Teachers and professors, and everyone else in an educational organization, know that the workday can be filled with so many tasks that time becomes a scarce resource. Besides teaching, there’s planning, preparation, talking to students, and collaborating with teachers. So, how do you keep track of it all without losing sight of what’s really important: your students?
Juggling all those things is a whole lot easier when you have a streamlined system for time management. Preferably one that everyone uses in your organization, so collaboration also becomes easier. In this article, you’ll find seven tools that professionals in the education industry love to use for time management.
1. actiTIME
Time tracking isn’t just necessary for productivity management, it also comes in handy when doing your payroll admin. And if your want to stay focused and keep track of what you’re spending your time and money on, actiTIME is your go-to tool.
What makes actiTIME so great for teachers and professionals in education? It comes with all kinds of time management features. First and foremost: it has a straightforward timesheet functionality and one-click timers that help to keep track of all your tasks.
It also allows you to monitor employees’ time off, approve and lock users’ timesheets, which makes it easier to manage them and get more honest and clear time tracking results. And on top of all that, actiTIME includes an easy-to-use overtime calculator for a smoother invoicing process.
What teachers particularly love is the mobile and offline time tracking feature, which means they don’t have to be behind a computer all day to keep it up to date. They get insight into their workload and what tasks take up most of their day, so they can plan more efficiently. Plus, actiTIME features for team management make it easier to collaborate.
I found in actiTIME all the requirements I was looking for. We are getting a lot of benefits – the tool enables us to better balance workload, have a constant view of what people are doing. I really recommend it, I evaluated a lot of tools, also had an in-house development before which demanded a lot of maintenance, and actiTIME solved all problems with no hassle.
2. Brightwheel
If you’re looking for an easy-to-use time management tool that has some features that come especially in handy in a daycare, Brightwheel is your top pick.
Brightwheel is a daycare management software that was made for the organizations taking care of the youngest students out there. Daycares might not have to prepare difficult classes or correct lengthy essays, but they do deal with a lot of factors that take up time: administrative work, talking to parents and being focused on the kids, at all times.
Brightwheel helps you manage your time better with features like attendance reports and digital check-ins. Those digitized check-ins mean there’s no more paperwork flying around – it’s all neatly stored and accessible whenever, wherever. Complete with digital signatures, secure pin codes, or quick scan, so you know who’s working with the tool.
Brightwheel will save you even more time on admin work thanks to automated reports about attendance, billing, worked hours, and more.
3. TimeCamp
Looking for a free, simple time tracking tool that everyone in your organization can use with ease? You’ll find that in TimeCamp.
TimeCamp is a smart yet simple tool that gives you all the insight you need when it comes to time management. The software is free, but nonetheless comes with some strong features that work great in an educational environment.
It tracks work hours and attendance, but there’s more. You get easy-to-read reports that will help you become a more productive organization in the future.
Want to link this to your resources and budget? Link the data and start budgeting for specific projects and set up invoicing for your staff.
Wondering how much time is wasted on irrelevant apps? You can set up TimeCamp to automatically keep track of how much time you spend on individual apps on your computer, to see which one takes up most of your day.
This will help you divide hours worked into categories like productive and nonproductive time, for better planning in the future. You can easily make this visual with timesheets in your calendar, to stay on track.
4. Toggl
One of the most important aspects of time management is actually checking on your reports to find room for improvement. Toggl makes this easy to do with their visual time tracking tool that creates exportable reports in just a click.
Many organizations have already discovered the magic of Toggl, and it’s making its way to schools and universities as well. Toggl is an easy way to track and plan your days.
Both teachers and administrative employees can use Toggl with ease. Hours can be logged and categorized, so it becomes easier to plan future projects and identify what tasks are the most time-consuming – so you can start finding ways to work more productively.
For more accurate time tracking, you don’t have to depend on being behind a desk: Toggl also comes with a mobile app for tracking on the go, with automated time tracking triggers to keep you sharp.
Want to work on battling your concentration issues at the same time? Toggl comes with a built-in Pomodoro timer, for full focus on that one project.
5. Doodle
Want to save time on planning meetings with students, parents, and teachers? You need Doodle.
Anyone who works in a school or university knows how hard it can be to get a hold of someone. A quick chat in the hallway on the way to class doesn’t always cut it. Students have varying schedules, teachers are all over the place, and administrative employees are trying to make sense of it all.
So, what do you do when you really need to find a moment to sit down with someone, without any distractions? You plan a meeting – but without the right tools, this can often take up even more time than the actual meeting.
In comes Doodle. Hook up your calendars and schedule and if someone needs to talk to you, send them a link that allows them to pick a time that suits both of you. That’s it.
You can choose how long people can book you for and how many meetings a day is your limit. The meeting will automatically appear in your calendars, so you show up prepared, and Doodle can send out automatic reminders to prevent no-shows. And don’t worry about privacy: nobody but you can see what’s actually in your calendar.
6. Wrike
Want to get in a better flow at work? Think of all the things you do as projects instead of chaos, and start managing those projects. Wrike will give you a hand.
This software makes it easy to track your own worked hours and streamline your workflow. Wrike comes with a solid time tracking feature with time reports, and you’ll also love the real-time Activity Stream. You can create customized dashboards for various projects and tasks, and even easily work with Gantt charts.
It also enables you to easily collaborate with colleagues, so you all save time in communication as well. You can create tasks and subtasks to keep track of who needs to do what, and sync your productivity levels.
7. ClickTime
If you’re looking for a tool that really has it all when it comes to time management, it’s time to meet ClickTime. With a long list of features that easily integrate with each other, you can track almost everything down to the last second.
ClickTime also allows you to organize workflows across different departments, which can be especially helpful for education organizations.
Those organizations will also love how ClickTime keeps track of billable and non-billable hours and gives a real-time overview of employee availability. Planning and admin have never been easier to do. These features will help you approve timesheets better and speed up invoicing, so everyone wins.
Teachers and staff can use the stopwatch, resource planning and timesheets for more structured workdays – all through the mobile app for iOS and Android. Some phones are allowed in class.
Start Saving Time – Pick Your Software for 2022
Time management is at the base of becoming a better school. It’ll allow for focus and more peace of mind for all your employees, so you can double down on teaching and taking care of your students. Want to learn more about time management? Check our complete time management guide!
