a single pool of PTO days. 

Employees have a fixed sum of their time off, and they can use these days as they like. 

So, there are no distinct categories such as vacation, jury duty, or sick leave.

Advantages of flexible PTO policies

Flexible PTO gives employees the freedom to organize their days off how they want. 

For example, working parents can use their time off to support their children at some sports events.

Disadvantages of flexible PTO policies

The key drawback here is that it can be difficult for employers to set an annual limit of PTO days for employees.

When should employers use the flexible PTO policy?

If employers want to find an easy way to deal with administration, a flexible PTO policy is a great choice. 

Type 3: Unlimited PTO

With the unlimited PTO policy, employees can take as much time off as they’d like — as long as their managers approve these days off. 

Advantages of unlimited PTO policies

Since most companies rarely use this type of PTO rule, businesses that opt for this PTO format attract many talented employees who appreciate the freedom and flexibility that come with the unlimited number of days off. 

Disadvantages of unlimited PTO policies

Since there’s no limit to the number of days off employees can take, frequent time off overlaps might become a common issue — which is especially concerning if your company has busy seasons. 

When should employers use the unlimited PTO policy?

The unlimited policy works well when employers want to keep an eye on company finances. In companies where employees have unlimited PTO, workers can’t accrue days off. 

Therefore, when an employee leaves the company, an employer isn’t obligated to pay out vacation time.

How much PTO do most companies give?

Regardless of the type of PTO policy companies choose, the average number of days employees receive per year is from 13 to 26 days — according to an SHRM survey. 

These numbers are more exact for traditional PTO policies as they usually include separate categories of leave: 

• 8 to 22 days for vacation
• 7 to 19 for sick days
• 4 personal days for full-time employees

But, it’s important to repeat that these days depend on the length of employees’ service.

How is PTO regulated by law?

Are employers required to provide their workers with paid time off? 

Well, the answer can vary because federal and state levels differently regulate this issue.

According to the FLSA, employers are not obligated to pay their employees for the time not worked (vacations, personal days, holidays). 

Benefits such as this depend on the agreement between the employer and the employee, and are stated in the employment contract.

At the state level, PTO regulations are different from state to state. State laws regulate some matters — like what happens with unused vacation time and whether employers are obliged to pay workers out. 

Also, since the use-it-or-lose-it policy is illegal in particular states — while some states’ laws require employers to provide workers with paid sick leave — it’s important to be familiar with all the regulations before creating a PTO policy. 

Benefits of creating a PTO policy

In case you’re still having second thoughts about whether you should introduce a PTO policy or not, perhaps looking at the benefits that this choice could bring to your company might help you reach a decision.

A PTO policy improves work-life balance

When employees are aware that they are allowed to take a break from work whenever they feel necessary, they will be more likely to take shorter and more frequent vacations.

This possibility will prevent employees from ending up overworked because they have been waiting for their time off all year round.

But, apart from reducing the chances of suffering from burnout, a PTO policy that allows employees to take a break every now and then helps in maintaining a healthy work-life balance. 

Instead of prioritizing work at the expense of their free time, the awareness that they are able to fit in a couple of days off from time to time could:

• Improve the overall quality of employees’ lives, 
• Help them maintain a mental distance from work, and 
• Even increase their productivity levels. 

A PTO policy improves employee retention

Hand in hand with the improved work-life balance goes employee overall job satisfaction. 

Naturally, when employees feel appreciated and see that their time away from work matters too, they are more likely to remain loyal and stay with the company much longer. 

An attractive PTO policy shows employees that their contribution is respected — especially if the number of PTO days increases after a couple of years spent working for the same company.  

A PTO policy reduces unexpected absenteeism 

Every now and then, unscheduled absences will come up, and this is something companies usually need to figure out as they go. 

However, if you have implemented a PTO policy, you’re more likely to avoid unexpected absences from surprising you when least expected. 

Since paid time off covers a wide range of leaves that do not require employees to share the reason behind their request for time off, they’ll be more likely to request their leaves beforehand. 

Apart from that, PTO can positively impact employees’ honesty and improve trust in the workplace, especially in a remote setting. 

Since providing your employees with an extra amount of time off they can use as they see fit shows you believe they can organize their workweek, employees are more likely to be honest and considerate towards their team members when scheduling their leave. 

A PTO policy helps in building a stronger employer brand

The flexibility that comes with a great PTO policy offers a competitive advantage — especially if you’re looking to hire top talent. 

Although employer branding goes beyond offering additional days off, showing appreciation and willingness to put your employees first goes a long way in helping you attract the best possible people for the job.

Since being mindful of your employees’ time off ensures their better work experience, people who are already part of your company will be more likely to recommend you as a stellar employer.

How can you make a paid time off policy?

Now that you’re familiar with the basics of PTO policies, let’s go over some tips to help you create a PTO policy that works for your company. 

Step #1: Decide on the appropriate number of PTO days

If you choose the traditional or flexible PTO policy for your business, think about the appropriate number of PTO days you’ll give your employees. 

But, how do you make this decision? 

Well, you can do some research to discover how other companies in your industry and geographic area deal with this matter.

For example, some studies show that employees working in the non-profit/foundation sector have 17.5 paid vacation days per year on average. Workers in the government and military industry have 17.3 days off per year on average.

Step #2: Decide on the rules for using PTO

When creating the PTO policy, it’s crucial to choose whether you’ll offer your workers the rollover option or the use-it-or-lose-it policy.

But, before making any choice, don’t forget to check your state’s regulations on the rollover option — because some US states mandate a rollover plan for PTO. 

If this is the case in your location, be sure to note down more details on this subject. 

Next, think about whether you want the employees to have the possibility of carrying over unused PTO days into the calendar year. 

Then again, if you opt for the use-it-or-lose-it policy, include that info in your PTO policy. And, don’t forget to remind your employees to take their days off to prevent losing their precious time off.

Step #3: Set the PTO approval process

Once you’ve decided on both the number of days employees can use and the rules for using PTO,  it’s time to set some ground rules for requesting time off. 

The first step is letting everyone know the exact deadline for submitting their time off request. 

For example, if workers want to take more than 5 days, they’ll need to ask for time off two weeks in advance. When taking fewer days off, employees are allowed to request time off 2 days before using it.

But, defining expectations for scheduling time off does not necessarily mean that there won’t be any unplanned absences — especially when it comes to sick days. 

So, to prevent having fewer employees in a shift, try setting a realistic deadline for calling in sick — and don’t forget to let everyone know who’s in charge of approving their time off. 

Step #4: Let your employees check their PTO balance and accrual

As an employer or manager, you’ll probably want to track your team’s time off. But, to improve trust between you and your team, be sure to let your employees check their PTO balance.

If you’re using software, such as Clockify, for requesting and approving PTO, give your workers access to review their time off — so that they can see their balance history and be aware of the time off they have available. 

Step #5: Make sure your policy follows all laws and regulations

Since laws and regulations regarding PTO can vary across different states, it’s important to take time to explore them before sharing your PTO policy. 

If your company employs workers in more than one jurisdiction, it’s also necessary to check if there are any variations between diverse areas of authority.

Step #6: Include your PTO policy in an employee handbook

Valuable information should always be shared. 

So, don’t leave your employees in the dark when it comes to PTO rules. Instead, add your PTO policy to an employee handbook. 

Whenever new workers start off in your company, they’ll have all the details they need to know about paid time off.

Also, don’t forget to let your employees know that they can come to you if they have any questions about their PTO.

How to choose a PTO tracking system

Tracking everyone’s time off will save you the trouble of having to waste countless hours trying to manage your team’s PTO. 

But, how do you choose a PTO tracker that will work for you?

Let’s go over everything you need to consider before making a final decision. 

Know your PTO requirements

Depending on the type of PTO policy that you have decided to introduce, you will need a PTO tracking system that goes well with your requirements. 

Let’s say you have decided to let your team accrue their time off. 

If this is the case, your best choice is to opt for software that can keep track of everyone’s balance and automatically assign a certain number of days on a particular date. 

Also, it’s never a bad idea to check whether a PTO tracker allows you to create and customize your own PTO policy so that it suits your company’s needs best. 

Some PTO trackers allow you to create multiple policies for different types of employees — or separate holidays from other types of leave. 

So, think about whether multiple options that come with different software can make your managing time off easier before you pick a software.

Look for transparency

When you’re in charge of a team, it’s crucial to be able to keep an eye on all the upcoming leaves to ensure that your business runs smoothly. 

But, to be able to do that, you’ll need a transparent PTO system that will notify you whenever someone requests time off — and give you a visual overview of the time off timeline.

Not only will a transparent PTO system enable you to allocate tasks more accurately, but it will also help your employees schedule their PTO better.

When the whole team can take a glimpse into their teammates’ time off, there will be fewer overlapping requests and missed deadlines — since they’ll know exactly when’s the least preferable time to schedule their time off. 

Make sure the PTO tracking system is easy to use

Apart from making sure that your PTO system is transparent and in line with your team’s needs, it’s also important to choose a tracker that will be easy and intuitive for the employees to use. 

This way, they’ll waste minimum time getting used to the new system. But, they will also avoid having to remind managers of their PTO requests — because all the leave-related information will be within reach. 

An easy-to-use PTO tracking system can also take a heavy load off the managers’ backs — since they won’t have to deal with loads of paperwork anymore.

Instead of manually processing dozens of leave requests, they can finish managing time off in a couple of seconds and shift their attention to more burning issues. 

Conclusion: When creating a PTO policy, take one step at a time

Introducing a PTO policy goes beyond providing your employees with additional days off. You’ll need to:

• Figure out whether you want to provide your employees with the traditional, flexible, or unlimited PTO format.
• Think about whether you want to allow your workers to accrue their time off or if they’ll get one sum at the start of the year.
• Choose whether you’ll provide employees with an option to carry over their unused days off or if they have to use all PTO days by the end of the year.
• Follow laws and regulations since PTO policy has to comply with federal and state laws. 

Once you’ve made your choice and created a PTO policy, all you need to do is include it in an employee handbook, encourage employees to contact you if they have any questions — and you’ll have everything covered. 

Do you have a PTO policy for your company? What else would you suggest that one policy should cover? Send your answers, suggestions, and comments to blogfeedback@clockify.me and we may include them in this or future posts.

But, how do you determine whether the plan adheres to the anticipated timeline? 

How do you monitor execution and guarantee that you provide an appropriate solution on time?

The key is project management.

Project management, however, is not a stand-alone discipline. 

It is composed of several critical components — and time management is one of these components. 

According to Forbes, exploring various time management techniques to determine which method works best can help alleviate stress and boost productivity — which is something your team will need when working on multiple projects. 

Among other perks it offers, proper time management encourages you to track and analyze how much time is devoted to specific activities and the project as a whole.

If you are unaccustomed to time tracking, you may fear that it will overpower the team or stifle creativity. However, the truth is that keeping track of how much time is spent on every project benefits everyone. 

And, the best way to keep track of time is via time tracking software.

To explain why time tracking software should always be an essential part of the project management process, in this blog post, we’ll shed light on the following matters:

• Defining the importance of time tracking in project management
• Understanding the benefits time tracking brings to project management
• Implementing the best time tracking practices for project management

What is time tracking in project management?

The project time management process keeps track of how long team members take to complete their assigned tasks. 

It assists the project manager in determining the team’s productivity and progress on a project. 

Time tracking enables project managers to audit their forecasts for a project — such as its time frame — and make necessary adjustments in their project management tool based on data. 

Additionally, team members can use time tracking to evaluate their performance and make sure they are meeting project objectives. 

While project managers can monitor this time manually, it’s beneficial to use time tracking software, because such a tool can help you:

• Track time spent on tasks, 
• Monitor team progress, and 
• Generate reports that you can later analyze. 

While time tracking applications vary in their features, the majority enables project team members to keep track of their time on every assigned task. 

This type of software can be beneficial for businesses that employ many hourly employees or that issue invoices to clients for hourly work. 

Benefits of time tracking software in project management

According to Time Management Statistics, 82% of people do not use a comprehensive time management system, relying instead on simple options such as lists — or nothing at all. 

Only 18% of employees make use of a well-defined time management system.

While there are several popular methods for tracking time — consider spreadsheets, smartphone notes, or even pen and paper — not all of them are equally effective.

The most efficient approach is to use a time tracking software — such as Clockify, which is a suitable time tracker for project management.

This type of software is typically the most precise and cost-effective for businesses looking to track time spent on projects. 

Now, is time tracking effective in project management, overall? 

The following is a list of reasons detailing why time tracking software (and, by extension, the process of time tracking in general) is critical for your business’s success.

Time tracking software makes your work transparent

By incorporating time registrations into your practice, you automatically increase your business’s transparency. 

Time tracking software enables you to be on top of the work procedure by providing insight into completed tasks and the realistic time it took to complete them, when compared to the estimated times. 

Additionally, you begin to recognize which activities are taking longer or shorter than expected,  and start scheduling and prioritizing work more effectively.

Eventually, tracking time spent on projects and tasks via time tracking software will provide teams and managers with a broader picture of their workflow.

Everyone can review their tasks and better understand how to increase productivity while also keeping an eye on what others are currently working on — these insights will help you make better work schedules, as you’ll know who’s available to take on which task, and when.

Time tracking software makes other work activities easier to accomplish

When employees fail to enter accurate information into timesheets, the company incurs significant financial losses.

That’s why it’s important to not only make the process of time tracking easier, but also, to expand it to include other processes — this is possible via integrations you can get with a time tracking software. 

For example, to directly affect the level of your financial losses, integrating your time tracking app with your top accounting systems for business is a great solution. 

Moreover, depending on the tasks assigned to your team members, they may also be required to clock in when working offsite. 

A time tracking software for accounting that includes a mobile application for all devices, including iOS and Android, enables your team members to continue tracking time regardless of their location.

Time tracking software provides performance insights

Without insight into your employees’ performance, you may be unable to manage your teams effectively. 

After all, it is crucial to recognize employees who put in the effort their roles require for the success of the company. 

Without tracking and analyzing employee performance, it’s challenging to get an accurate insight into employees’ work hours and time spent on individual tasks — which is the perfect illustration of why time tracking software benefits a team’s productivity.

Time tracking and project management software can provide helpful insight into your staff members’ performance and help you understand who is performing well. 

Additionally, because you’ll know your high performers, you can increase their confidence by publicly recognizing their accomplishments.

Apart from identifying exceptional performers — i.e. team members who finish their tasks on time or earlier — time trackers can also be used to identify people’s strengths and weaknesses. 

You can recognize trends in people’s behavior at work if you collect enough data. This information includes data highlighting:

• How long it takes for people to complete their tasks, 
• Whether some people procrastinate on their tasks, and 
• Whether some people finish their tasks faster than expected.

This information allows you to take appropriate measures to assist anyone who has been having difficulty completing tasks efficiently and reward those who have been finishing their work faster (but with the same or better quality).

Time tracking software helps monitor project progress

According to the State of Project Management Report by Project.co, a sizable portion of surveyed employees openly admit to frequently missing deadlines — and even overlooking tasks that are due.

And, confusion and conflict may occur if you consistently miss deadlines because you underestimated the amount of time required to complete a task.

By underestimating the time required to finish a project, you’re also underestimating the project’s cost — which leads to money loss in the long run. 

Additionally, if your personnel spends excessive time on projects that have lesser value, you’ll also lose money.

But, when working with clients, you should pay more attention to this — after all, your tardiness tarnishes your brand image, so you should pay more attention to the efficiency with which your projects progress. 

Without effective project management encouraged by effective time tracking, clients will lose trust in your brand and spread the word about your brand’s shortcomings to other business owners. After all, word of mouth doesn’t have to be positive — but, you’ll want to make the effort to minimize the negative reviews.

Time tracking software automates timesheets and facilitates invoicing

By tracking project time with specialized software, you get improved timesheets and invoicing.

Why are accurate timesheets and invoices important?

Well, for one, accurate timesheets lead to accurate invoices, which leads to better client relationships.

And, team members’ timesheets are more accurate the more frequently they complete them — after all, you’re more likely to remember the tasks worked on and time spent on said tasks if you enter your time on a weekly, or even daily level. 

And, completing timesheets in a software makes the process faster to accomplish, making it easier to complete accurate timesheets and invoices more frequently.

Time tracking software streamlines payroll

Another benefit of time tracking software is that it reduces the payroll processing cost — as time trackers automatically keep track of staff members’ time. It is more reliable and accurate than manual tracking systems that are prone to errors.

For example, if you have hired freelance virtual assistants on an hourly basis, they can:

• Define their hourly rates, 
• Clock in their billable hours directly into your time tracker app, and 
• Have their earnings calculated automatically and recorded for future reference.

Business owners can anticipate fewer rejected timesheets that lead to payroll processing delays and problems. 

After all, time tracking tools enable you to keep track of your projects and the amount of time and money spent on them. 

Additionally, with sufficient data from your time tracking system, you can accurately evaluate the resources required for a project, based on time tracked on similar projects.

Time tracking software strengthens client communication

The best time tracking software lays the groundwork for creating reports for distribution to clients and other stakeholders.

Sharing the project’s stage and roadmap enables partners to track progress on tasks and raise any concerns in a timely manner.

Furthermore, they understand precisely where their investment or effort is going and whether it is paying off.

Ways to keep track of time in project management

If you’re determined to enhance your project management efforts with time tracking, you should know how to do it properly. 

Take a look at 4 effective ways to keep track of time in project management. 

1. Choose the right time tracker tool

There are A LOT of time tracking tools to choose from, so how do you pick one among the many options available?

The most important thing to consider is what suits your business needs and processes best.

Determine what your project goals are. 

From there, define the features you’re looking for in a software to help you achieve those goals.

Doing so makes it easier for you to narrow down your options.

2. Motivate the team to track time

Introducing a new tool to your team can hinder productivity — if not done right. 

Of course, it’s a new system to learn, a new process to implement, and a new task to handle.

That’s why it’s important to get your team on board and encourage them to do time tracking. 

3. Have a reminder system

In project management, a lot depends on accuracy, consistency, and time. 

To make sure your employees’ time logs are accurate and regular, you’ll have to find a good reminder system. Luckily for you, with modern time tracking software like Clockify, you can set up email reminders that will ensure your employees log in time regularly. 

To make things easier for managers and admins, you can also set up daily, weekly, or monthly reminders that will provide information about who hasn’t been tracking their time. Or, if someone has tracked more time than their usual target. 

4. Analyze tracked time

For project management, tracking time isn’t enough. Analyzing the data obtained through time tracking software is what brings value to project management and planning.  

By examining time tracking data at their disposal, managers can:

• Learn how time tracking affects their teams, 
• Identify problematic areas, and 
• Understand their teams’ productivity better. 

Each aspect is essential for driving better results, saving time, and making more accurate budget estimates in the long run. 

Conclusion: Enhance project management through a time tracking system

Traditional spreadsheets are obsolete, especially in project work. 

You require an excellent tracking solution that is fully automated, provides real-time access to employee time data, and integrates with your billing and project management software.

In gist, time tracking tools for any project management system assist team members in:

• Meeting deadlines, 
• Identifying areas for improvement, and
• Monitoring work performance from any location in the world. 

Additionally, you can utilize a time tracking application to optimize project workflow and focus your efforts on the right tasks at the right time — which benefits your business’s bottom line. 

