Friday, September 14, 2007

TraxTime Program helps manage time

So I remember thinking that life sucked at my old job: The 8-5 crap was so not my thing, I wasn't doing anything a trained moneky couldn't handle, and I never had any time to clean my house.
Fast forward to present-day: It is actually 12:05 a.m. and I am not concerned about making it to work 30 minutes late because I have slept in, my job now requires major creativity, (that trained money can finally kiss my ass!) and as for cleaning?
Well-let's just say I am very afraid.
I believe the dust bunnies are mobilizing forces.
The bottom line is that I am actually working more now then when I had to report to corporate hell on a daily basis. The majorly sad truth is that I could probably make more money at this point by hijacking a Girl Scout cookie sales wagon from the local Brownie troop and setting up camp at outside of a prenatal exercise class, but I digress...
The point is that I had no idea my regular schedule of cleaning every day would go out the window so quickly. Or that 'd be working so many hours in between bottles, diapers, naps, and playtime.
But at least I know where my time has gone.
I just downloaded a program that helps me actually keep track of the time put into my freelance projects by allowing me to punch in and out per project from TraxTime. According to my time reports, I have put in 44 hours since Monday and I still have 6 more hours to put in for one of my jobs. So come the end of tomorrow, I'll have 50 hours in and I will most likely work this weekend as well.
The TraxTime program is an incredibly easy way to manage billable and non-billable hours according to project. Just punch in each time you begin work on a particular project and then when your little ones decide that nap time is over, simply punch out.
So what if you only got 10 minutes of work done?? Your time is valuable and it adds up quickly!
It's a wonderful way to get out of the guessing game associated with billing for freelance projects, and at only $39, it's affordable for even the poorest of freelancers (like me.)
The dust bunnies may just have to wait until I can afford to hire a maid. Right now, I have to finish some work so I can afford to buy some more diapers.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hang in there, new Mom, and be glad that you have the skills to be able to make some money -- ANY MONEY -- and raise Buttercup. It will get easier. Cut yourself some slack, ok? Having a baby is a 27/7 9-month job, and then, while you are trying to heal, the real work starts! You are doing what you love, so the money will come. It will.

Meanwhile: Every morning and evening, do one load of laundry; never leave the washer empty. Take two minutes after you shower and wipe the fixtures clean; the steam will make it easy and fast. Use a lil' terlit paper, and you can just flush it. Learn to write in your head. Keep a legal pad handy and jot notes ALL DAY. Or get a flash memory recording stick and hang it around your neck and do the same. Use the vacuum to dust everything and suck those bunnies away. Think: clean enough to be healthy, messy enough to be happy.

You CAN have it all, but you will be deeply insane and very depressed. Never dedicate any day to housework -- your days are dedicated to you, baby and hubby. You can't get them back. Enjoy.

Mind over matter babe -- those that matter, don't mind, and those that mind...can come dust and mop!

Wende