Time Management for the Independent Video Producer

For almost 10 years I was an independent video producer and director. I was responsible for developing new business through networking, budgeting projects, writing, storyboarding, shooting, editing, and maintaining client relations. If you also work as an independent producer, you understand just how many different hats you have to wear throughout the day. For me, keeping track of my time was crucial. It helped me to gauge whether certain tasks were worth the time invested. Reviewing time sheets also helped me to determine whether a particular video project stayed on budget. And that helped me to write up a more accurate budget for the next project. 

To help me stay organized with my time management, I found an app for my iPhone called Eternity. There is a free lite version that you can try out before investing in the full version. However, I would encourage you to purchase the full version. It has proven itself very useful.

Within Eternity, you can create a hierarchy of activities to track. I normally would organize my categories by client name. Then I could drill down and add in sub-activities, like:

• writing

• pre-pro meetings

• shooting

• editing

and so on. 

At the end of each week, I would export my timesheet in a CSV file that I could export into Excel for archiving. Since the app stays with you on your smartphone, you can track your time on the go. Simply pull up a particular activity and then start the timer. When you have completed the task, stop the timer and Eternity will create a log entry for you. 

Eternity is a great tool for any freelancer who needs to evaluate how the day has been spent.