Do you track your time? Have you found time tracking helpful for project management? How do you keep track of your time as a project manager? Is there anything that you’ve found particularly useful? Write to us at blogfeedback@clockify.me for a chance for your answer to be featured in one of our future articles.

And, believe it or not, the “me” time will help you be efficient in other fields of life. In fact, we can name a person who supports such a habit — Rich Cardona. 

How did Rich figure out the importance of spending some “me” time? By tracking his time with Clockify, which he explains in one of his LinkedIn posts. 

Seeing this post intrigued us, and we wanted to meet Rich — an entrepreneur, the owner of Rich Cardona Media, a host of the NFTs for Newbies podcast, and a former member of the US Marine Corps.

In this blog post, we’ll cover the main takeaways of our talk with Rich:

• Working in the US Marine Corps for 17 years,
• Starting his own business,
• Working as a podcaster, video content creator, and social media coach, 
• Using Clockify and recognizing the time tracking benefits for entrepreneurs, and
• Understanding the importance of self-care and mindfulness.

So, sit comfy and read on, because you’ve got so many interesting things to learn from Rich Cardona. 

Working in the US Marine Corps

Rich worked in the US Marine Corps for 17 years. 

So, we were eager to find out what that experience was like, why he chose the Marine Corps, and why he eventually decided to quit.

Why did Rich decide to join the Marines?

Rich was 17 years old when he joined the Marines. As he claims, he went in because he was troubled in high school. He also realized college was not going to be an option and didn’t want to work locally. 

Rich further explains his decision to join the Marines: 

“I knew I needed some character, some discipline. I went into the marines, and I was gonna do 4 years. Three years into it, 9/11 happened, and then I re-enlisted after that. Enlisted means that I was an enlisted rank — sergeant.”

Rich also adds that he had a desire to be an officer. So he applied for a couple of programs, went to college, and got commissioned as a lieutenant.

Then, he went to flight school, which came out of the blue.

Working as a pilot

Rich reveals that he never knew he’d be flying an aircraft. 

Nevertheless, he learned how to fly 3 different aircraft, and ended up flying tag helicopters:

“It was fantastic. Everything that I had imagined it would be was succeeded.”

He says that flying is the ultimate multitasking activity for which you need to embrace a particular skill set. Here’s why:

“You’re flying in an aircraft, you’re looking for other aircraft, you’re listening, communicating, touching buttons, talking with the people in the back… It is insanity.”

Although flying an aircraft was unexpected for Rich, he is a firm believer that we can surprise ourselves a lot. He concludes that it’s great when we’re able to exceed our own expectations of ourselves.

Why Rich had to retire from the Marines

We were wondering what ultimately made Rich retire from the Marines, at the age of 34. 

As it turns out, he was medically disqualified. 

“Not long after I got back from Afghanistan, I was running a half-marathon, and I had a seizure. And they say: ‘You never know, you may never have one again, or you might have another, but we can’t take a chance of having you in an aircraft when having a seizure.’ ’’

Luckily for him, the Marine Corps had an option to offer early retirement for anyone who had between 15 and 20 years of service.

“So, I applied for that program, I had 16 years in, and I retired at 17 (years of service). I was very happy with that decision because I was afraid I wasn’t going to be marketable on the outside.”

Rich adds that, at that time, he was still young enough to go get an MBA. 

However, he highlights that those were the best 17 years of his life.

How did the skills Rich learned as a marine affect the rest of his life and career?

During our interview, Rich pointed out that he’s learned a lot of skills while being a marine. We were curious to know how these skills affected the rest of his life and career.

Learning about the importance of appearance 

Rich believes that one of the benefits of having served in the Marine Corps is that people have expectations of you. They think marines have high standards and like structure.

In a way, that proved to be true in Rich’s case. 

After the Marine Corps, he worked as an Operations Manager at Amazon. And, he thinks he was different from other managers, in terms of appearance. 

For example, while other people wore shorts and sneakers in the warehouse, Rich wore boots and pants every day. 

“I was trying to set a different standard. Just be very consistent with the way I show up — and appearance was one of those things.”

Learning about the importance of being there for your team

Apart from appearance, the relationship between managers and workers is also important. This is another trait Rich learned during his years as a marine. 

He says that in Amazon, managers have radios for communicating with others. 

Rich adds that he would usually turn his radio off so that he could talk with associates. Another reason for turning the radio off was because there was so much going on — communicating via the radio was overstimulating and distracting.  

However, other managers and superiors were upset because he was ignoring the radio. On the other hand, superiors noticed that every time they came to Rich, he was communicating with his team.

Here’s how Rich reacted to complaints:

“Why do you think workers are performing so well? 

Why do you think I’m crushing everyone’s numbers? 

Why do you think the culture on my team is so strong? 

It’s because I’m involved, I don’t let you distract me. The most important thing we need to do is invest in people. That’s a huge takeaway, that’s something I learned from the military, it’s never about you, it’s about your marines.”

Naturally, Rich applied some of these principles during his work at Amazon, but overall, he feels that this job wasn’t for him. Ultimately, he quit.

Learning about the importance of constantly educating your team

The approach of making it about people came from Rich’s marine days. 

Rich highlights that in the Marine Corps, they have to take care of each other. Besides, he discovered the importance of constantly learning from superiors and educating subordinates. 

Thus, Rich realized that being a manager doesn’t mean just caring about numbers and employee attendance. Being a manager means educating the workers about the business: 

“We always have to be teaching, as leaders, as marines. You always want the person ‘below’ you to be set up to take your job. That approach has worked beautifully for me in everything I’ve ever done.”

Apart from educating his subordinates, Rich realized it’s vital to show your curiosity — to be able to acquire new skills and train yourself for new positions.

The importance of considering your job role exceptional

Now, we were eager to find out the reason Rich left his manager role at Amazon.

Why did Rich quit his job at Amazon?

Although it seems like Rich was quite a successful manager at Amazon, he feels this job wasn’t suitable for him. 

So, what really made him leave?

“Everything was very numbers-driven and hours were extremely long. I wasn’t able to see my newborn daughter, sometimes for 2 days at a time — just because of my work schedule and her sleep schedule.”

Feeling like a number vs. feeling special at what you do 

While discussing his job at Amazon, Rich pointed out that when you work for an organization that’s the tip of the spear, and probably the most recognized company in the world, it’s almost impossible not to feel like a number.

“I knew at any time that I could leave and that there were going to be a million people wanting that position, whether they were already working there or not. That didn’t make me feel very special. I came from a very special place. The people I served with in the Marine Corps were some of the most talented humans I’ve ever been around.”

Thus, by being able to compare his job as a marine with his manager position at Amazon, Rich realized that he had no role model in the latter.

“That was very new territory for me, and I was thinking: 

‘If I don’t wanna be like them, why am I climbing this ladder? 

What is the end game here?’ 

I didn’t have the clarity of what I actually wanted, which is very normal for people who get out (from the Marine Corps) and transition. So I knew it wasn’t for me, and ultimately, it came to an end.”

How did Rich decide to start his own business?

In Amazon, Rich just felt like a number. So, was that a part that motivated him to start his own business? And how exactly did he begin his entrepreneurial journey?

The road to figuring out his true calling

Rich begins the story of how he started his own business by telling us about his trip to Europe ⁠— an incredible two-month-long experience he had when retired from the Marine Corps. 

During his European journey, Rich took 10,000 photos. 

“It was fantastic. I remember that so vividly. When I left Amazon, I said to myself: ‘Maybe there’s something there, because I love to do [photography]’. This is where people confuse their passion for what their actual calling might be.”

How did Rich discover videography?

After finding out about his passion for photography, Rich started taking photography courses. 

He also started applying to be an associate at photography stores, but no one would take him. 

So he broadened his interests:

“I started experimenting with videography, and that’s when I thought to myself: ‘OK, maybe there’s a business here.’ ”

Therefore, Rich started reaching out to businesses, such as local gyms or diners, and discussing video content for their social media channels. 

“I started getting into videography, and I realized it was storytelling. I love to tell my stories or to talk about my experiences, so that is what really kicked it off. Eventually, things got crazy in a good way.”

Rich concludes that’s how it started — he didn’t have a plan of any kind. 

Exploring the world of videography and turning it into business

As a newbie to videography, Rich was using an iMovie and a camera he had. 

“I was trying to learn how to edit because I believe that anyone can press Record. But how can you put something together? How can you put it together with music and make something stimulating, attractive — [how can you put together something] that separates one business from another?”

So, Rich decided to go to conferences to enhance his videography skills — that’s where everything changed. 

Rich asked a question during Garry Vaynerchuk’s conference, and told him he was a marine. Later, a certain CEO of a company and a retired navy officer approached Rich. 

A couple of months later, this person reached out to Rich and said he needed some video content. 

“That’s when I pivoted away from making montage videos and focusing on people. I love talking to people, helping them enhance their brand, and show up authentically. This became my core business:

• Creating video content for business owners and CEOs, 
• Researching what questions are being asked about their industry, 
• Seeing the engagement they get, and
• Helping them grow a profile, a brand.

I believe you stand in front of a brand, not the other way around.” 

Today, Rich is the owner of Rich Cardona Media, and they offer three types of services:

1. Podcast production
2. Video content creation
3. Social media coaching

How to handle the feeling of doubt in the workplace

Rich has changed his career path several times, so we wanted to know if he ever felt insecure or doubtful. If so, how does he deal with doubt?

“The doubt doesn’t go away — no matter how confident we are, we become doubtful. I believe the reason people with good intentions become doubtful is that we want to serve. You want to serve at a very high capacity, you want to ensure that you’re giving something valuable.”

Here’s Rich’s advice for managing doubt better.

Tip 1: Practice makes perfect

Rich believes that one of the most effective ways to deal with doubt is repetition.

“I think that we become less scared of things the more familiar we are with them. I have clients who I’ve made tons and tons of videos for, and in the beginning, no matter how prepared we were, as soon as I pressed Record, they were frozen. But now, they’re incredibly comfortable. So, repetition solves a lot of problems.”

Tip 2: Focus on service

Rich’s second advice for dealing with doubt is — when you get nervous, focus on service. It even rhymes. 

Also, think about the byproduct of these emotions.

“Think of how you can serve at the highest capacity. Think about what clients want, not just what they signed contracts for — but all the other little things.

Ask yourself: 

‘What are the other ways I can serve aside from what they hired me to do?’

That level of service, that level of goodwill, always leaves a very positive experience in the hands of a client.”

Rich concludes that when it’s time to perform, it’s not time to be nervous.

Tip 3: Remember that the first time is the worst time

When feeling doubtful about how you’re going to perform in a new situation, just remember that the first time is the worst time — as Rich would say.

“The ability to improve is just substantial. The more you keep doing something, [the better you are]. I’m a believer in that, it calms me down.”

Rich Cardona as an entrepreneur — podcast production

As we previously mentioned, Rich Cardona Media provides podcast production for their clients.

Rich is a seasoned podcaster ⁠— he used to do a podcast called The Leadership Locker, and now he’s doing NFTs for newbies.

About the NFTs for Newbies podcast

Rich says that he loved creating The Leadership Locker podcast, but NFTs for Newbies started scaling so fast that they decided to pay more attention to it — and also, because NFTs are a hot topic. 

Although the latter podcast is around 8 months old, they’re (already) going to hit a million downloads this month.

So, how did Rich start doing the podcast about NFTs? 

It’s an interesting story — he and his co-host Heather met at a conference, when they decided they wanted to collaborate. 

A week later, they had a podcast about NFTs, even though they barely knew anything about this matter. But, in Rich’s opinion, not being an expert wasn’t a problem.  

“My co-host Heather and I, we’re seasoned podcasters. The funny thing about this was that we had no expertise at all about anything NFTs or Web 3-related, so we call it NFTs for Newbies. The audience is going to learn with us, we are literally documenting the journey. 

Anyone who believes that you have to be an expert in anything to convey information, I’m telling you — we’ve just proved you wrong. We were learning on the fly.”

This approach worked incredibly well for them, and now Rich and Heather have a community of newbies. They uplift each other and get a bit deeper with their information with every episode. 

Also, they had a feeling that this curiosity about NFTs wasn’t going to dissipate. And they were right:

“Anytime there’s something that gains a lot of popularity, but has incredibly high financial implications, I believe you gotta pay attention to it. We had no choice but to explore — and luckily for us, we knew how to podcast, and a lot of people started listening to it.”

What are NFTs and why are they important? 

According to one article in Entrepreneur, one in four people in the US don’t know what NFTs are and how they work. 

So, we wanted to pick Rich’s brain on this subject and let him explain what an NFT is.

“NFT stands for non-fungible token. A token of art, it could be digital art, it could be a digital collectible, digital anything.”

Now, why do NFTs have value whatsoever? 

“They have value because NFT — the non-fungible part — means it can’t be replicated. 

This is where blockchain technology comes in. 

There’s actually a ledger — a record on this thing called a blockchain. 

Blockchain is a string of computers across the world that validates that you are an owner of that non-fungible token.”

We were wondering what being an owner of a token means.

“It’s kind of like a certificate of authenticity — like knowing that you have the actual Mona Lisa, or the actual Picasso, or a baseball card. Ownership is part of, what I would call, a Web 3 movement.”

Here’s how Rich further describes Web 3, and the importance of ownership:

“I bought this digital piece, I know it’s mine, I know I can verify it, it’s verified on this blockchain, and it gives me access to certain things. 

That gives me ownership of it. No one could screenshot it, no one could say it’s theirs, and it creates a form of digital scarcity for projects that do very well.”

Rich concludes that the entire concept is about having digital assets that can really accumulate value over time. For him, Web 3 is a movement of people who believe in technology and want to embrace it.

Why podcasts are Rich’s favorite medium

Rich emphasizes that a podcast is his favorite medium. 

“There are 2 million podcasts out there, but only 300.000 of them are active, meaning they’ve released an episode in the last 30 days.”

He explains how you can use podcasts as a multifunctional content:

“The podcast gives you written content — if you get a transcription, you turn it into a blog. If you’re videotaping it, you have video content, as well.”

According to Rich, people need to show their authentic selves in podcasts — a podcast is where you can just completely be yourself, just showing up exactly as you are. The audience will truly appreciate that.

“As someone said to us: ‘It’s like you’re my passenger seat on my way to work every day.’ ”

Another thing Rich likes about podcasts is the simplicity of the processes — at least that’s his experience with the NFT podcast:

“With NFTs for Newbies, there are a lot fewer technical things involved. They record an episode, it’s uploaded in their studio, it gets edited — and that’s it.” 

How Rich evaluates the success of his podcasts

Now, how exactly should you evaluate the success of your podcasts? Are numbers the only thing that matters or are there other valuable metrics?

Rich believes that one crucial aspect is community.

Is the community increasing? 

“So, the numbers are one thing, but are you able to build a community? 

Are you able to uplift people? 

Are you able to attain them? 

Are you able to keep it concise and just give listeners exactly what they want?”

Another thing podcasters should focus on — Do people have follow-up questions? 

Also, paying attention to negative feedback is important:

“We had a review that said: ‘Blind leading a blind.’

But, we also bring in experts who can codify the things that we have not been able to figure out.“

Rich also says that in podcasts, there’s no room for inside jokes with co-hosts or podcast guests. 

“Listeners want to feel like they’re actually partaking. The only way to do that is to focus on a listener and deliver digestible information.”

Rich Cardona as an entrepreneur — video content creation

On his website, Rich highlighted that five hours of shooting create three months of content in one go. We were eager to learn what this process looks like.

“We call it “show up and shoot”, and it’s up to five hours, but it usually never goes past three.”

The entire process of creating video content

Here’s how Rich and his team organize the process of creating videos for potential clients:

1. Schedule an onboarding call — this is how Rich gets to know everything about the client.

2.  Determine three content pillars for the client — this is what the client should be talking about. For instance, if the client is a time management app, these pillars can be time management, leadership, and journaling.

3. Look around the marketplace and do some research — Rich and his team look into Google, Reddit, and Quora, to determine what questions are being asked at the relevant market that the client is in a position to answer, as an expert.

4. Prepare about 36–45 questions for the client — Rich and his team go through those questions with the client. 

5. Shoot — Rich says that they shoot at several locations.

Here’s what happens next:

“Two weeks later, the clients have all that content, captions, edited, the copy written for them. If they want, for an additional fee, we can distribute the content for them — or they can distribute it themselves. The only thing that we don’t do is engage on their behalf. We cannot speak on their behalf.”

Rich Cardona as an entrepreneur — social media coaching 

Another service that Rich Cardona Media provides is social media coaching. So, we tackled this subject with Rich, too, starting with the main issues business owners have when it comes to social media.

The most common challenges of social media presence for business owners

Rich points out that he’s been dedicated to documenting the journey of his business, which is something a lot of people just don’t do. 

In his opinion, people avoid documenting the journey because they’re afraid that no one is going to:

• Listen, 
• Care, or 
• Take anything valuable from it. 

However, Rich believes quite the opposite. 

“Number one: [documenting your journey] is good for you because you’re going to:

• Get more comfortable and confident,
• Deliver better, and
• Consistently improve.

Number two: in the future, you’re gonna look back and look how far you’ve gone. You can look at something you made 6 months ago and probably notice the difference in how you presented then and now.”

How to embrace an organic approach to social media content 

Rich Cardona Media provides its clients with social media coaching, which is why we wanted to know more about Rich’s approach to social media. 

“We have a kind of very slow, methodical, organic kind of approach to everything, without trying to just do what social media requires us to do.”

Remember — “you don’t have to be viral to be valuable”, as per Rich.

He continues that a lot of people believe that social media means having a successful social media account, or presence means having a million followers. In actuality, you just need to have at least one follower. 

This advice is quite straightforward: imagine one person that you’ve ever helped in your life and talk like you talked to them — Rich adds that you should never imagine a stadium full of people anyway. 

“The majority of people who are gonna come across your content are gonna scroll by anyway, or they might like it without even listening.

But, you are trying to put yourself in a position where you’re just trying to reach one person.”

Rich believes that, if you reach that one person, that person is going to do something special — either share your content or tell someone else about it, and that’s how it really unfolds. 

Sometimes, this one person may even lift your spirits on a rainy day — here are some of the best messages Rich gets about his podcast:

“ ‘You have no idea how much that episode helped me today’, or 

‘I’ve never thought of it like this’, or 

‘My husband loves your show’. 

Those things mean more than some of the money that comes in because it’s very tangible.”

These reviews are a reminder that there are a lot of things going right, to lift his spirit.

Rich’s approach to social media coaching 

We were curious to find out more about the social media coaching service that Rich provides, and whether it includes any technical elements.

According to Rich, his team now works with 7–8 figure business owners, solopreneurs, and clients who are focused on business, and crushing it. 

Here’s how Rich Cardona Media helps these companies:

“So, our job is to eliminate every single technical aspect (posting, distributing, copywriting), so all the clients can do is focus on recording and delivering messages exactly how they want, the way we coach them to do. Everything else is a distraction.”

Now, what type of clients need social media coaching?

In Rich’s opinion, their clients are efficient, responsive, and they communicate regularly.

“The type of clients I work with are just absolutely professional and coachable. They don’t discount my feedback and I receive their feedback a lot better, too. 

The reason that’s important is, if you’re helping someone lateral to the level you’re at, it’s easy to see through the nonsense excuses. Because I’ve been there, so I’d rather them just be honest.”

Here are other traits of Rich’s clients who need social media coaching:

• They take notes,
• They are serious, and 
• They not only comprehend what is said to them, but they apply it almost immediately.

