In short
- Track your hours even when you charge a fixed price: it's the only way to know what a project really earns you per hour.
- There are three ways: a timer while you work, logging hours afterwards, or confirming your planned blocks. Pick what you'll keep doing.
- For each block, record the client, the project and one sentence on what you did. That's enough for a timesheet your client trusts.
- End every working day with two minutes of review. Hours you only fill in after a week are almost always too low.
- With Dowit you simply tell Claude or ChatGPT your hours: "1h Acme, 30m Northwind".
Every freelancer knows they should track their hours. Few do it consistently. The timer is still running from yesterday, or on Friday you fill in what you remember from Monday. The result: hours you never invoice, and an hourly rate that's lower in reality than you think.
This guide helps you set up a system you'll stick with: which method suits you, what exactly to record, how to round, and how to make it so light you stop forgetting it.
Why should freelancers track their hours?
If you bill by the hour, the answer is obvious: no hours, no invoice. But it pays off with fixed prices too.
- You know what a project earns. A €3,000 project you spent 60 hours on earned €50 an hour. If it took 30, it earned €100. Without hours, you don't know which projects to take again.
- Your quotes get better. If you know how many hours a similar project took, you estimate the next one more accurately.
- You see where your time goes. Admin, email and meetings add up faster than you think. Hours make that visible.
- Your client trusts you more. A clear overview of what you did prevents discussions about your invoice.
Want to know which hourly rate you need? Use the hourly rate calculator.
Which way of tracking time suits you?
There are three ways. The best is the one you'll keep doing.
| Method | How it works | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Timer | You start a timer when you begin and stop it when you're done | People who switch between clients often and want precision |
| Afterwards | You note at the end of the day what you did | People who work in big blocks and forget the timer |
| Planned blocks | You plan work blocks in your calendar and confirm them as hours | People who plan their day ahead (time blocking) |
Many freelancers combine them: a timer for short tasks, afterwards for the rest. What matters is doing it the same day. After a few days you really don't remember whether that call took twenty minutes or an hour.
What do you record for each block of time?
Keep it simple. Four things per block are enough:
- The client, so you know who to invoice.
- The project, if you work on several things for one client.
- The duration, or the start and end.
- What you did, in one sentence. "Wireframes for the pricing page", not "design". That sentence goes into your timesheet, and your client reads it.
Extra fields, like tags and categories, feel thorough but make logging slower. And what's slow gets postponed.
Billable or not?
Not every hour can be charged. Writing quotes, your own admin and training are work, but usually not billable. Track them anyway, on an internal client or project ("Admin", "Sales"). That way you see your real billable share. For most freelancers it's between 50 and 70 percent of their working hours.
How do you round?
Agree with your client how you round, and always do it the same way. Common choices:
- Per 15 minutes, the most common: an 8-minute call becomes 15 minutes.
- Per 30 minutes for work in bigger blocks.
- No rounding, billing the actual minutes, if you use a timer.
Always round per block, not per day, and put the agreement in your quote or terms. Then there's no discussion when the invoice arrives.
How to set up time tracking you'll stick with: a step-by-step plan
Step 1: Set up your clients and projects
Create each client, with their current projects and hourly rate. Add an internal client for non-billable work. That way, logging is just picking from a list.
Step 2: Choose your method per type of work
Decide when you use a timer and when you log afterwards. For example: a timer for anything under an hour, afterwards for long blocks. A clear rule takes less thinking than choosing every time.
Step 3: Log during or right after the work
Start the timer when you begin, or log the block as soon as you're done. The shorter the gap between work and logging, the more accurate your hours.
Step 4: Close every working day
Take two minutes at the end of the day: check your hours, fill gaps and stop a timer that's still running. This small moment is the difference between reliable time tracking and a guess.
Step 5: Review weekly and monthly
Check every week whether your hours match your plan, and at the end of the month make a timesheet per client. Also read our guide on how to bill by the hour.
How do you track your hours with Dowit?
Dowit is a work planner for freelancers where you track hours next to your calendar, tasks and projects.
- Timer from a task. Start the timer on the task you're starting; the hours land with the right client and project.
- Afterwards in one sentence. At the end of the day, tell Claude or ChatGPT: "1h Acme, 30m Northwind, and 2 hours on the Lumen Coffee proposal". Dowit places the hours one after another in your working day.
- A forgotten timer. Did your timer run all night? Dowit notices and suggests stopping it at the end of your working day.
- Ready to invoice. Per client and per month you see what you did and what it costs, with hourly rates per client or project, as PDF or CSV.
Coming from Toggl Track or Clockify? Import your hours with a CSV export. See also our comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Should I track hours if I charge a fixed price?
You don't have to, but it pays off. It's the only way to know what a project earned per hour, and to estimate your next quote better.
How precise does my time tracking need to be?
As precise as your agreement with your client. Per 15 minutes is usually enough. More important than precision is doing it every day.
What do I do if I forgot to log my hours?
Reconstruct the day from your calendar, your sent emails and your files, and log it right away. Then set a fixed moment at the end of your working day to review your hours.
How many of my working hours can I bill?
For most freelancers, between 50 and 70 percent. The rest goes to admin, sales and training. Factor that into your hourly rate.
Can I track my hours with Claude or ChatGPT?
Yes, with Dowit. Connect Dowit to Claude or ChatGPT once, then simply say which hours you worked. Read how in track time with Claude or ChatGPT.