Anyone else like to grumble about the time tracker/work diary?

[David F]

I won't do ANY User Experience work on Upwork at all, purely down to this reason. 70-80% of that work is me either stood at my whiteboard or drawing squares on pieces of paper and cutting them out and arranging them across my table. It's far too premium an offering to try and audit on an hourly basis. Even under a fixed price arrangement you could find yourself down a rabbit hole with the only way out to be through. 

It's utterly laughable when a client wants you to fix their "UX/UI" and expect it to be just a case of changing some boxes and icons and making things look pretty - especially when it's clearly obvious you're taking over rushed/incomplete/budget-starved work.

[Petra R]

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Nancy K wrote:

Done grumbling (for now)... share a pic of your dog.

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[Valerie S]

I can't for the life of me figure out how to properly "quote" on here, my apologies in advance, but here's Gracie! (Apparently I can't figure out how to properly upload a photo either, ugh, turn your head sideways, she's pretty cute! )

[Bruce D]

I bill manually.  I have never used the Time Tracker.  I can't stand the thought of it, frankly.  The whole approach encourages the worst instincts of a developer to code, code, code without thinking about what you're doing.

I spend time working on a project at the keyboard that's not productive, and I don't bill for that.  I spend time thinking about solutions away from the computer, and I do bill for that, a little.  I'd be very surprised if I'm the only developer who comes up with a design solution while turning a problem over in his head before falling asleep at night.

It seems that my clients have been pretty satisfied with the results.

[Jennifer M]

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Bruce D wrote:

I bill manually.  I have never used the Time Tracker.  I can't stand the thought of it, frankly.  The whole approach encourages the worst instincts of a developer to code, code, code without thinking about what you're doing.

I spend time working on a project at the keyboard that's not productive, and I don't bill for that.  I spend time thinking about solutions away from the computer, and I do bill for that, a little.  I'd be very surprised if I'm the only developer who comes up with a design solution while turning a problem over in his head before falling asleep at night.

It seems that my clients have been pretty satisfied with the results.

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Even with writing it's hard sometimes because you're just staring at a screen or reading something and I am always afraid to have too many screenshots of nothing changed in the document. I have to keep clicking my keyboard keys, but you are right that it forces to you do anything without thinking just to make sure the screenshot is good. I try not to have more than 2 screenshots with the same paragraphs for fear that it could lose me money.

[Kumari A]

I thought it was just me coming up with the best of solution before falling asleep. :-)

Its so nice to read different views on using time tracker. I personally dont like to use them. As I get too stressed thinking about the screenshots and keypd movement that I loose focus of the work that I am doing. 

[Aziz U]

This is why I don't work with time traker, never have, and never will. If a client can't trust me then we shouldn't be working together anyways.

[Aleksandr S]

One can look at the time tracker app from a different angle. Definitely, for some clients it's a means to control a freelancer. Luckily, I've never met such a client in almost 6 years working here. Tracker is a great way of counting how much I've worked and how much I need to be paid.

When I wake up, I turn my laptop and resume my working virtual machine with time tracker on. I can work for several hours and then take a break. The app will automatically stop counting work time while still running. I can go for a walk with my family, or do home duties, or just watch a movie. Then I may feel desire to work and I simply switch to my working virtual machine.

I work 50-80 hours a week. It would be a huge pain in the neck to remember how much I worked. I'm free from remembering this. When I think on a task, which is often, I try to add manual time as soon as possible, so I don't forget about it.

I on contrary don't work with fixed-price contracts. I have several contracts where I develop big pieces of software. Tasks come and go. I do them and get easily paid without meddling with milestones.

I would be very glad to hear how others, especially developers, work on big projects under fixed-price contracts.

[Mary W]

In my field, everyone always tracks their time.  I have worked in law firms where it was manual and I've worked in firms that had an electronic system.  Lawyers track their time and paralegals track their time, usually in 1/10 of an hour and rebill it to the clients. 

I love the tracker as it takes care of it for me and I never miss any time, which was always a problem with manual tracking. I can always go back and delete segments if I forget to turn the tracker off.  I am also a part time employee for an attorney and I use a time tracker for his work, as well.

[Wendy C]

I'm with Bruce.  Manual hours only and pre-established trust on both sides.