“It’s almost like they’re paying me to help them, and at the same time, I’m learning so much from them. It’s a ridiculous win-win.”

Time tracking benefits for entrepreneurs

Should entrepreneurs track their time and work hours?

They should. In fact, Rich told us that he tracks everything he does throughout the day. 

Tracking time when acquiring new skills

For Rich, recording time is vital when you’re trying to learn new things or acquire new skills.

“There’s a very big difference between convincing myself that I really put a solid foot forward enhancing my copywriting skills, the feeling vs. looking at the tracked time. 

Clockify has absolutely helped me look at what my habits are, good and bad, and to enhance my skills.”

Tracking the “me” time

Apart from logging the hours he spends enhancing skills, Rich also tracks his “me” time. 

For example, Rich dedicates 45 minutes per day to being outside, no matter the weather, and he always keeps a time record for this activity.

Here’s why tracking the “me” time is invaluable for Rich:

“The ‘me time’ is substantial. And I know I’m accomplishing far more than many of my counterparts who think entrepreneurship is doing whatever you want. I also know that I’m optimizing my health and mental state. Auditing my time has been largely fruitful.”

How Rich and his team use Clockify

As you can see, Rich is an advocate for time tracking. Here’s how Rich and his team make the most of Clockify. 

Time tracking habits for Rich and his team

At first, Rich was using Clockify for his own time recording purposes. Then, as his team was growing, he wanted to know how they were spending their time.

“It was not to micromanage, I just wanted to understand the same things I did. For example, ‘wait a second, I could have spent a lot more time on that. Why did I spend so much time on this graphic? I spent an hour and a half doing a graphic, scrolling through emails, or visiting my email even though there was nothing new for an hour.’”

Although his team doesn’t necessarily need to measure their working hours, Rich and an entire company track their time for a week, once a quarter. 

That way, they’re able to learn more about their working habits, and make plans for the future:

“The Reporting [feature] is what helps the most. When you’re able to see the accumulation of everything, you are able to say: ‘Next month, if I cut this in half, that means I can add five hours here.‘ That is just really motivating because I know next month is going to be just solid.”

What Clockify features does Rich find useful?

Rich already mentioned Reports ​​— but we were curious to find what other Clockify features he enjoys. 

This entrepreneur likes that Clockify offers an option to enter hours manually or with a timer. Rich used to record his time manually, but he realized he was lying to himself a bunch of times.

“When you have a timer running, it doesn’t lie. A timer function is a bit more granular, and sometimes I prefer that. So, I can know it to a second, like: did I really need 40 minutes for lunch? 

Knowing that the clock is ticking helps me stay on track.”

In addition, Rich also prefers the Reports, especially Weekly Reports.

“I like that feature that you can toggle back and forth, but I would say that Weekly reporting, or the Reporting function as a whole is probably the most important.“

The significance of self-care and mental health for personal and business success 

Another topic we discussed with Rich is self-care and mindfulness, and why they are important for his overall well-being and business success. 

For Rich, self-care means resisting the urge to check emails first thing in the morning, and instead ⁠— working out. After that, Rich usually does the reading and visualization. 

The benefits of visualizing your work

Here’s what visualization means and why it’s a vital activity for Rich:

“I visualize how I’m gonna show for clients and what I’m gonna say to not take things personally, when someone doesn’t get back to me. I think of all of those things. I say to myself: ‘I’ve already given my attention to that, I don’t need to give it more attention, so I’m gonna focus on exactly what I need to do now, what I outline for myself.’ ”

How Rich embraced mindfulness

Rich says that he used to believe that mindfulness and self-reflection were ridiculous. Besides, he had no time for activities such as this.

“Coming from the marines, we had the lowest budget compared to any armed services, so we were always doing more with less. And we were proud — that’s a badge of honor. But there wasn’t time for excuses, there wasn’t time for contemplating, there was time for decision-making and action.”

However, Rich highlights that now, he’s given himself that gift of reflection.

Rich’s approach to prioritizing mental health 

In his LinkedIn post we previously mentioned, Rich said that it’s really important to prioritize your time for mental health and creativity. 

So, we wanted to know how Rich manages to balance his work and private life.

As we mentioned, Rich uses Clockify to track everything throughout the day. Tracking time has helped him see that there are some time gaps during the day. Thus, Rich started looking at how much time there was for his family and nurturing mental health.

“And it was substantial — I’m up at 4 a.m. I go to the gym, come home, read, and meditate, which is crazy because I am a marine, I never thought of doing that. Then I spend time with my daughter, I take her to school, come back, and then I start my workday. My workday starts around 9 a.m. and I’m up by 4 p.m. 

I have 5 hours that include physical fitness, mental health, socialization, time with family, and being a dad.”

Rich adds that he pays close attention to his meetings during the day and how much time he spends on meetings. Besides, he also tracks his time on social media. Rich is astonished that random social media scrolling can add up to 30–40 hours in a month.

Wrapping up: Lessons we can learn from Rich Cardona

What can we learn from a man who served as a marine for 17 years, then worked in marketing and operations, and finally decided to start his own business? 

Well, we can learn a lot.

First, finding a job suitable for you can be difficult. You will probably go through trial and error before discovering your true calling. Rich also pointed out that sometimes you’ll discover your passion and manage to turn it into a legit business. 

Second, remember that it’s okay to feel doubtful. Because, in Rich’s view, people with good intentions become doubtful because they want to serve at a very high capacity. And, the good news is that Rich recommends several ways of dealing with doubt, such as — when you get nervous, focus on service. 

Third, if you’re a busy entrepreneur like Rich, make sure you track your time, especially the hours you spend acquiring new skills. That’s the best way to ensure that you actually dedicate time to a meaningful activity.

Finally, prioritize your mental health and set aside enough time to spend with your family — no matter how busy you are. 

What do you think about the ideas Rich shared with us? If you’d like to share your thoughts or experience with entrepreneurship, podcasts, or other topics we covered in this article, feel free to write to us at blogfeedback@clockify.me. We’ll make sure to provide you with answers, or include your opinion in one of our future articles.

So, I understand how stressful tests can be, especially if you want to get into the university or school of your dreams. Test takers often have to think not only about studying, but also about getting mentally prepared for a test.

Apart from finding a way to reduce your stress levels, proper time management plays a crucial role in taking a test. To learn exactly how to manage your time better when preparing for and taking tests, we reached out to Apex GMAT — a company specializing in GMAT tutoring. 

We talked with Fatma Xhafa — their Engagement Manager, who was thrilled to discuss the importance of time tracking in education. Also, we talked about the differences between online and face-to-face learning, and how this company uses Clockify to track work and improve their productivity. 

So, let’s learn about the significance of time tracking for tutors and students. 

The GMAT test basics

As I already mentioned, Apex GMAT focuses on providing in-person and online tutoring sessions for students required to take the GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test), as well as other tests, such as the Executive Assessment and GRE. In general, the people who are interested in GMAT tutoring usually come from business or finance backgrounds.

Now, let’s see what the GMAT test is all about. 

What is the GMAT test?

As Fatma points out, the GMAT exam is a specific exam for people who want to go to business schools, and more specifically, pursue an MBA (Master of Business Administration) or EMBA (Executive MBA).

She adds that the GMAT test is required for most of these programs as an entrance exam. 

You can take the test either at a test center of your choice or online. You must conduct your test on a computer. If you opt for an online test, you’ll have to ensure that your computer meets all technical requirements. 

According to Fatma, here’s another invaluable fact to have in mind:

“MBA programs use the GMAT as a core component in recognizing gifted candidates. While programs don’t have set GMAT scores, the elite programs generally require a score in excess of 700, or about the top 10% of test takers.“

Who should take the GMAT test?

In general, the GMAT test is for people who are seeking an MBA. They often come from the finance and business sector, and entrepreneurship as well. 

When asked about their clients, Fatma said that they’re usually busy professionals who are looking to go to graduate schools as the next step in their careers. 

She added that their clients usually have a target score in mind when preparing for the GMAT test. 

“We specialize in working with high-achievers seeking admission to the best MBA programs. They have a very high target score. And we specialize in this very specific range, taking them from one score to the other.”

Fatma also says that they had clients coming from other fields of work, such as sports. For instance, this educational center had athletes who, after doing sports for a while, have decided to go into graduate school. 

What are the main issues related to taking the GMAT test?

I was curious to find out what kind of issues/struggles their students face when asking Apex GMAT for help. 

“I think that understanding how the test works and how it’s scored in general is a challenge in itself.”

The GMAT test is specific because it has a scoring system that’s different from other tests.

It’s a computer-adaptive exam, and these tests are, by definition, “designed to adjust their level of difficulty — based on the responses provided — to match the knowledge and ability of a test taker.” 

So, when a student answers correctly, a computer will follow up with a more difficult question.

On the other hand, when a student answers incorrectly he/she will receive an easier question. 

Fatma says that the test doesn’t just calculate how many questions are right or wrong, but it weighs them based on a particular algorithm. The algorithm determines the value that questions have on the entire exam.

“So, basically, the test result doesn’t depend a lot on how many questions you get right or wrong. But it depends on the value that these questions have on the entire exam.”

The specific traits of the exam, such as its adaptive nature, make the test more challenging for students because they have no way of knowing which questions are more important than others.

How to set priorities when preparing for the GMAT exam?

Now, when it comes to the GMAT exam, how important are priorities? 

Since there are four sections of the test (Analytical Writing Assessment, Integrated Reasoning, Quantitative and Verbal Reasoning), we wanted to know if test-takers should dedicate an equal amount of time to each test category.

Fatma highlights that Apex GMAT offers personalized tutoring, meaning their instructors focus on where the client needs the most help. However, she points out that, since the quantitative and verbal sections contribute to the most commonly cited aggregate score (out of 800), most tutoring tends to focus on these sections.

But, what about setting priorities when taking the test? Here’s what Fatma thinks:

“In terms of the timing, when students are taking the exam, each section has a certain time allocated for it, and so, they know that’s how much time they can dedicate to it. 

But, for us, specifically, setting priorities largely depends on the client and their needs.”

The importance of time management for GMAT test-takers

The Apex GMAT team claims that time management is one of the crucial skills needed for taking the GMAT test. 

So, I wanted to pick Fatma’s brain on this subject. 

Here are the vital reasons this tutoring center emphasizes proper time management. 

Time management helps test-takers achieve better scores 

Fatma highlights that time management is of utmost importance for GMAT tests. That’s because the GMAT is a test of decisions that need to be made under time pressure. Therefore, pursuing efficient solution paths and navigating comfortably with uncertainty are essential skills for taking the exam. And, you can improve such skills by mastering your time management abilities.  

She explains how they teach their students that managing their time better leads to higher scores.  

“Generally, we like to tell our students that, if you know what you’re doing and if you’re well prepared, the timing will take care of itself. You’ll only spend a decent amount of time on a question. Because thinking too much or too little about a question will lead to a lost score.”

Time management helps test-takers not stress about the clock

In one of Apex’s YouTube videos, Mike Diamond, their Director of Curriculum Development, mentions how time management helps students stay focused on the test and avoid any focus switching.

So, I wanted to know if proper time management also allows students to notice when some task or a question is taking them too long.

Fatma answered that, in such cases, instructors teach students to move on to the next question, because every minute is valuable. 

“I don’t think that our instructors would recommend looking at the time, but it’s good to be mindful of how much time you’re spending on a question. I think this is a real skill when it comes to time management, not just looking at a clock and measuring it, but having internal time management that will help you get through the exam. Looking at a clock will just create more anxiety and stress for test-takers.”

We can conclude that being mindful of how much time students devote to questions will help them relieve stress. 

Another way of lowering stress levels when preparing for exams is to study in shorter periods with high productivity and attention. Fatma claims that very often students make the mistake of thinking that “more is better,” when the quality of study time significantly trumps quantity.

How to alleviate anxiety when taking the GMAT test

Having watched some of the Apex GMAT’s testimonials, I noticed that many students point out that they’re usually nervous or anxious when taking the test. 

So, how do their tutors help with such a problem? 

In Fatma’s opinion, their clients usually have some fundamentals about the test, since in most cases, they’ve already taken it before. And, we should mention that people are only allowed to take the GMAT test eight times in a lifetime, which means that test-takers need to try to use these attempts wisely. 

“All these factors combined cause this anxiety that builds up and when people take the test, they know they have to do great, or they don’t go to their desired business schools. Once our clients have mastered the fundamentals and the main aspects of the exam, it comes down to using those and leveraging those to serve your performance.”

One of the most effective strategies for overcoming anxiety, according to Fatma, is fully adopting time management. Here are some other practical strategies as well:

“One thing that our instructors recommend are lifestyle changes, for example, they mention how coffee can help you on the day of the exam. Also, you should postpone the exam if you haven’t had adequate sleep the night before. These changes will put you in the best mindset to go there and take the exam — because you’ll be well-rested.”

Consequently, Fatma says that combining all the external and internal factors will ensure optimal performance.

The pros and cons of online vs. in-person learning 

As Apex GMAT organizes both online and in-person tutoring sessions with their students, we talked with Fatma about the advantages and disadvantages of both learning methods. 

The pros and cons of online learning

Fatma says that Apex and their clients, over 90% of whom take tutoring online, didn’t miss a beat when Covid came into the picture. 

Let’s look at both the good sides and the bad sides of online learning. 

Advantages of online learning

When they get new clients, Fatma pairs them with instructors that are best suited for them — availability-wise or in terms of teaching styles. 

“In terms of online learning, this method gives students massive flexibility that comes with being online. Therefore, online learning allows us to pair clients with the best-suited tutor for them, without having a geographical location as an obstacle.”

Disadvantages of online learning

When it comes to the disadvantages of online learning, Fatma believes there aren’t any.

“We’re an online learning company, and our studies indicate that there is no statistically significant difference in performance between those who receive in-person vs online tutoring. Therefore it should come down to personal preference.”

The pros and cons of in-person learning

On the other hand, there are still some clients who prefer in-person sessions with instructors.

Let’s see what the main pros and cons of face-to-face learning are.

Advantages of in-person learning

As Fatma explains, the key advantage of in-person learning is that you’re getting personalized tutoring by someone you can ask as many questions as you want. 

“It removes a barrier in terms of communication. Also, a lot more people prefer to learn face-to-face.”

Disadvantages of in-person learning

Speaking of disadvantages of in-person learning, Fatma highlights the main one — coordinating the entire learning process.

It can be a challenge for people to meet both work and family obligations, as well as commute times, factored into the picture. Fatma concludes that this process is often less than time-efficient and learning-efficient.

How the Apex GMAT team uses Clockify

Apart from discussing the GMAT exam and the importance of time management when taking the exam, we also wanted to hear how this educational center uses Clockify. In addition, we asked Fatma about the most useful Clockify features for education. 

Where did Apex GMAT find out about Clockify?

Naturally, I first wanted to know how their team discovered Clockify. 

Fatma explains that she got a research task from her manager to look for tools that would help them optimize the way they measure time both for staff and clients. 

So, Fatma did a lot of research and created free trials for several tools (including Clockify), so she can test them all and see what works for the team.

What made Apex GMAT choose Clockify?

According to Fatma and her research, Clockify was the one that checked all the boxes.

“We wanted a place that could help our HR department with the time management for staff, measuring their hours and productivity. Also, we needed a place where we could measure the time for our clients — how much time the clients are spending in sessions (in billable hours).” 

Additionally, Fatma wanted to have all time tracking data in one place, but still separate data for the staff and the clients. 

Thus, she decided to create two Clockify workspaces under one account — one for their staff and the other for the instructors(with billable hours tracked). She adds:

“It’s a great tool to increase productivity. It was difficult for me to manage how much time I was spending on specific tasks. And then, with Clockify, I started measuring everything and I created projects and tasks for everything I was working on.”

Time tracking as an eye-opening activity 

Not only did time tracking become a routine for her, but Fatma also learned that she’s been wasting a lot of time. For example, she used to be in front of a computer for 10 hours but only did seven hours’ worth of actual work. Fatma continues: 

“Eventually, I learned to be better at time budgeting, meaning I would start working from a certain time to a certain time, and then I would allocate some time for a break.”

Eventually, this habit helped Fatma improve her overall productivity.

What Clockify features are most practical for tutoring?

Fatma says that using Clockify helps them keep track of billable hours for clients and track staff time. 

But, which features are vital for the Apex team?

Fatma claims that they find the Dashboard invaluable because the team can see all the time they’re spending on various tasks. Moreover, she particularly enjoys the option of filtering through all the projects. Fatma adds that the Dashboard lets her keep an eye on how much time their team has collectively spent on a particular project.

“It helps us allocate our resources and see where we’re spending our time. Therefore, we can be better at planning our time and tasks at a team level.”

When it comes to instructors’ favorites, they appreciate Clockify reports. 

Fatma points out that reports are practical because they’re customizable. For example, she can customize reports by type of exam. 

In addition, she can filter reports by instructors — which comes in handy because each instructor has their own clients. 

Fatma concludes:

“The other thing I really like is to download the reports as a PDF, CSV, Excel. I do that regularly, especially with billable hours. I can see hours in decimal, I can see start time, end time, it’s very comprehensive.”

Wrapping up: studying and tracking time as a vital equation in education 

What’s the link between time management and taking an important test? 

According to Fatma Xhafa from Apex GMAT, when test-takers are well prepared, the timing will take care of itself — meaning that students will spend a decent amount of time on each question, which will help them pass the exam. 

She adds that properly managing your time while doing a test doesn’t mean constantly looking at the clock, but being mindful of how much time you’re spending on each question.

Apart from students, tutors can also benefit from tracking time. In their quest to find a tool to track time for both the staff and clients, the Apex GMAT team discovered Clockify. 

As Fatma points out, the main advantage of using a time tracker such as Clockify is that they can measure the time instructors spend with clients and calculate billable hours. Furthermore, they can create reports for their clients and export them in various formats. 

Finally, when it comes to personal productivity, Fatma highlights that time tracking helped her have a better overview of how she spends her day. Consequently, now she knows how to better organize her time during the day and include frequent breaks, too.

Calling all students and teachers, do you have a habit of tracking your time? How does time recording help you stay productive? Send your answers, suggestions, and comments to blogfeedback@clockify.me and we may include them in this or future posts.

Or have you launched your startup and need help with the administration?

If it feels like there are not enough hours in a day, maybe you should consider outsourcing some of your daily assignments to virtual assistants (VAs).

After all, their job is to “give busy passionate people their time back,” as Caroline Marshall, a virtual assistant, and our interviewee, summed this profession up in simple words. Caroline is a founder of Upsource — a company dedicated to providing clients with virtual assistant services.  

We talked with Caroline about the VA industry, the most crucial skills needed for this job, and also about Upsource’s clients. 

Since the Upsource team uses Clockify to track work, we wanted to know how time management helps them with their work and what Clockify features they find useful. 

Moreover, we’ll explain how time recording can help virtual assistants learn more about non-billable hours, but also embrace better work-life balance.

What’s the virtual assistant industry and what skills are needed for virtual assistants? 

As we already mentioned, Caroline works as a virtual assistant. 

Virtual assistants are usually self-employed independent contractors or freelancers. The VA market size is constantly enhancing and will reach $25.63 billion by 2025, according to the BusinessWire research.

So, what kind of services do virtual assistants provide for their clients? 

These services include a lot of different areas, such as: 

• administrative work, 
• project and task management, 
• marketing and social media strategy, 
• and much more. 

