Content Creation Time Log

Who this is for

What your content really costs in time. Each working session gets a row with the piece, its format, the stage and the minutes spent, and the sheet adds them up into hours so you can see what a video, a post or an episode actually takes.

Creators, bloggers and podcasters deciding what to make more of, and freelancers working out whether a fee covers the hours a piece of content takes.

What this helps you track

• Every session spent planning, writing, filming, editing and publishing
• The hours each piece took from first note to published
• Hours spent on each format over the period
• The average time a finished piece takes
• The stages that swallow more time than you expected

How to use it

1. Write your name and the period at the top.
2. Each time you work on a piece, add a row with the date, the piece, its format and the stage.
3. Write the start and end times, and the minutes worked between them; hours are worked out in the browser and the workbook.
4. At the end of the period, enter how many pieces you finished in the header.
5. Fill the hours-by-format box by filtering the workbook by format, or adding up each format's rows on paper.
6. Compare the averages with what you charge or plan, and adjust the next period's plan.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Why enter minutes rather than letting the sheet read the times?

Minutes are easy to add up on paper and in any spreadsheet, and they let you leave out a break taken in the middle of a session. Start and end times stay on the row as a record of when you worked.

How is the average per piece worked out?

Total hours logged divided by the number of pieces you say you finished in the header. Time spent on pieces still in progress is included, so the figure is fairest at the end of a period.

How do I get totals per piece?

Write the piece's name the same way on every row. In the workbook, filter on the piece column and the totals row shows the hours for that piece alone.

Should admin such as answering comments count?

Log it if you want the true cost of running a channel. Give it its own piece name, such as admin, so it does not inflate the hours of any one piece.