4 Reasons Why You Should Track Writing Time NOT Word Count

By Lori Wade
on Oct 24, 2019
in Writing Tips

Last update: October 24th, 2019
at 9:08 pm

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As the end of the year approaches, it’s easy to find yourself reflecting on all the goals you had for this year. Naturally, the things you didn’t manage to accomplish this year will be sticking out like a sore thumb. Which is where new year’s resolutions usually come in and inspire you to do something productive for the coming year. So, how do you manage to make the new year count when you’re always distracted?

Track word count

In fact, even the most prolific writers have to fight off all sorts of distractions to get their writing done. Since it’s such a spread out ailment there have to be many ways to battle it. Today we’re bringing you one of them, and that’s to track the writing time, rather than the word count. So here’s a time tracking strategy to help boost your productivity.

How do you get more done by tracking time?

Strictly speaking, there are a lot of productivity strategies that can help you get more done in your work and life. But these hacks tend to be downright overwhelming and don’t take into account several variables. If you spend a lot of time reading about the best way to get something done, you’d have no time to actually write something. So, if you’re feeling overwhelmed with your work that you don’t have time to increase your writing output, what should you do? Well, why not track your writing time?

The only way to become more productive with your work is to evaluate how you spend your time. You say you want to increase your word count, but when you assess how you spend your time, you realize that you took four 15-minute breaks to peruse Facebook. The only remedy for this is pretty obvious. If you live in a strictly structured environment, where appointments dictate your day at the office, and blog-writing in the evenings, time tracking will be beneficial.

In any case, time tracking no longer entails clocking in and out of a factory floor or remaining tethered to your work desk. Instead, time tracking technologies have evolved to provide an in-depth understanding of how time is spent, and on what. You can incorporate this rationale using applications such as Trello’s time tracking addon, which gives an alternative way of looking at productivity.

Here are four reasons why tracking writing time is more efficient than word counting.

Four reasons to track writing time

Let’s dive deeper into the specific reasons why tracking your writing time benefits your productivity.

1. Time tracking builds on the foundation of productivity techniques

If you’re trying to establish a new routine for publishing more articles, you’ll need an accurate picture of how you spend your time. What are you doing with your time? Until you have this precise picture in mind, you can’t set realistic goals and timelines to accomplish them.

From the example above, tracking your word count means that you’ll fail to recognize the fact that you’re spending 15-minutes an hour on Facebook. So how can you even know that you need to reduce your time on social media platforms? As such, logging in the time you spend on writing will allow you to be conscious of the attention you give to less productive tasks.

In reality, time tracking will help you focus more on establishing productivity methods, which you can incorporate into your daily schedule. Besides, tracking your time will help you create a well-planned day, which will cut back on the time it takes to complete writing and publishing an article. In the end, you’ll become a better writer because you write more.

2. Time tracking allows you to estimate how long a task takes to complete

Do you ever get the feeling of being overwhelmed? Like there isn’t enough time in the day to get more done? But what if this feeling is more of a perception problem rather than the reality of your situation?

One of the reasons people think they don’t have enough time is that they overestimate how much time specific tasks take. People are more prone to make such assumptions based on their current emotions and perceptions. And you know what, the negative side effect of this is that people feel busier than they actually are. The tendency to inflate and deflate the time a task requires is based on the fact that such things tend to be challenging to perform.

But here’s the thing; there are plenty of passive and generally wasteful tasks we partake in each day, which, when reduced, can be reclaimed for productive purposes. By tracking your word count alone, you remain unaware of these limitations or constraints. Remember; time is a factor for everyone. Therefore, no one has enough time to achieve their goals. Knowing the combination of the time available and how long a task take allows you to set realistic goals.

3. Tracking writing time keeps you accountable

As you keep logging in the time you spend on a task, you remain accountable whenever precious seconds are wasted. So, when you take a break to browse through Facebook, then go back into full work mode, no one but you will notice this.

With time tracking, on the other hand, you have no option but to write down the hour wasted surfing on social media. By the end of the day, you’ll want to find time logs filled with productive activities. Besides, every time you waste and log in the time, you feel inspired to have a clean slate and reduce those lost hours.

4. Time tracking allows you to put more effort and take on more workload

Sometimes, when you evaluate your workday, you realize that you don’t quite have enough things to do. Perhaps the reason why you waste time is that you can do so. If by tracking your time, you realize that you’re unproductive, maybe you could take on more work. Write more blogs or research for upcoming ones, maybe even write an ebook and promote it on social media.

With a system of measuring the time it takes to accomplish things in place, you’ll always know if you’re moving in the right direction. While tracking your word count will also give you a sense of progress, you have no way of knowing if you could achieve more.

Conclusion

If you’re tracking your word count and come to the conclusion that you’re very busy, check again. Time tracking your progress is the best way for anyone to ward off the feeling of being overwhelmed by large tasks. Breaking the tasks down and seeing how long each one took can do wonders for your productivity and help you accomplish more in the long run.