Their clients are generally entrepreneurs or small businesses owners, but can also be large organizations. 

We were wondering what made Caroline pick this calling. 

Why did Caroline choose the VA industry?

Before becoming a virtual assistant in 2016, Caroline had worked as an Executive Assistant/Events Professional for more than 10 years. Also, she nurtured her creative side through music performing. 

So, we were eager to find out what made Caroline make this career switch. 

“For a few years, I did performing on the side — I once did a music degree and had dreams of being an Opera singer!

A mix of wanting financial security/stability, a mortgage, and falling out of love with performing (took me a while to realize that one!) made me make the switch.”

Caroline adds that she “fell into” the PA (personal assistants) world. She found this job a great option for earning money quickly in London. So, she slowly started picking PA holiday covers, then maternity cover roles, until she went all-in in 2012.

Considering her performing experience, we also wanted to pick Caroline’s brain on creativity and its link to the VA industry. 

The link between creativity and the VA industry

Caroline points out that, when it comes to her career in the VA industry, she owes so much to her performing/creative years. 

“There is nothing scarier than putting your singing voice out there to be judged by others — NOTHING seems as scary as that. Interviews, discovery calls, media — it’s all easier than that (although, of course, I do get nervous).”

She compares her performing career with starting her own business.

“Dancing, singing, performing — you get so many setbacks and have to pick yourself up — just like owning a business.”

In a way, Caroline believes that there’s a link between artists and CEOs. So, as she claims, attending classes and balancing education and auditioning, as well as working, means you are juggling a lot — which is all great preparation for juggling busy CEOs. 

Furthermore, speaking of all the similarities between creativity and the virtual assistant industry, Caroline concludes that she truly enjoys connecting with personal assistants who come from a performing background.

The most essential skills in the VA industry 

We were curious to find out what Caroline enjoys most about this job.

“What I love most is genuinely giving busy passionate people their time back — maybe it’s through simply taking tasks off their to-do list, or maybe it’s through amazing SOPs (standard operating procedures) and streamlining their software — I don’t get bored by seeing happy clients.”

Now, making clients happy is not an easy task. There must be some specific skills that virtual assistants have to nourish to be good at their jobs. We asked Caroline what these vital skills are.

“Time management, a curiosity for tech, and a thirst for learning are so essential for VAs. This industry is ever-changing and to stay relevant we need to be on the top of our game for clients.”

An average day of a virtual assistant

When you think about it, a virtual assistant truly has to be a jack of all trades. 

Now, what about their daily tasks? What does an average day of a virtual assistant look like?

According to Caroline, she starts her day with emails and checking whether there are some changes and news from her clients. Caroline believes that this is the best way to manage your day properly and understand if you need to push any tasks back for some more urgent priorities that have come in.

“In all honesty, there is no such thing as an average day, depending on what you do as a VA!

Juggling diaries, drafting communications, project managing tasks.

As a VA agency owner now, I check in with my team daily, review our clients, and, of course, review Clockify for our billing progress each day/week!”

So, working in the VA industry is quite exciting — because each day, you get to perform different tasks for different clients. 

While on the subject — apart from her usual daily routine, we also talked about Caroline’s clients. Or, in other words, the types of business profiles who usually need the services of virtual assistants.

What types of business profiles usually need VA services?

We were eager to find out what Upsource’s clients are, and what kind of VA services they usually demand.

Caroline says that as a company, they focus on startups, small- and medium-sized enterprises — but, also individuals who need some lifestyle management. She adds this general rule:

“The beauty of 2022 is it’s no longer CEOs and C-Suite directors who ‘need’ a PA — if you have a budget and willingness to invest some time in the relationship, then a VA is for you. And, yes, the irony is you need to invest time to work with Virtual Assistants to get your time back.”

Speaking of their clients — what do they usually need help with?

Caroline responds that the requests are usually varied — but include services such as:

• Inbox/diary management
• Task/project management
• Tech and social media support
• Management from their business from an admin perspective and implementing new software/SOPs
• Event/training management
• Lifestyle support

How does the Upsource team use Clockify?

Aside from discussing the virtual assistant industry, we also wanted to know how the Upsource team uses Clockify, and what Clockify features are their favorite.

As Caroline highlights, VAs are very busy people — constantly juggling a lot of clients and tasks.

Thus, to track their time, they need an app that’s easy to use — and Caroline emphasizes that simplicity of use is exactly what Clockify provides.

Why did the Upsource team choose Clockify?

Now, how did the Upsource team find out about our tool?

Caroline says that she had done her research on the different types of software that were around. Also, she had used some other tools as well — but she loved Clockify for its:

• Ease of use, 
• Clear reporting, and 
• Budgeting options.

Here are some other benefits of choosing Clockify over other time trackers, according to Caroline:

“The reporting is also excellent. I need to be able to see at any time our progress — and Clockify allows this. It is also very easy to send reports over to clients on a weekly/monthly basis.”

Caroline also credits our time tracker for helping her team grow towards success:

“We are a team of 18 now and Clockify has allowed us to grow from 1 to 18.”

Do the Upsource team members use Clockify differently?

Generally speaking, Caroline and the members of her team tend to use Clockify quite similarly. 

“We clock in when we are working with a particular client and clock off once the work is done. 

All clients have their own projects and tags on Clockify — so it’s super simple to see where our time is being spent.”

What Clockify features does the Upsource team find most practical for work, and why?

As Caroline mentioned above, reports are quite useful, especially for business owners like herself. 

Since she runs the VA agency, Caroline needs to see at any moment where they are with their clients’ work and this Clockify feature allows that. 

Apart from reporting, here are some other features that have proven to be practical for the Upsource team:

“As VAs we could be spending as little as 15 minutes on a client — and, this time adds up if we aren’t consistent with our time tracking. I also love to see billable vs non-billable work. I spend a lot of time on non-billable work — and it’s very important I can track this.”

The benefits of time tracking for virtual assistants

As we can see from Caroline’s previous answer, virtual assistants need to record both their billable and non-billable hours. After all, non-billable time is equally important as billable, which is why VAs need to keep an eye on both categories by tracking them.

Here are some other benefits virtual assistants can find in time tracking.

Time tracking helps you learn more about your workday

Caroline mentioned an interesting thing that happens to all who’ve just started in the VA industry.

“When you first become a VA, it’s very common to find it shocking you have sat at your desk all day but only clocked 4 hours of work. It can be super disheartening for a newer VA.”

What does Caroline suggest in this case? 

Time tracking — and she emphasizes the importance of measuring non-billable time.

“For example, track the time you spent engaging with potential clients on social media — the results might be a bit scary for you! Track the time you spend slacking with some fellow VAs in your community for support.“

As an experienced virtual assistant, Caroline believes that time tracking can also help you understand whether you are spending too much time on a type of activity:

“If you are spending 4 hours a day scrolling on social media — it might be reality check time for your productivity!”

Time tracking helps you achieve a better work-life balance 

I was wondering whether time tracking also allows virtual assistants to balance their work and private lives better.

Caroline says that she has been dedicated to tracking her time since 2016. And, she claims that she’s currently good with her work-life balance — she even manages to have enough quality family time. Caroline has two children — and, naturally, she wants to spend time with them as much as possible.

“I now cringe to look at the hours I used to clock in back in 2016–2019. I was working solid 12—16 hours per day (billable work) — and I will never let that happen again.

I can only ensure I spend less time working by being dedicated to clocking my ‘working’ time. And then, through reviewing my tracked time, I can see what I can easily outsource myself — and how many hours I need help. It’s fantastic!”

Wrapping up: Time management is one of the crucial skills for VAs

Virtual assistants deal with many clients coming from different industries — which means they have a lot of diverse types of tasks on their plates. 

To keep track of all the assignments they perform daily, VAs should record their working hours — both billable and non-billable. 

In fact, Caroline Marshall from Upsource believes that time management is actually one of the vital skills in the VA industry — along with a curiosity for tech, and a thirst for learning. 

According to Caroline, time trackers that come with reporting features, like Clockify, are more than practical — because virtual assistants can use them to review progress with projects and clients. 

Furthermore, since VAs spend a lot of time doing non-billable work, they need to track these hours as well. 

Finally, Caroline points out that tracking time helped her balance work and private life. Instead of overworking herself — like she used to several years ago — now she’s capable of making boundaries in order to spend quality time with her children.

In the end, Clockify serves as a time-tracking virtual assistant to Caroline’s hard-working teams of virtual assistants.

Are you a virtual assistant, and if so, do you have a habit of tracking your time? How does time recording help you stay productive? Send your answers, suggestions, and comments to blogfeedback@clockify.me and we may include them in this or future posts.

Since each member of a collaborative team has a unique set of distinctive skills, they can approach any problem from diverse angles and find more creative solutions. 

Thus, their team collaboration helps them work towards their common goals.

In this blog post, we’ll go into more detail about collaboration in a team, as well as tackle the following matters:

• Key differences between team collaboration and teamwork,
• Three types of collaboration skills,
• The importance of team collaboration, and
• Strategies for building collaborative teams.

What is the difference between team collaboration and teamwork?

Before we dig deep into team collaboration, I’d like to point out two essential differences between teamwork and team collaboration:

• Roles within the team, and 
• Leadership. 

How do these two aspects make a difference? 

Collaboration gathers a group of colleagues who join their forces to solve a problem or complete a task. The focus is on a group effort and how to figure out the solution as a collective. 

For example, during brainstorming sessions, team members are in the same room (or same video call), discussing an issue and trying to fix an issue as a team.

In contrast, teamwork refers to a group of individuals. Each of them has particular responsibilities. Thus, they put in their individual efforts and reach a common goal.  

For example, when a basketball team wins a game, it’s because everyone on the team played well. Every basketball player did their part well, so the results are positive.

When it comes to leadership, team collaboration and teamwork differ, too. 

In a collaborative team, usually, there are no leaders. Each team member is encouraged and expected to make an effort and contribute to the team’s efforts with their unique set of skills. 

Yet, this is not the case with teamwork. Teamwork requires someone to coordinate the individuals in that team and help them achieve a common goal.

Now that we’ve explained the difference between team collaboration and teamwork, let’s see what types of skills are essential for better team collaboration. 

What are the three types of collaboration skills?

Every collaborative team member is an expert in their own field. Thanks to this, a collaborative team can analyze any issue from different perspectives and find more than one suitable solution. 

Regardless of their differences, having the same values and objectives in mind is the glue that keeps a collaborative team together.

However, collaboration doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and effort to get to know your teammates and establish a proper working relationship. 

More importantly, there are some collaboration skills that everyone should master so that the entire team works quickly and effectively. These skills are:

• Communication skills,
• Emotional intelligence, and
• Respect for diversity.

To help you understand how these correlate to better team collaboration, we’ll explain everything a bit further. 

1. Communication skills

Proper communication plays a key role in any relationship. 

In the work setting, you can communicate with your colleagues in person or by using written forms. Either way, you should be sure to choose your words carefully.

Here are some tips: 

• Always think about what you’re going to say to your coworkers and how you’re going to say it. If you disagree with someone, try to express your opinions respectfully.
• If you’re writing to a colleague, you won’t be able to see their face. So, before sending your message, read it again and put yourself in your colleague’s shoes. 
• Before saying or writing anything, make sure to tweak the message to make it clearer and simpler.
• Consider your tone of voice and body language, if applicable. These can have a great impact on how your message is interpreted.   
• Learn to be an active listener. If you don’t understand what your coworkers are saying, feel free to ask for explanations.

2. Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is a skill that helps you sense your emotions and manage them, but also quickly identify how others are feeling at the moment. 

Let’s say that your colleague is moody the entire day. This can be a sign that they are either extremely tired or they need some help at work. 

If you show genuine interest in what goes on in your coworkers’ lives and get to know them better, you’ll find it easier to read these signs and offer support. 

If you want to improve your emotional intelligence, here are a few basic tips for you:

• Show more empathy and compassion towards your teammates.
• Practice objectivity and transparency in communication. 
• Don’t get offended easily.
• Avoid taking criticism personally. 
• Pay close attention to the verbal and non-verbal cues of your teammates.
• Show resilience.

3. Respect for diversity

If you’re working in a multicultural team, cultivating diversity should be high on your list of workplace priorities. 

To be able to work closely with your cross-cultural colleagues, you should show respect for any type of diversity and avoid discrimination of any kind.

Collaboration thrives in the work setting that encompasses:

• Communicating openly, 
• Being sensitive to ethnic and religious backgrounds,
• Establishing consensus,
• Promoting group discussions, and
• Cultivating an environment where every team member can share their opinions.

— 

By nurturing these three types of skills, you and your colleagues will feel more comfortable working with each other. 

But, why is it so important that team members work together and be good at it? 

Let’s find out! 

Why is team collaboration important?

Team collaboration comes with many benefits for teams and individual team members. The importance of good team collaboration lies in its ability to: 

• Encourage better problem solving,
• Give broader perspective, 
• Support knowledge sharing, 
• Promote healthy company culture, and 
• Improve employee engagement and happiness. 

Let’s explore each reason in detail. 

Good team collaboration encourages better problem-solving

Every collaborative team is made of experts in various fields. They work side by side to accomplish the company’s goals. 

But, each of them also brings a unique perspective to the table. So, whenever a company has to make a crucial decision, experts can:  

• Express their professional standpoint on a subject matter,
• Use their own expertise and experience to help, and
• Suggest a solution to the problem accordingly. 

When the time comes to reach a decision, there will have to be one collective mind – one common decision. 

Here’s an example. 

The XYZ company wants to create an official website. So, the company management decides to gather their team of experts to come up with the best solution. The team includes:

• A project manager: Their job is to set the budget for this task, assign tasks and deadlines, and ensure that everyone follows these rules.
• A web developer: Their job is to create a website layout, perform website updates, and take care of all technical issues. 
• A web designer: Their job is to set design guidelines, present the website structure, and come up with the most creative design solutions.
• A content manager: Their job is to create written content for website pages, and make sure the content is SEO friendly and easy to read.
• A QA engineer: Their job is to analyze if all requirements (business, technical, and others) are met, and review the quality control of the entire website.

By feeling free to share their ideas and give suggestions to their teammates, the XYZ team will be able to come up with more creative solutions and achieve its common goal — to create a quality website. 

Good team collaboration gives a broader perspective 

Having team members who come from diverse backgrounds translates to approaching a problem from one angle and seeing a bigger picture.

Let’s use the example from our previous tip. 

For instance, the marketing manager comes up with an interesting idea for the “Our staff” section on the website. They want to add a short bio and a photo for each employee in the company. 

But, if this isn’t possible because of the website layout, the web developer and web designer will point out this issue. 

By exchanging experiences and ideas, the team will be able to paint a brighter picture and find a suitable solution for the “Our staff” section.

Good team collaboration supports knowledge sharing 

During your team gatherings, you’ll be sharing ideas, viewpoints, and experiences. Thus, team collaboration opens a new world of knowledge both for you and your coworkers.

Let’s go back to the “Our staff section” example. 

By exchanging their knowledge and expertise, the members of the team learned a few new things as well: 

• The marketing manager discovered that they have to think about the website layout and other technical issues when writing content for their website. 
• At the same time, the web designer and the web developer learned what website content should look like.

In addition to learning, team collaboration gives everyone the opportunity to acquire new or develop the skills they already have.

Good team collaboration improves employee engagement and happiness

In a collaborative team, keeping spirits and engagement high is important for: 

• Feeling equal, valued, and heard, 
• Creating a positive collaborative atmosphere, 
• Coming up with better and more creative solutions, 
• Reaching decisions quicker, and 
• Contributing to team efforts. 

Whether you’re working as a project manager, QA engineer, or web developer, your opinions will be as important as your colleague’s standpoints.

And, when you feel free to express yourself in a team, you’ll be happier in the workplace, too. If you’re happy at work, you’re more likely to stay with the company longer.

10 Tips for building team collaboration

Building team collaboration isn’t a one-man’s job. 

It’s actually a joint effort that takes time. To help you build a positive collaboration, we’ve prepared the following 10 tips: 

• Establish common objectives,
• Set expectations,
• Set standards,
• Focus on individual strengths,
• Foster fresh ideas,
• Create a trustworthy and trustful environment,
• Use collaboration tools,
• Arrange only necessary meetings,
• Honor collaboration, and
• Organize casual gatherings after work.

Let’s explore each tip in more detail. 

Tip #1: Establish common objectives

It’s essential that everyone on the team is on the same page when it comes to company goals, but also team goals. You’ll need to have a mutual understanding of the team’s vision in order to act in accordance with that vision.

So, how to do that? 

Here are a few ideas: 

• Know what your goals are. 
• Communicate transparently and often. 
• Share ideas, experiences, and views whenever possible. 
• Use team meetings to reevaluate and review your common objectives.
• Tone down all the bias. 

Tip #2: Set clear expectations

In line with the previous tip, setting expectations for the entire team is vital, too. 

Team members need to know what their obligations are so that they can focus on accomplishing these tasks the best they can.

To do this easily, consider the following: 

• Set clear expectations and assign roles early on. 
• Highlight common goals and objectives. 
• Make everyone accountable for their work. 
• Motivate and inspire. 
• Provide regular performance reviews.  

Tip #3: Set standards  

Setting standards is crucial for the success of the entire team. 

Once everyone in the team knows what they’re expected to do, you become responsible for completing these assignments. 

These standards can include:

• Choosing the right collaboration tools.  
• Delegating workload equally and fairly. 
• Promoting mutual respect and understanding. 
• Setting reasonable deadlines.
• Showcasing flexibility and empathy.
• Practicing emotional intelligence to detect early signs of burnout and take steps to prevent it.

For example, one of the best ways to keep all the pieces together in your team and improve team time management is to establish the rule of tracking your work hours with Clockify. 

By doing this, you can: 

• Encourage the entire team to be more responsible and accountable with their daily tasks. 
• Always know what each team member is working on. 
• Have a better understanding of how your team spends their work hours. 
• Learn more about their time management techniques. 
• Find out what should be changed, tweaked, or improved to pave the way for better team collaboration.  
• Integrate Clockify with 80+ productivity and project management tools and make things much easier for your team. 

Clockify also tends to every team’s security and privacy — this is particularly handy if your team deals with sensitive information on a daily basis. 

Tip #4: Focus on individual strengths

We mentioned earlier that getting to know your teammates is beneficial for many reasons. 

Firstly, you’ll discover the individual strengths of each team member. 

For example: 

• One teammate may be great with people, 
• Another teammate may excel at making templates of any kind, and 
• The third teammate may be the most tech-savvy of all. 

This brings us to the other part of the equation. 

By knowing what each team member’s forte is, you can easily capitalize on them and make remarkable progress as a team.

How? 

Well, for example, the next time you need someone who’s great at handling initial calls with new clients, turn to a team member of your sales team who’s great at establishing effective third-party communication. 

Tip #5: Foster fresh ideas

Team collaboration should ensure a free exchange of ideas. 

In remote and hybrid teams, this usually happens during meetings — they should be a safe place for bringing fresh ideas to the table. 

By creating a supportive and judgment-free environment for sharing new ideas, you’ll show your team that everyone can contribute to the team’s progress. 

What’s important, though, is to support creative conflict among team members, especially in situations that spark disagreements. This way, your team will be more likely to come up with better solutions during the debate.

Tip #6: Create a trustworthy and trustful environment

Trust is a two-way street. 

