What did you do today?

I filled in my first digital timesheet yesterday.

Sadly it didn’t have a little box to record the time it took me to set up a user name and password.

Nor was there a box to record the time I wasted trying to enter the invalid job number on the brief I’d been working on since Tuesday.

The worse thing about timesheets though, whether they’re actual sheets of paper or digital, is that they’re not an accurate reflection of time spent on the job.

They never include a little box to record time on the train, time in the car, time spent getting a coffee, time at the gallery opening last Wednesday.

I think they should.

Why?

Because most ideas happen when you’re not sitting in an office staring at a blank A3 pad. And even when you’re not working, your subconcious is probably still mulling things over.

The other thing timesheets don’t allow for is how networked we are today.

Whether you’re in the office or not, you’re still expected to answer your mobile phone and respond to emails. Even on the weekend. No little box on the timesheet for this unpaid on-call availability.

In fact the more I write about timesheets, the more convinced I become that they’re a complete waste of time.

Timesheets a waste of time. Now there's a thought.