Five Best Software to Track Your Time
Many of the most popular productivity techniques only really work if you know how long each task will take you: time boxing , the Eisenhower Matrix , Kanban , the Ivy Lee method , and others expect you to be able to schedule an exact amount of time. time that this project will suck out of your day. If you estimate incorrectly, the whole plan will fall apart and you will feel frustrated and, well, unproductive . This is where time trackers come to the rescue. Here are some of the best ones you can use during your daily tasks to figure out how many of your precious waking hours are devoted to all the things you need to do.
If you want more details: Clockify
I’ve already recommended Clockify for tracking your New Year’s goals , but it’s been a leader in this area for a long time. Lifehacker recommended it for tracking your time back in 2009 , and it’s only gotten better since then. On the landing page you are greeted with a button that says “START TRACKING YOUR TIME – IT’S FREE!” Although Clockify has a subscription model, if you want detailed time tracking, you can simply use the free version. It’s known as a schedule app, but it allows you to track the minutes of all your work by creating a summary report for each day. (The reports can also tell you how much money was earned on the project, how much money was spent on the project, and all other relevant information.) You can even track time offline, and it will appear in your account when you reconnect.
If you want simplicity: TogglTrack
TogglTrack allows you to use all of its premium features for free for a month (and the basic version is always free), and it’s easy to use. Other trackers have a learning curve or a high price tag that you don’t have time for when you’re trying to get things done, so this one is a pleasant surprise. I was able to quickly create a project (Working on Articles) and then add a task (Timer Article) and specify how long I thought it would take me. I pressed the button next to the task and the timer started. Eventually, if I keep this up, my dashboard will fill with the total hours of work, showing me how much time I’ve actually spent. The free version is designed for freelancers and supports up to five team members who can use time tracking, timeline, automatic tracking, idle detection, Pomodoro timer and over 100 integrations with other software. For $9 a month, teams get all of this plus billable rates, time rounding, time estimates, broken down tasks, and project templates. A premium subscription of $18 per month allows you to schedule reports, time audits, analytics, and project and admin dashboards.
To go at your own pace: TrackingTime
TrackingTime is convenient because it has several different functions. It can track you automatically or give you the ability to block time in the software, allowing you to see (and of course edit) what needs to be done and how long you need to do it for. It integrates with over 50 apps and other software so you can track while you work instead of opening TrackingTime to check in, and there’s a mobile app you can take on the go. Tracking time is free, but if you want to enable things like AutoTrack and desktop apps, it costs $8 per month.
If you really don’t want to put in the effort: Timely
Timely is automated, so if you really don’t want to spend time tracking it, here you go. The software creates so-called “memories” of everything you do on your computer, such as the software you use or the websites you visit, and whenever you want, you can simply drag and drop the memories into predefined tasks. You don’t have to include every site you visit in your tasks; it’s all private and what you highlight is up to you – you can always turn it off when you want to visit a particular site. Time tracking automation, AI time classification, and reporting costs $11 per month, but $20 if you want to sync other project management tools. Just keep in mind that this may not be the best option for you if most of your work is done on a computer.
If you need help completing a task: RescueTime
RescueTime is a time tracker that not only keeps track of your work, but forces you to stay on it. This is useful if you’re constantly distracted, and makes it easy to see how long a task is taking, rather than how long a task is taking plus all your deviations from it. You download a monitoring app onto your computer and it collects data about your usage, but it kicks in if you seem distracted or doing too many things at once. You can even tell the program how much “focused work” (or deep work) you want to do in a day, and once you enable a focus session, it will block websites that you’ve pre-identified as distracting. There is a free version, but you’ll pay $12 per month if you want to view past data, integrate a calendar, or use Focus Sessions.