Team members need to feel they can be honest and trust each other but also be self-reliant, too. Once you create such an environment, you’ll improve your relationships and manage your workload easily. 

Let’s look at another example.

If you’re waiting for a colleague to complete their part of the task and they do it on time, you’ll do your part of work on time, too. Thus, you’ll collaborate with ease.

But, if you happen to experience any issues while working on a shared task, let your colleagues know. That way, your teammates can help you figure it out together. 

By investing time and effort into building trust in your team, you will:

• Prevent major delays, 
• Improve your team’s time management, and 
• Show your trustworthiness.

Tip #7: Use the right collaboration tools

Let’s face it, with so many practical and intuitive apps out there, teams don’t have to struggle with collaboration anymore. Working in hybrid, distributed, and remote teams is easier than ever, thanks to the diverse app offer. 

In addition to using Clockify to manage your team’s time, you might want to consider some other collaboration tools, too: 

• Instant messaging apps. 
• Video conferencing apps.  
• Reliable email providers.
• Apps that facilitate document creation and sharing.
• Project management tools that help you stay on top of all team projects and assignments. 
• Virtual whiteboard platforms that facilitate brainstorming sessions, diagramming, and creative collaboration.

Tip #8: Arrange only necessary meetings

When it comes to team meetings, you should think twice before you schedule one. 

If there’s a major project update and you need to discuss it with the team, holding a meeting is an ideal choice. In this case, remember to create a meeting agenda and send it to your colleagues, so they can prepare before the meeting starts. 

On the other hand, if you need to pass on other important information, and you need to do it quickly, you can use a free team messaging app, such as Pumble. 

If you want to pass on less important and less time-pressing information, go with an email.

The best thing with Pumble is that it integrates with Clockify, so you can chat with your team directly in the time tracking app. 

By holding only essential meetings, reducing the use of email, and making sure to communicate regularly via a team chat app,  you and your team will be more motivated to collaborate on vital tasks.

Tip #9: Honor collaboration

Just like positive feedback boosts employee morale and motivation, so does honoring a good team collaboration. 

Whenever you notice good examples of collaboration within the team, be sure to praise them. 

You can: 

• Send an email to all team members to praise them after successfully finishing a project. 
• Mention individual or group achievements in your team meetings.
• Encourage each team member to share their accomplishments, too. 

Tip #10: Organize casual gatherings after office hours

Spending some time with your colleagues after office hours can help you bond. 

Regardless of the type of team you’re part of, you can always engage in some interesting team-building and team-bonding activities. 

Some options to consider: 

• Going for a drink after work if you’re working in the same city. 
• Organizing a virtual “Happy hour” if you’re working from different cities or countries. 
• Creating a book club for those who enjoy reading and discussing your favorite books. 
• Playing some online virtual games.
• Going to an art exhibit or poetry night. 

To include the entire team, you can vote on the most suitable activity. 

Another important thing — don’t force these events or organize them too often. Opt for once or twice a month to ensure a good work-life balance, too. 

—

If you take moment to look back, you’ll notice that these ten tips have three things in common:

• Transparent and honest communication,
• Caring about what other colleagues think and how they feel, and
• Showing respect for any type of diversity.

Conclusion: Team collaboration isn’t a one-man job  

Thanks to good team collaboration, you and your teammates can:

• Approach any topic from diverse perspectives, 
• Engage in creative problem-solving, 
• Share your knowledge and skills, 
• Learn from each other, and 
• Support each other’s progress. 

But, keep in mind that team collaboration is not a one-man job. 

It takes an entire team and everyone’s efforts to build collaboration. Hopefully, you’ll put the tips we’ve listed here to good use and experience all the benefits of working in a collaborative team. 

Good luck! 

How well do you collaborate with your peers at work? Are there any handy tips that you rely on to improve collaboration? Is there something we’ve forgotten to mention but you think would help other teams work better together? Let us know at blogfeedback@clockify.me and your advice may be included in this or future blog posts.

To explore this subject further, we reached out to NMCO Studio, a full house creative agency based in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It’s a young agency that will mark its fifth anniversary this year. Even though their team consists of only eleven people, their services include video production, web development, graphic design, and animation. This marketing agency prides itself on winning two Silver Addy awards for the campaigns they did, in a competition organized for advertising and media agencies, hosted by The American Advertising Federation.

We talked with Tina Ballew, the creative director and co-founder, and Dawn Franco, a studio manager. Since their team uses Clockify to track work hours, we wanted to find out how time tracking helps them organize their work, and what benefits creative agencies can get from tracking their time.

What does working in a creative agency look like?

Let’s start by explaining the definition of a creative industry.

Creative or cultural industry is, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, “an industry that is based on work in which original ideas are important, such as work in the arts or the media, in designing computer software, etc.” So, originality plays a crucial role in this industry, therefore, in a creative agency as well.

To have a better understanding of how creative agencies streamline their work process, we discussed this subject with Dawn and Tina.

An average day in a creative agency

As we previously mentioned, this creative agency encompasses several departments. According to Dawn, each team works on three or four projects. Besides, every week, they get one or two new projects.

So, I asked Dawn how their average day at the company looks like.

“A standard day for a creative is that they come in, and they immediately start logging their time in Clockify. We have everything company-related under NMCO, and anything client-related under the relevant client’s name.”

Dawn also adds that the design team creates at least a graphic a day. Speaking of weekly tasks, the video production team goes on a video shoot or a photoshoot once per week. As for monthly assignments, the web development team takes websites live every month.

Organizing projects and clients

Creative agencies usually deal with several clients and work on many projects. Depending on a project, agencies may create only one kind of content, such as social media posts or a new website for a particular client.

When it comes to their marketing agency, Dawn claims that they do a lot of campaign work. That way, clients get a cohesive media package, which is beneficial because integrated marketing strategies can reach a broader audience than single media strategies. Thus, such a product requires collaboration within a team and between diverse teams. Besides, Tina believes that this holistic approach plays a crucial role in the overall company success:

“Having a solid strategy and process in place contributes to a seamless creative production that makes the end result much more powerful and memorable. Working with a team from different departments such as animation, video, web, and graphics can be challenging, but the strategy is insurance that everything is cohesive while not losing anything in the mix.”

So, how does launching a new project look like at this agency? Here’s how Dawn describes the process:

“Typically, if it’s a smaller project, we’ll cache most of it on the onboarding process (just Tina and me). But, once it gets to the creatives, if it’s a large package, we’ll have a couple — we call them — discovery sessions. We’ll sit down with the client, we’ll have some kind of interview with them to figure out more about their goals, mission, and company. Then, we’ll get together on our own, separately, with that information, brainstorm and figure out the aesthetic or the direction, or visuals, and then we go to production.”

So, to ensure that projects run smoothly, this development agency communicates with clients during an onboarding process, as well as discovery sessions. Once they gather all essential information about the client and their goals, it’s time for brainstorming sessions within diverse teams.

Organizing the workflow in a creative agency

To stay organized and productive, Dawn says that they developed the CPS — creative production standard that they use for internal purposes. This standard contains all vital tasks for each team or specific position in the company.

For instance, Dawn has a Studio Manager CPS, which includes tasks like:

• onboarding the client,
• quoting,
• creating contracts,
• digital project management setup and server setup, and
• introducing the team to the client.

Moreover, creatives have their own CPS, which usually consists of assignments such as:

• step 1: reach out to the client,
• step 2: draft,
• step 3: send the draft to the client,
• step 4: feedback, and
• step 5: get a more finalized design.

Once these steps are done, creatives wait for a client to review their work again. If needed, creatives make necessary revisions, then present the final design to the client.

As Dawn points out:

“This is like a map to do your job. So, if you follow this guide, everything should be fine.”

Depending on the team, CPS may include some additional elements. For example, this document for the video department covers assignments like photoshoots and permits. As for the development team, their CPS encompasses making a mock-up design.

How can time tracking help creatives improve their work?

According to Tina, time management is undervalued but so important in creative production. Let’s have a closer look at time tracking benefits in the creative industry.

Time tracking secures proper time budget estimates

Without proper time management, creatives may focus their attention on less important tasks. Here’s how Tina explains this issue:

“Creatives can spend too much time getting lost in a low-value project or neglecting a high-value project when they aren’t managing their time. They like the challenge and enjoy seeing how many projects they can fit in during the day or week.”

So, what should creatives change when it comes to their work routine? They should start tracking time.

At this graphic design agency, all employees record their time when working. Tina claims that Clockify helps her estimate time budgets better, so she can give the team a time budget window to complete the task. In addition, Tina adds that they also appreciate the transparency in tracking time, because team members can look at their budgeted hours, and thus, have a sense of autonomy.

Time tracking helps you validate your work

When I asked Tina and Dawn whether they have favorite Clockify features, they both agreed on projects.

Tina points out that in the creative industry, sometimes it’s hard to validate the pricing. That’s why Clockify reports come in handy:

“When we can present a report for, let’s say, an identity system; they (clients) can actually see the time logged, the number of meetings, requested revisions, workshopping, and everything in between with detailed notes and the time spent on it. The client is typically impressed and loves that we keep track of that information. It keeps everyone accountable and there’s no guesswork.”

Therefore, creating reports of your logged hours ensures transparency, which is a crucial element of building trust between you and your clients.

Time tracking helps you adjust your projects

Apart from validation and accountability, another advantage of reports is being able to evaluate your projects. When it comes to this marketing agency, here’s how Dawn explains this benefit:

“At the end of every project, we make a Clockify report, and we look at what went over budget on what part of the production, and how we can change that for the future. We have critical thinking at the end of each project on how to accomplish it more seamlessly the next time.”

Tina believes that a functional reporting feature is the most significant option of any time tracker:

“Being able to run reports on all the details is perfect for a growing agency.”

In addition to projects, other Clockify options that Tina and her teams find useful are:

• Hourly rates: At this web development agency, they have different price ranges depending on the size of a client. Therefore, teams are able to customize hourly rates in Clockify for each client.
• Tags: Using tags proves useful at this animation agency since they have several teams. Dawn highlights the key benefits of tags: “As someone who projects manages, if I want to focus on just one department at a time, it’s useful to utilize those tags.”

So, using a time tracker to log their working hours, add tasks and projects details, can help creatives tailor projects accordingly.

Time tracking establishes better task delegation

A hybrid working model, which means switching between remote and onsite work, has become quite common for many organizations. According to The Accenture Future of Work Study 2021, 63% of high-growth companies have enabled this type of work setting.

The marketing agency we talked with has also adopted hybrid work. Given the fact that working remotely is a part of this setting, Dawn claims that it takes some time to get accustomed to remote work, which is why many people may experience productivity dips.

To get a better understanding of how productive they are throughout the day, creatives should log their working hours. Thus, they’ll learn how much time they need for particular tasks.

Furthermore, Dawn points out that tracking time can improve task delegation within a remote team:

“When working remotely, I can watch what creatives are doing all day in Clockify in real-time. She’s working on a graphic, or he’s working on this video. If there’s no time in Clockify, are they even clocked in? Are they working? It’s like a safe card.”

Knowing who’s currently working on what task gives you a clear picture of how busy each team member is. So, if there’s an urgent assignment for the day, a team leader will know how to delegate it.

Wrapping up

As we could learn from our interlocutors, time management is usually undervalued in the creative industry, yet it is crucial for this field.

When tracking their time, creatives can ensure they spend their time doing high-value projects. Thus, with a time tracker, employees find it easier to determine their time budgets properly. Moreover, creatives often struggle with validating pricing to their clients. However, Tina and her team found that to overcome this issue, they simply log all meetings, revisions, workshopping, then present detailed reports to their clients as proof of their work. Furthermore, reviewing such in-depth reports helps the team evaluate their work at the end of the project. Finally, using a time tracker allows all team members to see who’s currently working on what task, which secures better task delegation. Therefore, with proper time management and time tracking, creatives will not only be able to effectively tackle their tasks and projects but also maintain positive relationships both with their clients and colleagues.

What do you do? Do you choose to sleep for another hour or do you jump out of bed straight into your running shoes?

Deciding to sleep in is the choice that provides you with immediate joy, which is the essence of present bias. In this blog post, we’ll tackle this subject and show you the link between present bias and your long-term goals. Moreover, we’ll help you overcome present bias to pursue your future goals.

The story of present bias or why we always seek immediate rewards

The example we mentioned earlier illustrates how present bias can manifest itself in practice. Let’s dive deeper into the essence of this term by exploring its definition.

What is the present bias?

The present bias, or the hyperbolic discounting, as stated in the article Doing It Now or Later, published by The American Economic Review, “refers to the tendency of people to give stronger weight to payoffs that are closer to the present time when considering trade-offs between two future moments.”

So, simply put, when given an opportunity to choose between a smaller reward this moment and a larger prize in the future, people tend to select the immediate reward. We strive to experience current enjoyment, which usually means postponing more complex tasks for the future. Now, even though we’re aware that demanding activities will move us closer to our goals, present bias keeps us focused on this moment and current gratification. Therefore, we leave significant assignments for the future, which is why hyperbolic discounting can sometimes lead to procrastination.

Present bias examples

Here are some common examples of present bias:

• Using credit cards. Credit cards allow you to purchase a product right now, and pay the following month. Thus, you’ll have an immediate reward of having new shoes, rather than waiting for your next paycheck, when you’ll be able to buy both new shoes and a new bag. So, even though this potential purchase would be a larger award, you want to treat yourself without delay.
• Going out on a workday. Your present self truly enjoys spending time with friends. But, tomorrow morning, your future self will probably regret going to bed at 2 a.m. When you think about it, going out on weekends usually sounds like a better idea, but sometimes we can’t wait several more days. So, we need an immediate reward.

Now, let’s take a look at another example of hyperbolic discounting. The following case proves that we make significantly diverse decisions for the present moment and for our future.

• In the study about making decisions for the future, researchers wanted to find out whether undergraduate students were willing to tutor their peers. According to their findings, students are more likely to help their peers in the near future — for example, during the midterm period, even though it’s a stressful time. So, students’ responses show that they’re able to commit to tutoring in the future (for 85 minutes on average), while they’re less likely to tutor in the present (for 27 minutes on average).

As you can see, present bias can lead to postponing tasks and activities for the future version of ourselves.

Present self vs. future self

How do you imagine yourself in 30 years? When you picture that person in your mind, do you perceive him/her as an older version of yourself or some stranger you barely recognize?

Whether we feel connected with our future self, that’s what researchers at Stanford also wanted to find out. Professor Hal Hershfield presented the results of the study he and his team conducted in one HBR article. The idea behind this research was to examine whether seeing pictures of their older selves (avatars created to resemble participants in the future) would have an impact on decisions participants make about savings.

The next step volunteers had to take was to decide how to allocate $1,000. They had four options:

• buying a present for their special someone,
• investing money in a retirement fund,
• organizing a fun event, or
• investing money in a checking account.

Participants who had a chance to see their elderly avatar were more likely to invest their money into a retirement fund, compared to other groups.

So, once you become aware of the fact that your future self is still you, only a version with gray hair and more wrinkles, you’ll be able to connect with that person. Moreover, maybe you’ll think of your future self the next time you consider starting a savings account.

Present bias and achieving our long-term goals

We already mentioned that present bias leads us to choose immediate small rewards, instead of larger prizes in the future. But, when it comes to achieving your long-term goals, you’ll sometimes have to tackle demanding tasks that won’t make you happy right away but are essential for accomplishing your targets. Thus, hyperbolic discounting can stand in the way of attaining your objectives, which we’ll discuss further in the following section.

Long-term reward or immediate gratification?

How does hyperbolic discounting prevent you from reaching your long-term reward — in this case, your future goals?

Well, present bias can encourage you to make poor decisions because it promotes:

• immediate gratification, and
• impulsiveness.

For example, your long-term goal is to lose weight. As a long-term reward, you’ll feel better about yourself, and you’ll be able to do some activities, such as walking up the stairs, with ease. But, you’ll have a lot to sacrifice to lose weight. On some days, you won’t feel motivated to carry on. And, if you just let present bias guide you, you’ll impulsively decide to have some candy or skip an exercise. Of course, this isn’t a major issue if it happens once, but if you constantly repeat this mistake, you won’t reach your goal of losing weight.

In addition, hyperbolic discounting prevents you from seeing the benefits of long-term decision-making. When you think about it, making long-term decisions provides you with greater gains than short-term ones, such as opting for immediate gratification. For instance, investing money for retirement is a long-term decision. Your future self would surely be able to live comfortably from such savings. But, present bias always places more value on short-term decisions like buying new clothes.

Why do we find it hard to select long-term rewards?

So, thanks to hyperbolic discounting, we focus all our attention on immediate rewards. Why do we ignore long-term gratification?

The certainty effect

We don’t like taking risks, so we prefer pursuing something we’ll certainly manage to obtain. Therefore, instead of waiting longer to get a greater, but sometimes, improbable prize, we select a certain reward now. As the authors of the article Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision under Risk claim, that’s called the certainty effect. So, when we have a choice between a sure and a riskier gain, we choose the first option. Even though it can be possible to get a larger reward, we opt for a safe choice.

It’s worth noting that some scientists believe that even our great ancestors had to deal with present bias. Whenever our ancestors found food, they would eat it straight away, even if it was some small animal. Better to eat a smaller animal now than wait for another week or month to find a (potentially) larger one.

We don’t like waiting

Anticipating a greater prize in the future can be difficult. Plus, it takes a lot of self-control and self-discipline to reject an immediate reward and work your way towards a future prize.

So, why does this happen? One explanation is that humans have a non-linear perception of time. Depending on the situation, we feel like time is passing slower or faster.

According to Muireann Irish, a cognitive neuroscientist, our goals and motivation play an important role in time perception. In the radio program All in the Mind, Muireann explains that the emotions we have towards some activities are also crucial:

“So, for example, if you are looking forward to an event, it can seem that the time is dragging and that it can’t get here quickly enough. If you are not looking forward to something and you have a negative appraisal of an upcoming event, like giving a speech or having to do a presentation at work, the days can just roll by extremely quickly, and all of a sudden you are there.”

If you’re motivated to pursue your future goals, this may seem like a long-lasting mission, during which you’ll have to overcome hyperbolic discounting. To make the process of achieving your dreams easier, we have some practical tips to help you overcome present bias.

How to combat present bias in order to accomplish your long-term goals?

We know it’s not easy to turn down rewards that bring instant gratification. But, remember that sometimes you have to resist present bias for the greater good — attaining your long-term goals. So, here are some ways to overcome hyperbolic discounting.

Pair demanding tasks with an enjoyable reward

Dealing with complex tasks can be quite challenging. As you know, sometimes you have to complete such assignments in order to reach long-term goals.

So, to make this process more appealing to you, try pairing these tasks with some type of enjoyable reward. In their HBR article, Kaitlin Woolley from Cornell University and Ayelet Fishbach from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business talked about the research they did on achieving goals. Their findings suggest that high school students worked on their math assignments for longer periods when they ate snacks, used color pens, or listened to music.

In these cases, snacks, color pens, and music act like immediate benefits. Thus, your demanding tasks seem more fun when you match them with something pleasant. Plus, you’ll be motivated to work on these tasks longer. Therefore, you’ll be a step closer to achieving your future goals.

Aim your attention at daily goals

Having long-term goals is crucial since they’re an overview of how you want your life to look like. But, how will you get there? How will you attain these targets? Well, you’ll need to align your future goals with those you need to accomplish daily.

