Designers: let’s talk about the unpaid work baked into our jobs
Designers: let’s talk about the unpaid work baked into our jobs
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By Madison Carter
Advertorial last updated:
10 December 2025
Advertorial last updated: 24 December 2025
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If you’re a designer, you already know this. You can either be creative or track time, not both.
Most of us choose creativity – and pay for it later.
A short history of me vs. time tracking (I lost)
I never particularly enjoyed tracking time but I made peace with it. A necessary evil of the job – is what designers say. At first, I was eager to track every minute like my paycheck depended on it (it actually did).
My project software came with a timer, perfect. Except I always forgot to turn it off.
I figured I’d rather lose a couple bucks than my sanity over the stupid stopwatch. So I stayed in the flow and let the future-me worry about what to put in the timesheet. (Spoiler – the future-me was NOT happy)
My timesheet: a work of fiction
Without the timer, I needed to come up with what to put in my timesheet for invoicing and estimates. Come Friday, and I’d get crippling anxiety knowing how much time I’d waste on guessing what I did all week.
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I tried going through my calendar, emails, and calls to reconstruct my hours.
It took forever but at least there was a record.
The problem is, most of my work is designing prototypes and making revisions. To estimate those, I only had my memory and gut feeling.
The app that changed everything
I was desperate and ranting about time tracking at the office (we all do).
“I wish there was a browser history but for all I did on my computer,” I said to my colleague.
If this isn’t proof that your phone is listening…
Because the next day I get an ad for this app that tracks time in all programs. Definitely everything a designer uses:
• Email and messengers,
• Meeting software,
• Anything in browser tabs,
• Desktop apps, etc.
• Meeting software,
• Anything in browser tabs,
• Desktop apps, etc.
Best part – there’s no timer. I log on and it’s already recording in the background.
Memtime shows exactly what I did and for how long
The truth hits harder than a late-night Figma comment
I didn’t open my activity list until it was time to send an invoice to a client. Here’s what the app revealed:
• Half of my client meetings ran 5-10 minutes longer than scheduled
• Even simple revisions took 20+ minutes, not the 15 I swore they did
• Ambush requests stole 10+ minutes a day – and I never tracked them
• Even simple revisions took 20+ minutes, not the 15 I swore they did
• Ambush requests stole 10+ minutes a day – and I never tracked them
All these sneaky extra minutes added up into one brutal equation:
Just 15 minutes a day = 60 hours a year = more than a week of time I was giving away for free!
Calculate how much you’re underbilling
Here’s a simple calculator you can use to estimate how much time you’re underbilling per year.
All from not tracking the small stuff like extra time in calls or revisions.
Check how much billable time you’re missing out on
The lesson: your memory is not a timekeeping tool
If you bill by the hour, here’s the truth:
• Do NOT eyeball your time
• Do NOT trust your memory
• Do NOT ignore the “small stuff”
• Do NOT trust your memory
• Do NOT ignore the “small stuff”
Every minute counts. Get a system that backs you up. Your future self (and your bank account) will thank you.
P.S. The app I used is called Memtime, here’s how it tracks your time automatically.
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