How does Timeular help an art director find time for creativity?

For anyone working as an art director in the creative industry, the challenge of effectively managing multiple projects will be a familiar one. In a busy work environment it’s easy to lose track of where time is spent, particularly when working across projects simultaneously.

Fidel Bums works at Art Meets Education, an NGO providing education for children through photography. He started using Timeular time tracking software in an attempt to understand exactly where his time goes, improve efficiency and unlock time for creative work in his role as Art Director.

Developing a time tracking habit

At the start of each day, Fidel checks his emails, protocols, and compiles a to-do list of tasks. He then prioritizes and starts to work off that list.

He uses the time tracking cube to account for his time on each activity. If he is away from his workplace, he uses the Timeular mobile app (available on both iOS and Android).

Fidel has set each side of his Tracker to a different project or client. Within the app he uses a hashtag to specify what he is working on depending on which side of the Tracker is facing up (e.g. “clientA” (side of the Tracker) and the hashtag #call (or #mail, #feedback-rework, #briefing etc). In his workshop he’ll use the #workshop hashtag and write a note about the task.

More accurate invoicing

Once he has finished a project, Fidel checks the overall time he has spent on it, including the concept and layout phases. This makes it easy for him to accurately bill for private projects. For his work at Art Meets Education, he simply sends in his total time (available as a PDF export in the app) to the company’s finance department.

“I like to keep track of what I spend my time on, optimize that, and work even more efficiently. With the Tracker dice on my desk I am reminded to turn it around when I switch between tasks. I even track a 5 minute feedback task, and if I forget to turn the Tracker then I have set a reminder to get notified.”

Never forget time tracking again

Fidel has increased the efficiency of his work since using Timeular. As a case in point, he now takes over the moderation of meetings to increase productivity and ensure no one’s time is wasted. Better timekeeping has become a mantra for him in his professional life.

“If you want to work on a professional level, take the time to keep an eye on your time.”