{"id":1354,"date":"2019-12-09T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/inswwdev.azurewebsites.net\/au\/insights\/uncategorized\/timesheets\/"},"modified":"2019-12-09T01:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T01:00:00","slug":"timesheets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insentragroup.com\/gb\/insights\/geek-speak\/modern-workplace\/timesheets\/","title":{"rendered":"Timesheets"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m sure I speak for many when I say we all love to hate them. In fact, I think I can hear the groans from here!<\/p>\n

Time recording seems to be the bane of existence for many, yet so few people really sit down to think of a way to overcome this daily or weekly hurdle. We just seem to accept it\u2019s going to be painful and have the same emotional reaction (usually a groan or a facepalm) at the thought of completing them. Isn\u2019t that the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?<\/p>\n

If like me, you work in a company that requires you to time report, it\u2019s non-negotiable so you must get it done. Daily or weekly, whatever the frequency, we need to submit timesheets, and we consider it a chore, but love them or hate them, they are vital to the successful running of a professional services business. Personally speaking, asking me to figure out what on earth I did today when I juggled 12 independent streams of activity is like asking a 5-year-old what they did at school that day. Errrrr dunno?!?<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t make notes as you go, the memory of an elephant is required to remember how much time you spent and where. Especially when you work in a fast-paced IT environment with multiple projects on the go.<\/p>\n

So, how DO you keep this under wraps? What can you do to avoid that moment you realise your timesheet shows 28 hours, but you know you worked much longer hours every day this week? What can you do to make it as easy and efficient as possible to avoid putting the time down as \u201cdoing my timesheet\u201d??<\/p>\n

You need a system. Something that works for you and fits in with the way you work. Me personally, I\u2019m a list maker. I like to make lists, so I don\u2019t forget things. If it\u2019s not on the list, it gets missed! That might not work for you of course, and that\u2019s okay. You just need to really think about this. What tool do you use most in your day? Is it email? Teams? Skype? SharePoint? Notes on your phone? Your calendar? Whatever it is – use it! One of my colleagues likes to create a task for each half-hour block in his calendar, as a reminder of how he spent his time. It works for him and that\u2019s great. I also know someone who doesn\u2019t track things at all well, and then spends an hour trawling through sent and received emails to remind themselves of what they actually did that week because it flew by in a blur \u2013 as it often happens when things get busy.<\/p>\n

Here are some of my tips for keeping on top of timesheets:<\/p>\n