Simple time tracking for freelancers on Android

For a freelancer, an unlogged hour is lost money. Yet many freelancers still rebuild their week from memory on Friday afternoon. Here is a simple setup that keeps an accurate record with almost no effort.

1. One activity per client or project

In SelfM, create an activity for each client or project you bill — “Client A”, “Client B”, “Website redesign”. Give each its own colour so they are easy to tell apart on the charts. Add a few non-billable activities too, such as Admin, Email and Learning, so you can see how much of your day is actually billable.

2. Let the lock screen do the remembering

Switching between clients is exactly when timers get forgotten. With lock screen tracking, SelfM asks what you were doing when you next unlock your phone, so a quick switch from one client to another is still captured.

If you prefer, you can still start and stop a simple timer for long focused sessions.

3. Set limits for the time-wasters

Add a daily limit to activities like social media. It is a small nudge, but seeing the limit reached in your statistics is often enough to close the app.

4. Export a CSV at the end of the month

Open Statistics, choose the date range and export your data as CSV. Open it in Excel or Google Sheets, filter by client, and you have the hours for your invoice — and a record to back it up if a client asks.

5. Review your billable ratio

Once a month, compare billable hours with everything else. If admin and email take a third of your week, that is a sign to raise your rate, batch your admin, or automate something.

SelfM is free and works offline, so your client data stays on your phone. Get SelfM on Google Play.