I\’ve started dappling in freelancing again. Something I had sworn to never do again.
I worked as a full time freelancer for 18 months back in 2019-2020. I started freelancing back in 2012 on the side of my fulltime job as a designer at an agency and kept doing it on the side until the end of 2019 where I had so much work that I had to choose between my fulltime job or freelancing.
I couldn’t do both anymore.
It went well for the first year or so, but towards the end of 2020, I was seriously burned out. I was always working. I was always behind on admin tasks and reaching out to potential new clients.
I threw in the towel and took a fulltime position at one of my clients. I was done. I swore to never freelance again and find another way to make money that didn’t involve selling my time for money.
A few weeks ago, I got a request out of the blue from a guy who needed a designer for a project he was working on. Initially I didn\’t want to do it, but I agreed to have a meeting with him anyways, because why not, right?
I took the meeting and ended up really liking his project, so I agreed to help him.
What that project was, is a story for another time, but that project gave me an idea for a time tracking tool that I really need for myself.
Over the years I have tested a myriad of different time tracking tools. Both at different agencies but also when I was freelancing.
None of them worked for me.
I always had to adjust my workflow to the tool and not the other way around. It was annoying.
I’m very visual in nature and I need a visual planning tool. Just writing numbers in a spreadsheet is not going to cut it for me and I end up abandoning the tool again.
I would like to be able to plan out my day on a calendar while also logging the hours I spend on different projects.
I had some time to spare while on vacation, so I started sketching out my initial ideas.
I’ve only designed the first screen so far, but I think the idea has legs.
I’ll keep working on it and will post my updates here.
Check back if you want to follow along.