An effective way to combat present bias is to be consistent with reaching your daily targets. Let’s say your goal is to improve your writing skills. To reach this target, you’ll need to train by writing a 500-word-text per day, then submit it to your supervisor for revision. So, writing 500 words per day is your daily goal. Once you complete this daily target, you’ll be happy because you managed to complete the main task of the day. In a way, being satisfied is a reward you get from finishing an article.

Imagine your future self and future benefits

As we could learn from the aforementioned study on how we perceive our future selves, seeing an older version of yourself makes you more connected with that person. That way, you realize that your future self is dependent on you. You also become aware that any decision you make will impact the life of your elderly self.

Aside from only picturing yourself in the future, James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, suggests envisioning the benefits of your future self. In his blog post on procrastination and time inconsistency, Clear gives examples of this exercise, like imagining your future self who lost weight. Another way to do this is to think about savings and their importance for your future life.

Now, you don’t even have to picture yourself in 30 or 40 years. Start by imagining yourself in 12 hours.

So, here’s what you can do:

• In the morning, think about the things that make you feel fulfilled at the end of the day. For example, you’ll be happy if you manage to clean the house.
• Then, think about the tasks you need to accomplish in order to be satisfied with your daily success. When it comes to cleaning your house, these activities can be vacuuming, doing laundry, and washing the dishes.
• Write down these necessary tasks and start working on them.

By following this routine, your present self gives her/his best to help your future self.

Predict how your future self will behave

When you think of yourself from 10 years ago, you may notice that you changed some habits or preferences. But, in general, the way you think and act has probably stayed more-or-less the same.

You can apply the same rule for your future self. Since you know the person you are today, you can guess how your future self will behave, and what strengths and weaknesses you will probably have.

Now, why is this important? Well, being able to predict your future behavior means that your present self has an opportunity to help your future self.

For example, you want to save some money. To ensure your future self will set aside some part of your paycheck, you should arrange automatic withdrawals from your account every month. Or, to help your future self study for an exam, you should block any websites that might distract you from studying. This way, you keep your future self from mistakes your present self makes.

Try to avoid procrastination

We mentioned how present bias can lead to procrastination. Since hyperbolic discounting places emphasis on the current moment and instant gratification, we tend to put off demanding tasks until later.

In the article on time inconsistency, James Clear recommends some ways to avoid procrastination. He points out that it’s vital to be aware of the costs of procrastination.

For instance, you and your friend decided to exercise together every Saturday. If you skip your workout, this act of procrastination will have immediate costs — your friend will get mad at you.

So, to avoid this, you need to think of procrastination as an action that has immediate costs. Thus, it’s more likely that you’ll avoid such behavior. Clear suggests setting a public deadline for a task you wish to perform more often. For example, commit that you’ll write a blog post every Monday by posting this info on social media or your website. Having a public deadline will ensure that you stick to your plan without any delay.

Conclusion

We tend to opt for a smaller immediate reward rather than a larger prize in the future because it makes us joyful instantly. When you think about it, a larger award in the future is the equivalent of reaching a long-term goal. Thus, present bias can hinder our process of achieving future goals.

To overcome hyperbolic discounting and pursue your targets, try some of the tips we covered in this article. It’s fine if you sometimes choose an immediate prize, but keep in mind that staying away from this tendency is a crucial step in attaining the future life you want.

So, when you think about it, boredom can sometimes be a good thing, even though we usually perceive it as a negative experience.

In this blog post, we’ll shed light on boredom, and why we dread it. We’ll also explore why getting bored is important for your brain, as well as show you some ways to trigger boredom in order to gain creativity.

The science behind boredom

There’s no universal definition of boredom. Many psychological studies that examine the subject of boredom are trying to unravel whether boredom is an emotion or a mental state. One paper about Why Boredom Matters for Psychology and Society suggests that “boredom ‘behaves’ like an emotion”.

So, if we have no accurate definition, what do we know about boredom? Why do we get bored? Here’s what science has to say about it.

Boredom is a motivational state

For professor James Danckert at the University of Waterloo, boredom is a motivational state.

He discussed his team’s findings in a lecture. According to Danckert, people don’t like being bored. That’s why he believes boredom is “a state that we want to redress, we need to do something about it.” Although boredom may be mistaken for apathy, Danckert claims that they are not the same — boredom is actually a motivational state:

“It’s a call to action. It’s a push to action, a push to explore your environment.”

Boredom is a situational state

In his article, The bright side of boredom, Andreas Elpidorou, from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, shares some interesting observations, as well. For Elpidorou, boredom is a

psychological state. He also adds that we can easily relieve ourselves from the state of boredom since it’s temporary. In addition, Elpidorou thinks that boredom is situational. Here’s how: we sometimes get bored because we find ourselves in situations that are unchallenging, monotonous, or repetitive. In Elpidorou’s opinion, boredom isn’t a state of balance:

“We are not content in it. We feel restless and wish to be doing something else. We desire escape from boredom,” he adds.

So, boredom can cause some kind of imbalance in our life. Now, there are other reasons people find boredom frightful, which we’ll cover in the following section.

Why do we resist boredom?

A few years ago, a security guard in Wisconsin handcuffed himself because he was bored. He had to call the police to release him, as he left the keys at home.

Let’s look at one more drastic example of how far people are willing to go to avoid boredom. In the study about the challenges of being left alone with your thoughts, people were asked to choose whether they want to sit and think for 15 minutes, or get a mild electric shock. Believe it or not, 67% of men and 25% of women opted for electric shocks.

These are just some examples of what we’re capable of doing when we’re bored. Now, stop for a second and think. Why do we find boredom so terrifying?

I looked for answers in the book Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive & Creative Self, by Manoush Zomorodi. In the book, one of Zomorodi’s interlocutors is Dr. Sandi Mann, a psychologist and the author of The Upside of Downtime: Why Boredom is Good.

Boredom is an emotion we want to suppress

According to Mann, every emotion has a purpose, or an evolutionary benefit. To her, boredom is an emotion. In fact, she was researching emotions in the workplace. Her findings show that, apart from anger, boredom is the second most commonly suppressed emotion. Or, as Mann humorously explains in Bored and Brilliant:

“It gets such bad press. Almost everything seems to be blamed on boredom.”

We view boredom as a negative state

And, that’s not just the case at the workplace. Try to analyze some of the most significant literary and philosophical pieces, and you’ll be surprised. Many authors refer to boredom as a negative aspect of our lives.

In the aforementioned The bright side of boredom, Elpidorou highlights some writers and philosophers who believed boredom to be:

• “disruptive and harmful (Dostoevsky, Stendhal, Burton),
• a great source of unhappiness and suffering (Schopenhauer, Beckett, Kierkegaard),
• a state that hinders the development of one’s intellectual, social, and even moral capacities (Dante’s Purgatorio, Pascal), and
• ‘the root of all evil’ (Kierkegaard).”

Talk about bad press, right? No wonder we’ll do anything to avoid boredom, sometimes even trying productive things to do when bored.

But, even though boredom has negative connotations in today’s society, many studies show its benefits.

What are the positive effects of boredom?

Let’s take a closer look at the advantages of boredom.

Boredom can trigger creativity

Manoush Zomorodi says in the above-mentioned book:

“Creativity—no matter how you define or apply it—needs a push, and boredom, which allows new and different connections to form in our brain, is a most effective muse. It’s what the futurist Rita King calls ‘the tedium of creativity’.”

Numerous studies show the link between boredom and creativity.

For instance, in a study conducted by Karen Gasper and Brianna L. Middlewood, volunteers watched various video clips. These videos evoked feelings such as relaxation, boredom, and happiness. After watching the videos, researchers tested the participants’ ability to think about different vocabulary words. For example, researchers asked participants to think about a vehicle and come up with associations. The volunteers who were relaxed or happy usually answered with the word “car,” while bored volunteers had more creative answers such as “camel.”

In another study called Does Being Bored Make Us More Creative, there were two groups of participants. In the first group, volunteers had to deal with a boring writing activity, then with a creative task. In the second group, participants had to complete either a boring written activity or boring reading activity. In both groups, there was a control group of people who did nothing. According to the results, boring activities led to enhanced creativity in participants, while boring reading activities contributed to more creativity in some situations.

Boredom can enhance productivity

The previously-mentioned surveys show us that being bored can sometimes trigger creativity. But, how does boredom affect productivity?

In the research Why Being Bored Might Not Be a Bad Thing After All, which explored the consequences of being bored, researchers conducted several studies. One of these studies involved a mundane task that participants had to finish. Researchers found that participants were more productive after finishing a dull task.

Boredom can ease negative emotions

Even though the state of boredom is often linked with negative emotions, the researchers from the previously-mentioned study came to different conclusions.

In their second study, participants carried out several dull tasks. Once they finished these boring assignments, volunteers weren’t showing any signs of other negative emotions, such as anger or frustration. Therefore, researchers concluded that “boredom is not always paired with other negative feelings.”

Boredom can improve empathy

Now, here’s a surprising benefit or boredom — it can actually promote empathy. This scientific discovery comes from the University of Limerick, Ireland. It’s a Doctoral Thesis called Boredom and Its Psychological Consequences: A Meaning-Regulation Approach.

In this paper, the author claims that “boredom can promote prosocial behavior.” That’s because, when people are bored, they feel like their actions have no meaning, which further motivates them to change their behavior. The author also adds that the literature he used for the thesis links prosocial behavior and a sense of meaningfulness. In addition, the author mentions that, in several studies, there are examples of prosocial responses like altruism, blood donations, and charity support. All these activities are the result of people being bored and wanting to act in a prosocial manner.

Boredom can spark motivation for significant change in life

We already mentioned that boredom is a motivation state. Or, as professor Danckert says, a call to action.

Now, according to the On the Function of Boredom study, we need boredom when we wish to make significant life changes. In this study, researchers suggest that when we feel our previous goals are fading, we need to search for new goals. They also claim that it’s the emotional state of boredom that motivates people to seek new goals. Throughout the study, authors illustrate their research by mentioning Alice in Wonderland:

“Much like Alice becoming distracted from her fear of falling and shifting her attention towards the cupboards and her upcoming conversations; we propose that boredom will motivate the pursuit of new goals as the intensity of the current experience fades.”

In this case, being bored is a sign that something needs to change, that you need to pursue new and exciting objectives.

So, for instance, if you find your current job boring, and you don’t feel excited about it anymore, maybe it’s time to reconsider your career. Think about your dream job. If you’re not sure what you’re passionate about when it comes to working, talk with your family and friends, figure it out together.

Why getting bored is important for your brain

What would a life without boredom look like? It’s difficult to imagine, but for professor Danckert, this would mean not having a call to action. Danckert was a guest on the podcast Choose to be Curious. While discussing a subject of boredom and its purpose, this is how he described a world without it:

“As so, you would become an apathetic, ineffectual individual. None of us really want that. We want to be out in the world, engaging with others, engaging with different tasks, goals, and pursuing those goals as effectively as we can. Boredom helps us do that.”

As you can see, Danckert truly is an advocate of boredom. But, apart from him, many other scientists were eager to discover how boredom affects our brain functionality. Here are the key reasons boredom is important for your brain.

Boredom allows your brain to switch into the default mode

When you’re bored, your brain isn’t focused on a particular activity, which is why it usually starts to wander. For example, it’s when you’re performing repetitive tasks like folding your laundry or washing the dishes. But, what exactly is going on in your brain at that moment?

It switches to the “default mode”, a term coined by neuroscientist Marcus Raichle. As Manoush Zomorodi explains the term in the book Bored and Brilliant, “default mode is used to describe the brain ‘at rest,’ that is, when we’re not focused on an external, goal-oriented task.” According to neuroscientists, there are several reasons default mode is beneficial for your brain:

• It’s the time when you’re able to perform your most original thinking and problem-solving.
• It encourages you to have empathy, and to broaden your imagination.

Instead of the term “default mode”, some scientists even call it the “imagination network” because it helps us come up with the most creative ideas.

Boredom allows your brain to process new information better

In the aforementioned book, Zomorodi points out that, for a brain to rest, it needs to experience boredom. Moreover, boredom helps the brain process information better.

So, when learning something new, you’re ‘feeding’ your brain stimuli. And, in order to process new information, your brain needs frequent breaks. During these moments of rest, it’s able to sort out new data. As a result, you’ll be capable of remembering these new pieces of information.

Apart from breaks, having enough sleep at night is equally important for your brain functionality. Not only will you feel relaxed in the morning, but thanks to this routine, you’ll have more energy to better organize your life.

How to trigger boredom in order to regain creativity

Now, here are some ways to get bored for the greater good — and get creative juices flowing.

Try the “Dream house assignment”

In 2015, Manoush Zomorodi started a podcast called Note to Self. One of the projects she organized for her listeners was the Bored and Brilliant challenge. The goal of this challenge was to rethink your relationship with technology. So, participants had different challenges throughout the week.

One of the most interesting assignments that participants had to perform was the “Dream house” task. So, in one episode, Zomorodi had a special guest, an artist Nina Katchadourian who came up with this assignment.

Here’s how you can try this task at home or anywhere you are:

• Put your phone away.
• Put a pot of water on the stove and watch the water come to a boil. Alternatively, if you don’t have a stove, you can take a small piece of paper and write 10101010, as small as you can, until you fill out the entire paper.
• Doing such an activity will get you bored, which is exactly what you need.

But, here’s a fun part of the assignment:

• Take your wallet and empty it out.
• Use everything you have in your wallet (money, credit cards, coins) to build your dream house.
• Once you finish constructing your dream house, take a photo of it. Be creative and find the best angle for a photograph.
• Lastly, name your dream house and think about its location.

The gist of this challenge is to spend some time away from your phone, then get bored by doing some dull activity. Finally, experiencing a state of boredom will help you unlock your creativity. Check out this link to see how participants of this challenge built their dream houses.

Take a break from your phone

The purpose of this tip is to prevent you from reaching out to your phone when you’re bored. Furthermore, reducing your usage of digital devices will eventually help you take back control of your time.

So, what can you do instead of scrolling through your social media accounts on a phone? There are some tricks you can do to let your mind wander.

For instance, take a walk around the block. You can even repeat this routine several times.

Or, if you like swimming, be sure to visit a local pool. You can swim from one part of the pool to the other a couple of times.

Feel free to think of any other similar activity that will help you unwind and mind-wander, without using your phone. Don’t be afraid to embrace the boredom.

Observe the world around you

Another Bored and Brilliant challenge is “One Small Observation.” The idea behind this challenge is to observe the world around you, in order to spark creativity. As the host of the podcast, Manoush Zomorodi, says, “noticing is step one to creating something.”

Here’s how to try this challenge:

• Go to a public place, such as the mall, the gas station, the park, or take a cab ride around the town.
• Take some time to watch people around you (without being too creepy, of course).
• Let your mind wander.

How will these observations help you? Well, spending some time doing nothing will help your brain activate that imagination network we mentioned earlier.

In addition to simply observing what you see, you can also note down your observations. A futurist, Rita King, says that, when paying attention to the world around her, she usually writes down what she sees. For instance, it can be a dialogue she heard at the train station, or simply paying attention to how the birds fly, then noting it down.

Famous boredom-triggering routines you can try

If you need some additional ideas for enhancing your creativity by experiencing boredom, here are several tricks that famous people use:

• Traveling without books or gadgets. J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter novels, claims that taking the four-hour train ride from Manchester to London, without any books or gadgets, helped her come up with amazing book ideas. Who knows, maybe Rowling wouldn’t have thought up a story about Harry Potter if she had a phone with her. As you can see, sometimes traveling without any type of entertainment comes in handy and improves creativity.

• Household chores. For the choreographer George Balanchine, ironing in the morning did wonders. According to Mason Currey, the author of Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, Balanchine claims that ironing helped him find inspiration. Apart from ironing, tidying the house and washing dishes were significant creativity boosters for the writer Doris Lessing, the author of The Golden Notebook.
• Birdwatching. Here’s another thing you can try during your walks. Birdwatching is the routine that Margaret Atwood, a novelist and a poet famous for The Handmaid’s Tale, found very inspiring. Atwood says that birdwatching helped her with her writing process.

So, how about a little experiment? Try some boredom-triggering activities we described here and see how they work for you and whether they increase your creativity.

Conclusion

The time you spend while being bored is definitely not time wasted. Many experts agree that boredom is a motivation state, a call to action that pushes you to change your environment. In line with that, numerous studies show that boredom can trigger your creativity and enhance productivity. Moreover, in some cases, being bored can motivate you to be empathetic, and even help you make significant changes in your life.

So, next time you feel bored, try to resist the urge to take your phone. Embrace these moments of mind wandering to see how boredom can activate that imagination network in your brain. Plus, be sure to keep a notebook nearby, in case you come up with some creative ideas.

Now, apart from a map that guides you through space, there’s a map that helps you maneuver your usage of time. A time map, or a time mapping system, enables you to note down all significant activities in your professional and personal life so that you don’t miss anything crucial.

In this blog post, we’ll guide you through time mapping, by explaining:

• what time mapping is,
• the benefits of mapping time,
• how to create a time map, followed by a time map template.

What is a time map?

A time map is a system that involves creating specific blocks of time for your most significant tasks and activities throughout a day, week, or month. Depending on the type of activity, you can dedicate more or less time to particular activities. It’s crucial to point out that a time map involves both your work-related and personal activities. Thus, a time map will include not only your job assignments, but also, family time, as well as the time you spend with your partner and friends, or the time you spend practicing sports.

You can use either a physical calendar or an online tool to create a time map. Since time maps contain diverse categories of your life, you can assign a distinct color to each category.

Apart from individuals, teams can also benefit from using a time map. In this case, a time map should contain the team’s objectives and priorities, to ensure all members stick to mutual goals.

The difference between time mapping and time blocking

We already mentioned that when making a time map, it’s essential to dedicate specific time blocks to all activities. So, what is the difference between time mapping and time blocking?

Well, time blocking is the time management technique that consists of creating particular time slots to deal with vital tasks. Then you schedule these assignments in your calendar. The idea is to give your best to complete each assignment within a predetermined time frame — time block. As such, it is one of the most essential steps of time mapping.

Now, let’s continue to time mapping. When filled out properly, a time map gives you an overview of your time. With a time map, you know exactly how you’ll spend your time at work and outside it. Time mapping includes deciding on your top priorities in all areas of your life. Then, you create time blocks in your time map, thus you’ll know how much time you’ll dedicate to each activity.

So, when you think about it, time mapping takes your time blocking to the next level. With a time map, you’ll have a clearer picture of how (and when) to complete your tasks and activities. And this is just one of many benefits of time mapping, which we’ll further explore in the next section.

The benefits of using a time map

We all have our own ways of planning our time. Some people prefer making a to-do list, others opt for a specific time management technique, like the Pomodoro method or the Eisenhower Matrix.

If you still haven’t tried organizing your day with a time map, here are several benefits of using a map of time, to help inspire you to try it.

Time mapping reduces decision fatigue

As defined by Healthline, decision fatigue is the “feeling when you’re overly stressed by the endless amount of decisions you’ve had to make throughout the day.” So, when you have to make too many decisions in a day, eventually you’ll become tired and unable to choose what’s best. Therefore, you’ll end up making bad decisions.

How can a time map help you avoid this feeling? When mapping your time, you’re deciding how to spend your time, meaning what activities you should do first, and what can wait for later. In a way, you’re making all decisions at once. Therefore, a time map helps you craft your day from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed. Instead of deciding what to do next, just let a time map guide you through the day.

