I started tracking every “small change” in my projects… the results were uncomfortable

For a long time, I thought scope creep was about big changes.

New features. Major revisions. Clients completely changing direction.

But recently I tried something simple:

I started tracking every “small” request.

•	“can we just tweak this section”

•	“quick change here”

•	“add this one small thing”

Nothing big individually.

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At the end of the week, I added it up.

It was 8–12 extra hours.

Unbilled.

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That’s when it clicked:

The real problem isn’t big scope creep.

It’s invisible scope creep — the stuff that feels too small to push back on.

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What made it worse:

Most of these didn’t feel like “new work”

They came from:

•	things that weren’t clearly defined upfront

•	assumptions on both sides

•	or someone new joining mid-project

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So now I’m trying to change one thing:

Before starting, I force clarity on:

•	what’s included

•	what’s not

•	what depends on the client

Not perfectly, but it’s already reducing those awkward “quick change” moments.

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Curious how others handle this:

Do you track small requests?

Or just deal with them as they come?