OK, no means to diss anyone at the excellent Lifehacker crew (especially Gina!) but I tried the Quicklogger script which was featured last week and there is a very very obvious reason why it just doesn’t work for me. First a little introduction in what we’re talking about. Quicklogger is a VB script which gives you the opportunity to log your workday to the minute with a very simple popup script (Windows only). The logging takes place in a textfile. So it’s all very lowtech and very lifehackery. Which made me want to try it. I have a major problem with logging my workhours. My job involves a lot of switching between projects, meeting, calling and other important grown-up stuff you’re supposed to do as a Brand Director. Most of it are billable hours and I need to update my timesheet every now and again so I can eat at the end of the month…So I need some sort of system which makes me remind to fill in my hours.
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My way of working is also what makes the Quicklogger not very handy for me. It works very linear which means you cannot make any blocks of time in the past. Every time you log a project or an activity, it accumulates on the previous one. This is not an ideal situation for me, since I can have 5 or 6 different tasks in a period of time and simply not in the opportunity to log them on my PC.
Which brings me to the second reason: Last week, the script is updated with, amongst other, the possibility to popup the loggerscreen every 15 minutes or so. Since I am not behind my PC all day, this is just not a big help. I would still need to go back in time and make previous logs after a period of time.
So after trying the script for two days I stepped back to even moe low key. Pen and paper. For some reason, this works perfect. I have a reminder in my calendar to print an Excelsheet every monday. I print it 5 times and jam a staple through it. On the excelsheet my workday is divided in parts of 15 minutes with the possibility to add a description for every quarter of an hour. At the end of the day, or after a couple of days, I update my intranet-based timesheets with the written ones. The biggest advantage of paper is I am not bounded by a script or time. I can jot down a quick message in one block of time. Use abbreviations, point to other projects on the same sheet and most of all, go back in time during a day. So at lunch I fill in the gaps from 9 to lunch from memory and that’s that. I do the same at the end of the day or in some discretionairy time (for instance, while on hold on the phone). Where is this paper? It’s just on my desk. Since the rest of my desk is very tidy (thank you The Dave for projectfolders…) it’s not easy to miss the stapled stack of paper. Very easy, very lowtech and very very flexible.
Like you, I struggle to track time, constantly flipping between clients, projects, phone calls, etc. I find Timeless Time and Expense- http://www.magsoftwrx.com/ extremely helpful. It truly lives up to its billing, hardly takes anytime to update. You can edit past time uses, which is helpful. But it also allows you to track realtime very easily. Just one click and you are tracking time, click again to stop the time, and a window pops up for you to enter info on your project and or client. You can create an unlimited amount of clients and projects. There is also a great reporting tool, you can also generate invoices if you need to. An amazingly rich tool that can be as easy to use or complex as you want to make it. I would highly recommend you give it a try.
Thanks Joe. Since we use a companywide timetrackingtool I will not use it. I just need some tool to get me from my work to the timetracking tool. And I found out pen and paper does the trick very well! But I will give this tip to my girlfriend who is setting up her own business.