By the hour or by the output?

I am thinking in terms of output and tasks done rather than hours rendered.

 

Somehow I think that counting the hours rendered is stupid at times but that's how consultants work, right?  We bill by the hour.  My writer self tells me that billing by the output is better because there are times that you could do something so quickly because you're already an expert so you could bill high or something.  Or you could gauge how much effort you will give something because you charge by the output and if the client tells you for example that your output is worth Php 1000, how much effort will you put in it?

 

Quantifying the amount of work done is difficult.  Questions that come into mind:

1. Would hours be sufficient to gauge the value added of your output?  Effort is definitely accounted for but there are times when you just don't like the tasks you're getting and you're really ploughing through things.  So maybe you would end up billing more for that anyway.

2. If you would be output oriented, how much would you charge each time?  Would it be on the complexity of the task? Even that is variable and subjective.

 

Moving on to other things, I have tasks left and I must finish them today. Regardless of whether I have other tasks to do after I am done anyway.