Time mapping helps you learn about your effectiveness and efficiency

As we previously discussed, you can use colors to differentiate each segment of your life. That way, when looking at your time map, you’ll immediately notice whether you’ve dedicated most of your time to work, leisure activities, or sleeping.

In one Forbes article, Brett Steenbarger, a psychologist and trading coach, explains that time maps can help us find out how effective and efficient we are. He proposes that when reviewing your time map, you also think about your performance. To make a map visually more appealing, he recommends using diverse shades to describe your performance. So, if you finished a task successfully, use darker shades for that task. On the other hand, if you’re not satisfied with how you handled a particular activity, use lighter shades for that task.

Why is this so helpful? Well, after spending several days reviewing your performance, you’ll be able to compare your results. Thus, evaluating your time map will help you learn about:

• Your efficiency: How well did you finish your tasks?
• Your effectiveness: Were you consistent with completing your significant tasks?

In addition, if you notice any productivity gaps or similar issues, you should tweak your time map. For instance, try working on more complex tasks during the times of the day when you’re most alert.

Time mapping helps you avoid the effects of Parkinson’s Law

By its definition,Parkinson’s Law means that “work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion.” Cyril Northcote Parkinson, a British historian, invented this term. In the essay for The Economist, he mentioned an example of an elderly lady writing a postcard to her niece. Even though this simple task usually lasts several minutes, it took her an entire day to write a postcard because she had nothing else to do.

Let’s look at an example of Parkinson’s Law at work. You have one week to finish an important presentation for a client. You usually need 2 or 3 days to complete such a presentation. But, knowing that you have more time to complete this task, it’s likely that you’ll finish the presentation just before the deadline, not earlier. In general, when having more time on our plate than needed, we tend to get distracted. That’s why we usually stretch a particular task until the deadline, even when we could have finished it earlier.

So, how can creating a time map help you avoid Parkinson’s Law? Since time mapping means making plans for each hour of the day, there won’t be any room left for major distractions. Instead of spending numerous hours a day indulging in distractions, you’ll simply follow your time map. Therefore, you’ll even complete tasks that have a longer deadline — on time or even earlier. In a way, time mapping can improve your discipline at work, too.

How to create a time map in 6 steps

If you prefer paper to digital, you can create a time map by using a piece of paper and a physical calendar. However, you can also use a time mapping software instead. Some of the most popular choices are Google Sheets, Excel, Google Calendar, and Microsoft Outlook. That’s no wonder since these tools are quite easy to use. Plus, when making a time map in Google Calendar, you can integrate your meetings into your time map as well.

However, there’s another way to craft a map of time. Particular time tracking tools, like Clockify, have a Calendar view that comes in handy in such situations. We’ll show you what steps you need to take to make a time map in the Clockify Calendar view.

Step 1: Consider how you spend time

Before you start creating a map of time, you should reflect on how you spend your time. Here are some questions to consider:

• What would I like to change about my working hours? What about the time outside of work?
• Do I spend enough time with my family or friends? If not, how can I dedicate more time to them?

Furthermore, you can craft your time map for a day, a week, even a month. However, you should start by making a weekly time map. Thus, you’ll have an overview of an entire week. Of course, if you notice that some days in your schedule are not working for you, be sure to modify them in the future.

Step 2: List activities from all segments of your life

The second step is making a list of all crucial activities and tasks that take up most of your time. If you’re a parent, your key activities would be parenting obligations. Or, in case you’re a business owner, you’ll probably dedicate most of your day to your company. If you’re a student, your activities will involve studying and preparing for exams. Of course, there are people who constantly juggle work and family life, or working and studying at the same time. But, with a proper time map, even balancing several life categories will seem easier.

Once you figure out what these activities and tasks are, note them down in a journal, Excel, or Google Sheet. Be sure to make several categories, such as Work, Family/Friends, Self-care, Household, then add each activity to its category. For instance, here, we added three categories, followed by several tasks in each of them.

Generally speaking, there shouldn’t be too many categories in your time map. You should consider having at least three, but no more than five fields.

Now, a handy way to make your categories in the Clockify Calendar view is to add them as projects. Moreover, you can assign a particular color to each project. That way, you’ll be able to distinguish various life categories in your calendar.

Step 3: Think about your priorities

Once you have the list of key activities, it’s time to set some priorities. Instead of trying to fit in too many activities and tasks to your time map, try to be realistic. Some assignments are more significant than others.

Be sure to decide on your priorities in all categories of life. For instance, this week, you have to finish a project proposal and present it to the client. So, these are your priorities at work.

Or, your kid is participating in a school play next Wednesday, and you wouldn’t want to miss it. Write it down in your time map. Or, your sister’s planning a birthday party, and she needs your help. You wouldn’t want to let her down so be sure to add this task to your time map.

In general, when it comes to a weekly time map, you should have two or three priorities in each field. Just like with the previous step, jot down these priorities in your notebook, Excel file, or Google Sheets. As you can see below, from having four activities in each category, we selected only two or three as priorities.

Plus, once you learn how to set priorities, you’ll enhance your time management skills, as well. In fact, according to our time management guide, making sure you spend time dealing with priorities is the essence of time management.

Step 4: Start time blocking

The next step is blocking time in your calendar.

So, how to start time blocking? Here’s how you can do it:

• First, add time blocks for your priorities, making sure that you cover all categories.
• Second, if you happen to have any meetings or any other scheduled event, like a doctor’s appointment, create time blocks for these, too.
• Lastly, if there are any empty time entries left, you can include some additional tasks or activities. Alternatively, you can leave these blank time entries, to ensure that you get some rest throughout the week.

The easiest way to add time entries in the Clockify Calendar view is to click on any open time frame in the calendar. Then, you’ll see a window such as the one below, where you can write down your task/activity name, add a project, and the time you plan to do it. For instance, if you’d like to go swimming on Saturday, simply add “Swimming” as the task description. Here, a project can be a Self-care or Family/Friends category, depending on whether you plan to go with friends or alone.

Another point worth mentioning is that you can integrate your time map in Clockify with Google Calendar or Outlook. This option comes in handy when you have many meetings throughout the week. To do so, you need to go to the Calendar view page, click on the connect icon, then choose whether you want to integrate it with Google or Outlook Calendar. Thus, all your events will be added to your Clockify Calendar — i.e., your time map. So, your map of time will include all significant meetings and calls.

Now, you may be wondering how long your time blocks should be. Well, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer. You can have hourly blocks, or your time blocks can last between 15 or 30 minutes. It’s crucial that your time map suits your needs and your lifestyle. For instance, if you have several work tasks per day, and each lasts around 30 minutes, then create 30-minute time blocks.

Step 5: Use colors to differentiate your activities

Be sure to have some fun when creating a map of time. As mentioned before, we suggest using diverse colors for each category you add.

So, when adding your tasks and activities in Clockify, you can choose a unique color for each project (life category) you add to your time map. That way, just by looking at your time map, you’ll have a better understanding of how your day will look like.

Step 6: Review your time map

Once you have filled out your time map for the following week, be sure to review it. By doing so, you’ll be able to modify some time entries if needed. For example, if you scheduled too many work tasks on Tuesday, while Thursday seems to have fewer activities, you can switch some assignments to the latter. Besides, if you notice that you left out some important family activities, such as a Saturday lunch or your mom’s birthday, now’s the perfect time to add these events to your time map.

Remember that your time map isn’t set in stone. It’s perfectly fine if you change your mind when it comes to particular activities. But, try to make these modifications before you start following a time map. Eventually, you’ll improve your time management skills and gain the ability to create time maps that perfectly suit your needs.

Furthermore, you can leave some time entries in your calendar unscheduled. For instance, if you don’t work on weekends, you don’t have to plan every hour for these two days. Instead, if you have plans with your family and friends for the weekend, you can add only these activities. Nothing better than waking up on Saturday morning knowing that you have almost an entire day free.

So, here’s an example of a time map in the Clockify Calendar view. There are three categories here:

• Business (blue color),
• Family/Friends
• and Self-care (purple color).

This map of time contains more tasks and activities on workdays, while Saturday and Sunday aren’t so over-weighted with activities.

You can always add more categories if your lifestyle requires you to.

A time map template

Sometimes, you’ll be too busy to create your own time map. That’s why we made a weekly time mapping template you can use on such occasions.

Download the Weekly Time Map Template (Google Sheets)

Download the Weekly Time Map Template (PDF)

As you can see from the screenshot above, this time map covers your weekly schedule from 7 am to 11 pm. In this example, time blocks usually last an hour, but there are several 2-hour or 3-hour time blocks as well. However, once you make a copy of our template, you’ll notice that all time blocks in the template have the same duration — an hour. The Weekly time map template contains three categories: Work, Family/Friends, and Self-care. You’re welcome to add one or two more if you want to.

You’ll also notice that there are three tabs in the template. These tabs follow the steps we described in the previous section, so there are:

1. List of activities tab, which is the second step.
2. List of priorities tab, the third step.
3. Time blocking and adding colors tab, the fourth and fifth steps.

Besides, in the last tab, you’ll see a note regarding a time map review. So, you have a reminder to go over your map of time once again before you start using it.

Wrapping up

A time map can be an invaluable tool for organizing your professional and personal life. When mapping time, you learn more about your effectiveness and efficiency. Besides, having a time map gives you an overview of your week, so you don’t have to struggle with making decisions about what to do next. Moreover, knowing your schedule will also help you avoid any distractions. Therefore, with a time map, you’ll be able to make the best use of your time — in all areas of your life.

These stats make me question our overall usage of emails. Are we truly effective with emails? If not, how can we turn things around?

To get some expert insights on this subject, we reached out to Patty Kreamer. Patty is a Productivity Coach and Certified Professional Organizer. She helps financial advisors enhance their productivity by getting more done in less time. Besides, Patty is an author of several books, such as But I Might Need It Someday and The Power of Simplicity.

In this article, we’ll cover some subjects we discussed with Patty, like:

• emails as work distraction, and
• how to organize and declutter an inbox.

Since Patty is a productivity expert, we also wanted to know what productivity tools she recommends.

Email as a key work distraction and how to deal with it

When you get an email, do you have an urge to respond as soon as possible? Of course, you should if it’s an urgent matter. But, it rarely is. If your clients or superiors have something important and urgent to say to you, they’ll call or ping you via communication apps.

Yet, many employees tend to reply to emails the same moment they receive them. So, why do workers let their emails control their lives? I wanted to pick Patty’s brain on this issue.

In her opinion, email has become a time-filler or a go-to habit that makes users feel like they are being productive. Patty adds that people waste time by reading and re-reading the same messages over and over and still not doing what needs to be done. Here’s how she explains this behavior:

“Replying to an email right away can show dedication but, in my opinion, it is done because the expectation of the recipient has been set to get a response a nanosecond after they send an email. If email were urgent, we wouldn’t need phones. Email is typically not the way to communicate in case of an emergency.”

In a way, we can say that emails are often our number one workplace distraction. So, what does Patty recommend for preventing email distractions and staying focused on work?

“I know it’s not groundbreaking information but unsubscribing from unwanted email lists is a good investment of your time.

If you haven’t already, it’s time to turn off ALL notifications, so you’re not tempted to jump over to email every time you see or hear an alert.

If you want to manage your time better, schedule planned times to check your email instead of jumping to it every time you’re bored or interrupted,” Patty concludes.

Managing emails when working from home

Working from home has become a new standard for many employees. That’s why I asked Patty whether she believes that we approach emails differently when telecommuting, compared to on-site work. Besides, I wanted to know if Patty has any work-from-home tips when it comes to managing emails. She claims that email at home is the same as at the office:

“The key is to be sure you are keeping up with email but not wasting a lot of your time while you are in there. Depending on how a company or firm decides to use email, checking it more often may be a requirement but if not, cutting back to processing email three times a day is likely a good idea.”

Practical tips on organizing and decluttering your inbox

Now that we’ve seen why emails can hinder your effectiveness, we’ll show you some simple ways you can enhance your email productivity.

Process emails

In line with the McKinsey Global Institute analysis, people check emails 11 times per hour. So, no wonder you can’t seem to finish your tasks by the end of a day.

From Patty’s point of view, there’s a difference between checking and processing email. She further explains that checking email is going into your email app and reading or scanning each email and doing nothing about it. Patty also claims that this habit makes remembering the details and what action needs to be done virtually impossible.

“Processing email, on the other hand, involves opening each email one at a time and taking it to completion.

If you read it and don’t need it any longer, DELETE IT.

If you read it, and you need to FORWARD IT to someone with a note, do so then DELETE or FILE IT.

If you read it and take the action needed, and you are done with it but need to keep it for your records, FILE IT.

The only emails that should remain in your inbox are those that require ACTION. The inbox is not a storage unit for unloved emails,” Patty highlights.

She wraps up that processing email is much more effective than checking email. Besides, processing email can save so much time that is wasted on repeatedly opening the same emails over and over.

Organize emails into folders

Another Patty’s email productivity trick relates to email folders, more specifically, creating folders for each year. As she clarifies, the year folders are practical if you have thousands of emails in your inbox from multiple years. So, Patty explains that rather than waste time going through them one by one, it saves time to bulk drag them into a folder with the corresponding year. Also, this prevents needed emails from being deleted.

“The other folders in the inbox should reflect a system that is intuitive for the user. As long as you know where to file something and more importantly, where to find something, it’s a good filing system. If you can’t, it’s not a good system,” Patty concludes.

Declutter your inbox

When was the last time you went through your emails and deleted unimportant ones? Patty has some tips for decluttering your inbox quickly and efficiently.

The first step is sorting your emails by FROM or SUBJECT to gather emails from the same person or in the same subject string. Then you can bulk move or bulk delete.

“To grab a bunch of emails in a row to move or delete:

1. Highlight the first email.
2. Hold down SHIFT KEY.
3. Scroll down to the last email in the group you want to move or delete.
4. Click on the last email while still holding down SHIFT KEY, which will select all in between emails.
5. Drag and drop the highlighted emails (or delete them),” Patty illustrates.

She also has a solution for selecting certain emails, then moving or deleting them:

1. Highlight the first email.
2. Hold down CTRL KEY — don’t let go until you are done selecting emails.
3. Click each individual email that you want to move or delete.
4. Drag and drop the highlighted emails (or delete them).

How can a time tracker help you boost your productivity?

Apart from email productivity, we tackled productivity in general. Patty mentioned that she uses Clockify. So, I wanted to hear what features of time trackers she finds useful.

“Clockify’s time tracker tool is what I recommend to my clients. So often, my clients tell me that they don’t think they waste a lot of time but when they track their time for a week, they are blown away by where their time is spent!

When you see that you are spending 18 hours a week on email, unless you are processing online orders or your business is run mostly by email, it becomes obvious that something needs to change,” Patty says.

In addition, Patty highlights these time tracking benefits of using Clockify:

• Time tracking is easy and gives you a clear picture of how you can go about improving your productivity.
• It allows you to identify your time-wasters and replace them with what matters most.
• It’s the perfect tool to help you gain clarity on your priorities and maximize your productivity.

Wrapping up

If you feel like emails are wasting your precious time, thus preventing you from being productive, you just need to change your email routine. Instead of devoting so much time to emails, try to improve your email management. According to Patty, the crucial steps to take are:

• Processing emails, instead of checking them. When processing emails, you’ll have to make decisions about what to do with each email.
• Creating folders in your inbox. If you already have so many emails in your inbox, and you want to save them all, this is a clever way to file them. Thus, you’ll be able to easily find emails when needed.
• Decluttering your inbox. Don’t be afraid to delete unnecessary emails from your inbox.

Finally, once you become better at effectively managing your emails, you’ll have more time to focus on your tasks. Therefore, email productivity will also boost your overall effectiveness.

If so, you’re dealing with time anxiety, a quite common issue in today’s society. In this article, we’ll shed light on time anxiety and explain:

• chronophobia,
• time anxiety symptoms,
• how to prevent time anxiety attacks, and
• how to stop being anxious about time.

What is time anxiety?

According to the Healthline website, time anxiety means having “ongoing feelings of uneasiness and even dread around the passage of time.”

So, time anxiety is the feeling that you’re wasting your time. You’re anxious over time when you think that it’s too late to accomplish your goals. In addition, time anxiety is when you’re obsessed about how you spend your time and whether you’re doing meaningful activities.

In some cases, people who experience time anxiety tend to procrastinate on significant assignments. And procrastination can be quite an issue when you try to take back control of your time.

Since there are various time-related problems, we can distinguish between three types of time anxiety:

• Daily time. The feeling of being rushed, overwhelmed, and stressed. Thus, you usually feel like there are not enough hours in a day.
• Tomorrow time. This type of anxiety is focused on tomorrow. Whenever you think about what might happen in the future, you experience time anxiety. In such cases, you usually ask yourself:

• What if I fail?
• What if something bad happens?

Tomorrow time anxiety relates to what you’ve done so far, in the past. We worry whether what we’ve done in the past is enough for the future. In addition, we might feel guilt over what we should have done but haven’t.

• Existential time. We experience this type of anxiety because we exist. Therefore, we sometimes feel like time is slipping away. Existential anxiety can sometimes create a sense of panic when we think about our (limited) time on Earth.

What is chronophobia?

Aside from time anxiety, there’s also chronophobia. This term originates from the Greek word “chrono,” which means “time”, and “phobia,” or “fear”. In a way, chronophobia is somehow similar to existential anxiety since it signifies fear of time and the passing of time.

The anxiety can increase in situations such as:

• high school or college graduation,
• wedding anniversary,
• milestone birthdays,
• holidays.

Here are some common situations of chronophobia, as well as examples of people who struggle with this type of fear:

• Senior citizens and people who suffer from terminal illnesses. They worry about how long they’re going to live.
• Prisoners who speculate about the length of their imprisonment, which is also known as “prison neurosis”.
• In particular situations, like natural disasters. In such cases, people are facing anxiety that can last quite a long time, without any way to track their time.

Apart from drugs and medications for treating chronophobia, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) suggests treatments that can be used as well. These can be relaxation and stress relief techniques, breathing exercises, yoga, meditation, and even aerobic exercises.

Time anxiety symptoms

Alex Lickerman is a physician and an author of several books. He’s also known for exploring the matter of time anxiety. In this article, he explains the most common time anxiety symptoms.

Worrying about tardiness

How often do you fear that you’ll be late for an important meeting? Now, it’s logical that we all want to be punctual, especially when it comes to our work. But, Lickerman points out that we can sometimes become preoccupied with potential tardiness. We worry in advance, even before we’re actually late.

Furthermore, time anxiety can negatively influence our mood. When we arrive late for an event, we might feel angry or nervous, even when there aren’t any consequences of our behavior.

Feeling uncomfortable when you don’t finish everything you planned to

This type of time anxiety is related to our goals. Or, better said, it’s anxiety you feel when you fail to complete all the tasks you wanted to.

Lickerman claims that such anxiety can happen to us even during carefree times, like vacations or weekends. For instance, you plan to tackle several household chores during the weekend. But, once you wake up on Saturday, you feel anxious knowing that you have a limited number of hours until the weekend is over. Thus, you’re not motivated to complete these chores.

Let’s say that you’ve finished some of your weekend errands. So, you’re supposed to be happy for having completed one part of the work, right? Not really. Time anxiety prevents you from being satisfied with what’s been done so far. Instead, you’ll beat yourself up for the things you could have done, but haven’t.

