Article by Paul Schamberger. Reproduced from PEGboard, August 2004.
The factor of time is vital in life, says the Indian guru Maharishi, and of course a professional who expects to be rewarded according to his or her time spent on a job will agree that apart from maximising the time one spends actually working for money, time itself should be valued and put to best use. And if you work on a time-based system, then your time should be recorded in a proper and intelligent manner.
How to manage your time and how to motivate yourself to use time to your best advantage is the subject of several books. Read them and practise the advice given. This article merely includes some technical hints and tips on how to maintain a proper record of time if the work you do as a copy-editor or proofreader is time-based (usually on an agreed hourly charge). And even if it is not, and you are paid a lump sum for a job, it is still useful to keep track of the time you spend on such a job so that you can work out your hourly rate for your own insight and edification - or otherwise.
What you read here is based on my own experience; your own situation may require a somewhat different approach.
Prepare first: Are all your materials and tools in place so you do not waste time having to get up again and again? You will need a good dictionary, likely reference book(s), notepad for style and text queries, and a pen or pencil. Tell other members of the household that your work is important and that you do not wish to be disturbed. It is highly important to be mentally prepared for your work. Try not to start with a sense of rush or frustration. Spend some minutes quietly visualising yourself doing the work you love, and that it is an exciting challenge which can also be enjoyable, and then ease into it. Also visualise yourself always recording time spent working - it should soon become a habit.
Tick-tock time: Whether digital or analogue, battery- powered or wind-up, any timepiece that keeps time reliably is alright. Position your timepiece where you can see it easily. Always have a notebook or, preferably, your timesheet at hand to jot down starting and stopping times. This is especially important if you work from home, where the interruptions can be far more numerous (and irritating) than if you work in-house for an employer. "Thumbsuck time" or relying solely on memory is not only unprofessional, but invariably results in a gross over-estimation of your actual working time.
Kitchen clock: The bigger the better - so you cannot ignore it. If you can set the hands at 12 without fuss (or having to use a stepladder) when you start working, so much the better - it means that you can read off the actual time worked quite easily.
Wristwatch: Not recommended. We are so used to wearing one that we may forget about time. It is impractical to set the hands (or numbers) at 12, only to have constantly to re-set them to real time when the job is done. If a wristwatch is your preference or only option, try wearing it on the other wrist while you work. An expandable metal wristband is most convenient.
Alarm clock: There are various models, but the large, old-fashioned wind-up one is still a good idea. It is inactive when not in use and you wind it up just before you get cracking. Set the hands at 12 and away you go. The stern, unremitting "tick-tock" may irritate you, but be positive - it reminds you firmly that "time is running/flying ", and it may even prevent you from "goofing off", as the Americans say. How- ever, as with all clocks and watches, you cannot stop it from running when you take a break, let alone set the thing to work again from where it stopped once you are back at your desk. Unless you need to stop at a certain time, make sure the alarm is either disabled or is in the OFF position.
Stopwatch: This is an excellent investment. The sports model I have is electronic and has a conveniently large digital display, and the two stick-out operating buttons at the top are easy to operate. Apart from recording time, I can make it stop for breaks of any length (even overnight or over non-working weekends) and resume timing when I am ready. This stop- watch thus accumulates and memorises all the periods of time I spend actually working. Naturally, I ignore the seconds and the 1/100 seconds. I bought it several years ago and the battery hasn't yet needed replacing.
Constructing a timesheet: You can either design a suitable ad hoc table on your computer and print it out, or use a ruled A4-size sheet and draw columns for each action you need to take as you go along. I use various colours for lines and headings. Having columns means you only need to tick off the progressive stages of a job in the logical order along the row. An unticked space is often more telling than a ticked one. Some columns need figures rather than ticks. A timesheet is much better than scribbling on the odd scrap of paper "do the spellcheck" or "backup still be to done".
My timesheet holds a lot of information. I use an A4 exercise sheet and make the following nine divisions from left to right, with DETAILS and EDIT REAL TIME being given the largest spaces:
Save, then delete: The original documents hanging around in my e-mail INBOX as well as the "z-" documents in SENT can be deleted quite soon, but the "z-" documents saved on my backup stiffy stay there until the book, article, report or whatever has made it into print.
The bill: It is not necessary to detail on your invoice the time spent on each individual chapter. I usually state upfront the period the client is being invoiced for, e.g. "For editing and proofreading from 4 to 23 July 2004". Then I list the names of all the chapters and below that I write the decimal time spent on the whole lot, multiply this by the hourly rate and show the total amount due. Needless to say, whether handwritten or typed, faxed, snail-mailed or e-mailed, the invoice should look professional. For some clients I have to fax the invoice (for payment) and send it to them by post afterwards (for their records).
Transparency: My timesheet is not a closely guarded secret. The client has a right to see it at any time - so far, no client has ever wanted to! But the knowledge that he or she might spurs me to keep my timesheet neat, legible and - especially - fair.
Non-editing time: Generally, all time spent on essential activities such as admin, e-mailing, telephoning, fetching and delivering, and attending meetings (called "consultations") can either be charged at your full hourly rate or recorded separately for charging at a nominal amount. When working at home, it is probably legitimate to include other necessary breaks such as, er, your tea and pee breaks, but surely not pruning the roses, fetching the kids from school, yakking to a friend for hours or taking Rover for a walk. A good rule is to think what your employer would consider acceptable or tolerable if you were a staff member. In any event, your topmost priority is to keep to deadlines - never mind if the geyser in the roof has sprung a leak, the carpets are soggy and the water is rising up to your ankles!
Finally, here's what one RD Clyde said: It is amazing how long it takes to complete something you are not working on. Think about it.
Got to go. My neighbour has been banging on the front door for the past ten minutes. I wonder what the heck he wants to borrow now?
Those are my nine columns. If your charges are variable, you may want to add a tenth, "RANDS/CENTS", column. (You may have one rate for editing and a different one for proofreading.)