Do you pull numbers out of your....?

Welcome to Week 30 of my adventure as a member of the Marketing Plan Group. In my posts, I talk about my voyage down the road of self-employment as a website copywriter, my achievements and roadblocks along the way, and what I’m learning from my group experience.

Now that my group is getting down-and-dirty with our numbers, I’m beginning to realize how much I pull numbers out of my… let’s say… imagination. All sorts of numbers. Pricing numbers, timing numbers, goal numbers. And I’m not the only one! One of my group members says she knows the amount in her bank account, but somehow, when left alone with her imagination for long enough – it changes. (She gets richer!)

It’s actually pretty hilarious. We never realized this was happening until our group got serious about numbers.

So, my poof, thin air approach isn’t proving to be the most accurate, especially when it comes to how long things take.

For example, how long does it take to write a blog post, make a research call, or write a bio for a client? Do you know? Or do you half-know and half-guesstimate, like me? If you don’t seriously, meticulously track your time, it’s likely you’ll be astounded by the discrepancy between what you think it takes, and what it really takes.

Turns out, writing a brochure takes a hell of a lot longer than I thought.

Are you using the poof, thin air method of tracking time? Do you really track your time, or do you guesstimate?

Take this little challenge with me: I propose that those of us out there, who may not be the most dedicated of time-trackers, take this week to obsessively track our time. Every second of it. (I’m using the time-tracking feature in Freshbooks. Function Fox is another great tool for time-tracking.)

Yes, even those “quick” email responses, “quick” phone calls, or “quick” changes. Cuz guess what? They add up. They really add up!

Are you with me?

Stay tuned… Next week, we’re making our proposals better.

Comments

[Rachel]

I think it is a great idea to try and stay on top of how long things take to complete.

What I do is put estimate how long I think every item on my to do list is going to take me to complete. And then I track how long it take to actually complete. It is fascinating!

[Tricia Okin]

I will totally fess up and say that group member who thinks she's rich is me. I think I may try a new strategy of making the money disappear by putting it in accounts where I don't actively see it, ex: ING Direct. I honestly think that's what will light a fire under my behind to the real bank accounts back up to where they should be.

And Rachel, that's so very true to see what you estimate and how long a job really takes. In some ways, jobs I thought would take me forever only take me 30 minutes but it's the dreading doing them that took so much longer.

Track your time folks...