Worrying that you’ve missed out on life opportunities

Now, you can also be anxious about time passing when you think about your life and try to see a bigger picture. Sometimes we feel that society expects us to reach certain milestones, like a career promotion, marriage, or starting a family, by a particular age. If you haven’t accomplished some of these milestones, you might worry that you won’t have a successful life.

In such cases, time anxiety works like a pair of glasses that allow you to see only what’s in front of you, while your peripheral vision is blurry. Thus, you focus on the passage of time, and you fear that you’ll never be able to accomplish your desired milestones. As a result, you’ll feel desperate and overwhelmed. But, if you stop paying so much attention to the fact that time passes by, you’ll realize that you still have time to work on those milestones.

Time anxiety attack and how to prevent it

Now, what happens at the moment we feel anxious over time? How can we recognize a time anxiety attack? We reached out to Tanya J. Peterson, a mental health educator and author of numerous self-help books about anxiety and mindfulness.

Tanya describes a time anxiety attack as an intense, crushing sense of being overwhelmed by tasks that you’re facing. She further explains:

“It often involves thoughts, feelings, sensations, and behaviors such as:

• A sense of urgency that “everything” must be addressed immediately.
• Thinking about all of the work that lies ahead of you and worrying about not being able to complete it as well as the consequences that might follow.
• Increased irritability and impatience, often followed by regret and apologetic behavior for snapping at others.
• Beating yourself up for past mistakes or not having accomplished enough already.
• “Tunnel vision” – only focusing on the enormity of the tasks you’re facing and your stressful thoughts and feelings about them.”

Moreover, these sensations can be tension headaches, chest tightness or pain, and difficulty breathing.

According to Tanya, the most effective way to prevent such feelings is to recognize when you’re caught up in this time trap, and acknowledge your thoughts and feelings. Here’s what else she recommends:

“Breathe slowly, deeply, and mindfully. Slow, deep breathing deactivates your body’s stress reaction (the sympathetic nervous system and fight-flight-or-freeze) and activates the calm, rest-and-digest response of the sympathetic nervous system.

Mindful breathing means paying attention to the act of breathing. Either close your eyes or gaze at an object you find pleasing, and pay attention to the sound and feel of the air entering and leaving your body. This step is very important for stopping your system’s reaction to stress and anxiety.”

Tanya concludes that the few moments you spend breathing deeply will help you be more productive for the rest of your day.

How do you stop being anxious about time?

We explored the issue of a time anxiety attack and how to react when it happens. Here are some additional tips that can help you overcome time anxiety once and for all.

Accept what you can and cannot control about time

Before you experience another time anxiety attack, let’s review some hard facts about time:

• Time exists.
• You cannot stop time, make it go slower or faster.
• You can control your future but cannot change the past.

Although this sounds like common sense, you should definitely remind yourself of these facts whenever you’re anxious about time. Besides, whenever you’re struggling with what happened in the past, simply stop. Unfortunately, we still haven’t invented a time machine. So, the best you can do is focus on the future — the instance you can control.

In addition, it’s worth mentioning Oliver Burkeman’s latest book Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use It. Burkeman highlights that time is finite, and we have to accept that. In fact, he claims that this acceptance happened around the same time we’ve started clocking in and clocking out. Why is this important? Once people realized that time is finite, they started appreciating time more. But, this also puts more pressure on how we perceive time.

Define what “time well spent” means for you

If you worry that you don’t devote enough time to meaningful activities, you should ask yourself what “time well spent” signifies to you. This applies to all segments of your life, like:

• Work: What kind of tasks make you feel good when you finish them?
• Family and friends: Who do you enjoy spending time with?
• Hobbies and free time: What are your most enjoyable hobbies or activities?

Feel free to add more categories.

Once you get your answers, you’ll have a clearer idea of the activities and tasks that you love doing, as well as the people you cherish the most.

Tanya J. Peterson also suggests broadening your focus to your big picture, your “why.”

“Recall what is most important to you.

• Why are you doing these tasks in the first place?
• How does working on them move you closer to your vision for your life?”

This way, you’ll be able to connect your goals with specific activities or tasks that can get you closer to your targets.

Find a way to fit your most significant activities into your life

Now that you’ve discovered what “time well spent” means for you, the next step is to make space for these activities in your daily life. Be sure to dedicate enough time to what matters to you in each segment of your life. If it helps, you can schedule such activities. Remember to be realistic and plan as many activities as it suits your lifestyle.

For instance, if you realized that you genuinely enjoy doing yoga, figure out when you have some extra time in your schedule for yoga. It can be in the morning before work or in the evening, it’s up to you. Then, make sure you follow this routine.

Focus on doing a few things that count

In his latest book, Oliver Burkeman points out that “the only route to psychological freedom is to let go of the limit-denying fantasy of getting it all done and instead to focus on doing a few things that count.” So, we asked him whether he thinks that this routine will help us be less anxious about time.

“I think it’s always anxiety-reducing to perceive that you’d been attempting to do something impossible, and then drop that struggle. The point about the fantasy of “getting it all done” is that it is unachievable by definition – because we’re limited humans in a world of unlimited inputs, and also because the more you get done, the more new to-dos you generate. So it’s liberating to drop that whole thing,” Oliver clarifies.

He adds that, once you have done so, you can focus on doing a few things that matter to you without being so tormented by thoughts of all the “other” valuable things you could be doing with your time.

Keep a journal of your time anxiety

To be able to control your anxiety, be sure to write down your anxious moments. Describe what you were doing at the moment and what emotions you felt during the time anxiety attack. Thus, you’ll have a much clearer understanding of what causes this stress. Plus, you’ll be able to prevent having similar situations in the future. Furthermore, this routine will help you avoid overworking and even worse, career burnout.

Try to calm down your anxiety by picturing the worst scenario

At first, this may sound counterproductive — but, let us explain the gist. To overcome your time anxiety when you’re running late, stop for a moment and think about the worst-case scenario.

For example, you’re late for meeting your best friends for drinks. It took you too long to get ready, and now you have to call a cab to get there as soon as possible. Think about the worst thing that could happen, such as the possibility that your friends will get upset. If that’s the worst scenario, then figure out how to fix this issue.

So, instead of stressing about being late, be sure to kindly apologize to your friends. Thus, you’ll be able to calm down and let go of your anxiety about time. And who knows, maybe they won’t be mad at you. Maybe your friends have already ordered their drinks, and they’re in a good mood.

To sum up, trying to prevent time anxiety is crucial. Apart from calming your nerves, you’ll ensure you’ll be in good spirits, too. Just imagine arriving late to an important event and feeling stressed. Doesn’t sound so exciting, right?

Try talking with a professional

If you believe you won’t be able to overcome time anxiety on your own, don’t be afraid to look for professional help. A therapist can be quite beneficial for many reasons. For instance, therapists can analyze the reasons you’re feeling anxious about time. Later, they can show you the best ways to get rid of time anxiety. Going to therapy is especially vital if you’re dealing with existential anxiety.

Improve your time management skills

When you’re anxious, you probably consider time your worst enemy. So, to make peace with it, learn how to better manage your time. Thus, you’ll enhance your time management skills. Here are ways you can do that:

• effective planning,
• making sure that your goals are SMART — Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound,
• avoiding distractions whenever you can,
• practicing single-tasking instead of dealing with several tasks at the same time,
• managing your stress levels by trying stress-relieving strategies while working.

These are just a few of the time management techniques that you can use to overcome time anxiety. It may not be easy at the beginning but getting rid of your anxiety about time will surely be worth it.

Live mindfully

When you think about it, time anxiety can often be a consequence of living in a hectic, technology-riddled world. Or, as Tanya Peterson describes: “We’re constantly connected to something, a phone or tablet or television.” She adds that even when we try to enjoy some time off, we usually pop on Social Media or check our email.

So, what’s the solution? Peterson recommends mindfulness, which can be described as a relationship you have with yourself and your life:

“It’s a decision to pay attention to what is going on right now in the space around you rather than being distracted by devices or even our own anxious, racing thoughts. It takes practice because the world demands our constant attention. Over and over again, choose what you want to pay attention to. Be engaged in one thing at a time, one moment at a time. Doing what you need to do at this moment, whether that’s pausing to breathe, enjoying time in the park with a loved one, or completing a work task will go a long way in easing time anxiety, so you can live your life on your terms — and in your time.”

Practicing mindfulness plays a key role in your overall mental health. Once you make a habit of it, it’ll be much easier to organize your life — all the important aspects of it.

Conclusion

When you’re anxious about time, you feel uncomfortable with time: either with the fact that time is passing, or because you have too much on your plate, which makes you overwhelmed. In some cases, you may reflect on your time on Earth and whether you’ve accomplished significant life milestones.

To overcome time anxiety, you need to accept what you can and cannot control about time. You’re the main designer of your future, so think about what matters the most to you, and make space for crucial activities in your life. Remember that you don’t have to deal with time anxiety on your own. If it feels overwhelming, consider seeking out some professional help. Moreover, work on your time management skills, as they can be very helpful when fighting time anxiety. In addition, you can also work on your ability to focus on one thing at a time — this will help you calm down and gradually let go of your time anxiety.

In this article, we’ll show you how to be disciplined at work, by exploring the qualities of a disciplined person, followed by handy tips to improve your self-discipline. We’ll also cover some tricks for all of you who work from home and need some encouragement when it comes to discipline.

The difference between self-control and self-discipline

Before we look into the qualities of a disciplined person, let’s first clarify the difference between self-discipline and self-control. These are two quite similar terms but have slightly diverse meanings.

Self-control allows us to control our behavior and avoid temptations. In a way, self-control delays gratification, so this term works on a primal level. Self-discipline encourages us to do activities we should be doing, even when we don’t feel like doing them. That way, self-discipline helps us be more consistent so that we can achieve greater goals. While self-control takes care of our short-term goals, self-discipline gets us through our long-term goals. Self-control and self-discipline are like two buddies who always work together.

For example, you want to get up early in the morning every workday. Self-discipline is the one that will make you get up every morning, even when you’re sleepy and grumpy. Self-control is the one that will prevent you from hitting a snooze button.

Or, at work, you have to finish an important task by Friday. Self-discipline will help you work on that assignment from Monday to Friday. Self-control will stop you from watching YouTube videos of cute dogs.

What are the qualities of a disciplined person?

The most significant qualities of a self-disciplined person are:

• responsibility,
• persistence,
• strong work ethic, and
• self-care.

Let’s dive deeper into each of these traits.

Responsibility

How strong is your sense of responsibility? To be able to answer this question, you’ll need to think about whether you get to work on time and whether you give your best efforts to complete tasks on time. A sense of responsibility also means that it’s up to you to start your assignments and finish them before the deadline.

Once you develop a sense of responsibility, it’ll be much easier to move, deal with your workload, and complete everything you need to do. As you can imagine, nobody’s going to take your hand and force you to start doing your tasks, so you’ll have to do it yourself. That’s why being responsible for your work is important if you want to be a self-disciplined employee.

Persistence

Have you ever thought about how marathon runners manage to run so many miles? They train in order to build endurance.

In a workplace, endurance is called persistence. As a self-disciplined employee, you need to build your persistence. Therefore, you’ll be able to motivate yourself to work not only 30 minutes per day, but longer. Persistence also helps you stay focused on your assignments for prolonged periods.

Now, apart from time frames of focused work, you should always remember to take frequent breaks. There’s no point in working for 10 hours without any rest because this routine will drain your energy. Instead, train yourself to work for eight hours (or as many hours as your employment requires you to) and include lunch and other brief breaks to refresh your mind.

Strong work ethic

When it comes to being self-disciplined at work, it’s vital to mention a trait such as a strong work ethic. In a way, you can say that responsibility plays a key role in creating a strong work ethic. Here’s what work ethic should look like:

• Showing up for work on time.
• Dealing with all tasks, including both more complex and less complex ones. An employee with a strong work ethic will tackle less interesting assignments, as well.
• Getting the job done. When people have a strong work ethic, they deliver all tasks on time.

As you can see, having a strong work ethic isn’t always easy, which is why you’ll need to be self-disciplined. Besides, you’ll sometimes have to deal with distractions and stay strong when interruptions occur.

Self-care

Being self-disciplined also means taking care of yourself. When it comes to self-care, we have to emphasize the importance of sleep. Since sleep deprivation can weaken your self-control, people who are disciplined make sure they get enough sleep.

Apart from sleep, self-care equals making healthier choices regarding smoking, diet, and exercise. That’s why researchers have proven that people who practice self-care are healthier in the long term, thanks to making proper choices about their health.

How do you improve self-discipline at work?

Are you struggling with self-discipline at work? Developing discipline takes time and effort. If you don’t know where to start, here are some invaluable tips to improve your self-discipline.

Start with small self-control exercises

Roy F. Baumeister is a social psychologist and the co-author of Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. In his opinion, we should understand self-control as a strength.

“It’s like a muscle that you exercise,” Baumeister further explains.

In the aforementioned book, co-authors recommend starting with small self-control exercises:

“Pick one fairly easy improvement in your life and execute it. For example, you could make your bed each morning. Or make sure to clean up all the dishes right after meals.”

Baumeister also points out that we should use self-control to break bad habits and form good ones. For instance, by starting a regular daily practice of exercise, or meditation. Here’s why he believes this is important:

“Once something becomes a habit, it is no longer a self-control exercise. When I started jogging, I had to push myself to do it, and so it strengthened my self-control. By now it is a long-established daily habit, so doing it no longer qualifies as self-control building.”

Moreover, Baumeister adds that jogging itself may require self-control, such as keeping going when tired. Therefore, you’ll need self-discipline as well, to continue with a habit when you don’t feel like doing it.

How can you try this routine at work? Here’s one way: pick a task you don’t particularly like, such as checking your inbox in the morning. Even though you don’t enjoy it, do this task first thing you get to the office. Then, make yourself a cup of coffee, as a little treat. After a week or two, you’ll notice how this assignment has become your daily habit, which you might even enjoy.

Parse one large task into several small assignments

When you have one complex task on your plate, you may feel confused. You probably won’t know how to start and what segment of your task to tackle first.

To prevent such situations, it’s best if you break that assignment into several smaller ones. That way, you’ll find it easier to complete the first task, and you’ll be motivated to continue with others. Besides, this motivation will help you improve your self-discipline because you’ll manage to complete all assignments on time.

Avoid multitasking

We tend to believe that juggling several tasks at once will help us finish our work faster. But, in reality, when we switch between tasks (multitasking), we can only focus on task 1. At the same time, task 2 is just a distraction to task 1.

As we mentioned earlier, self-discipline helps you maintain your focus on work assignments for a longer time. Therefore, to aim your attention on one task at a time, you should avoid multitasking.

Take breaks

If we perceive our self-control as a muscle, as Baumeister suggests, we can train our self-control. But, there should be limits here, too. When you train your self-control and self-discipline without any break, you’ll feel exhausted.

The solution is quite simple: take regular breaks from work. By doing so, it’s more likely that you’ll regain your focus after a brief period of rest.

Moreover, you should schedule your breaks to ensure that you don’t miss any. This is especially important on the days when you have to tackle a complex task, after which you’re tired. In these situations, you can schedule a longer break after you finish that dreadful task.

Try to fight distractions

Another way to build your self-discipline is to avoid workplace distractions at any cost. Whenever you’re dealing with tedious tasks, it can be very tempting to pick up your phone and scroll down your social media accounts for 15 or 20 minutes. But, when you manage to fight this urge in order to finish your task on time, you’ll enhance your self-control (short-term win) and your self-discipline (long-term win).

So, how can you stay focused at work in a world full of distractions? If you usually lose focus because of various noises, invest in a pair of noise-canceling headphones. Or, if your mobile phone is your number one distraction, be sure to leave it out of reach when you’re working.

You can also write down what distracts your attention the moment you experience it. Keep a notebook nearby to note down various distractions, and you’ll notice some patterns. Thus, it’ll be easier for you to figure out how to predict these interruptions and create order in your daily work tasks.

Create a productive environment

If you’d like to improve your self-discipline at work, you can also make a productive environment. That way, you’ll send signals to your brain that it’s time to focus on work tasks. It doesn’t even have to be anything too demanding. For example, you can go get a glass of water or brew a cup of coffee before you start working on an assignment. Then, once you begin your task, be sure to aim all your attention at work. After several days, this ritual will become a habit that your brain will associate with deep work. Therefore, you’ll upgrade your self-discipline levels as well.

Reward yourself

The best way to motivate yourself to keep doing your tasks is to celebrate little wins. Whenever you finish a task, remember to reward yourself. It can be taking a brief break to make lemonade or eat a chocolate bar. Building self-discipline by doing demanding work and being persistent is almost painless when you know rewards are waiting for you.

Developing self-discipline when working from home

When working from home, you have to nurture your self-discipline. In work environments such as this, it’s only up to you to get up on time every day and give your best to complete your tasks before the deadline. Sounds scary? Don’t worry, you’ll be fine as long as you incorporate some kind of structure. Here’s what you can do.

Choose working hours and stick to the schedule

If you don’t have fixed working hours, you get to choose when you’ll work during the day. To develop self-discipline, you should select working hours that are suitable for you and your lifestyle. Then, try to stick to that schedule as much as you can. Of course, it won’t be a problem if you start your workday at 9 am on Monday, but at 9.30 on Tuesday. Allow yourself some flexibility on the days when you have personal errands to run before or after work.

In addition, if you live with your spouse, siblings, or roommates, remember to inform them about your schedule.

Choose work attire that helps you stay productive

Now, this is a subject of many debates. When you work from home, should you dress like you’re dressed in an office? Or should you do the opposite and stay in your PJs the entire day? Some studies have shown that dressing up can enhance your performance at work.

But, does it work for all people? Probably not. Some employees will likely enjoy wearing a suit, or a pencil skirt with a cute blouse when working from home. For them, this can have a positive effect on productivity. On the other hand, some workers will prefer comfy clothes when telecommuting. From my work from home experience, wearing the clothes that I usually wear at home works perfectly. Plus, it doesn’t hinder my productivity, so I manage to complete my tasks on time.

The bottom line is: choose the outfit that works best for you. Opt for clothes that you feel comfortable in and that help you stay productive. Thus, you’ll be able to maintain your focus at work for longer periods, which will improve your self-discipline.

Bonus tip: You can keep an elegant shirt nearby for any unexpected Zoom meeting.

Finish your workday by preparing for tomorrow

To ensure you’ll leave your work on time, you should spend some time at the end of the day thinking about tomorrow. Since self-discipline means being able to get the job done, you should reflect on what you’ve accomplished throughout the day. Then, write down if there are some urgent tasks for tomorrow morning. Moreover, note down all priorities for the day ahead of you and parse larger projects into smaller assignments.

Apart from work tasks, you should also take care of some house chores, like washing the dishes, or doing laundry. So tomorrow, your attention to work won’t be disrupted by a pile of dirty dishes.

Conclusion

The most significant traits of a self-disciplined person are responsibility, persistence, strong work ethic, and self-care. Even if you don’t feel like you check all these boxes, be sure that developing your self-discipline is possible. This process starts with self-control exercises. Besides, other ways to enhance your self-discipline are avoiding multitasking and distractions, as well as creating a productive environment for yourself. Furthermore, making sure that you’re disciplined is especially important when working from home. In that case, you should try to stick to your working hours at home, and always make plans for the day ahead of you.