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New Ways to Track Time

June 13th, 2008 (11:00am) Mike Gunderloy 16 Comments

We’ve covered plenty of ways to keep track of your billable hours in the past. Most of these fall into one or two categories: desktop solutions and web sites. There are a few services with other ways to get the data into your timesheet, though, and depending on your working habits they may be worth a look.

ScreenshotHarvest primarily takes the web site approach, but they offer something specialized for the cutting-edge web worker: iPhone-optimized entry via a special site. It’s likely we’ll see native iPhone time applications in a month or two, but meanwhile, this service (starting at $12/month) has you covered.

ScreenshotFor another take on easier entry, check out Tsheets. They’re also a web service, with multiuser features, but their latest idea is innovative: time entry via Jott. If you don’t have time to wrestle with a UI, you can just call and dictate your time. Pricing starts at $9.95 monthly for 5 employees.

Comments (16)

  • for tracking time against a budget, there is nothing better than tickspot.com done by the guys at the mole hill.

    tim — 7:47 PM on June 13, 2008 Reply

  • As a consultant tracking time and being accurate is absolutely important. TSheets is a great interface because they have extended the product into the environments I already use. Where I am on my Mac and switch to the desktop widget to track time, access the utility via my iPhone or phone in to my Jott account as I am walking into a meeting, the fact is I don’t have to think about how I am going to start time tracking. Thanks TSheets!

    George Seybold4:46 PM on June 14, 2008 Reply

  • I’ve started using the easiest possible thing: RescueTime ( http://www.rescuetime.com/ ). I just install it on any computers I work from, tag applications as work or personal (or more ‘granularly’ if necessary), and let it track my time for me.

    Alana Post12:22 PM on June 15, 2008 Reply

  • Hey guys! Thanks for this post…I’ve been using tsheets as an Online Timesheet, tracking not only my working time, but a bit of personal time as well. Not only does TSheets make it a snap to clock in/out (I use the Mac widget), but the ability to alter and modify timesheets afterward via their ‘time slider’ feature is absolutely genius!

    And ya can’t beat the price! $9.95 a month for 5 employees? Get outta here!

    Vindobina — 5:48 AM on June 16, 2008 Reply

  • I have used every time tracking software company out there … None are as user friendly, easy to use and accommodating at TSheets.

    Listen to someone who has wasted hours of their life. Save yourself the time – and start with TSheets.

    Julia White7:24 AM on June 16, 2008 Reply

  • I have been looking for a way to track my time for some time now, and as a business owner need something I can use on the fly. Jott/TSheets might just be what I have been looking for.

    Steven — 11:24 AM on June 16, 2008 Reply

  • Great article! Thanks for the easy to understand comparison on these two time trackers. I love the idea of TSheets and being able to clock-in via Jott. What an awesome way to save companies thousands of dollars! Plus, they too have an iPhone app that you can use to clock in and out.

    Way to go TSheets!

    Jordan — 12:39 PM on June 16, 2008 Reply

  • I’m a huge fan of TSheets. We use it for tracking both billable time and for task management. One of the biggest benefits has been tracking how much time we spend NOT working on client stuff. This has changed the way that we approach our day – and even our business model.

    Justin Foster2:12 PM on June 16, 2008 Reply

  • You should check out the adobe air app Klok! Best time tracking software I have ever used. Simple, lightweight, effective!

    Sean10:36 PM on June 16, 2008 Reply

  • Another tool for time tracking is Fanurio http://www.fanuriotimetracking.com . Fanurio has a few reminders to help you start, resume or stop the timer.

    Alina — 4:35 AM on June 17, 2008 Reply

  • I’m not a big ‘leave comments on blogs person’ but I came back to check out the conversation around time tracking here… It’s great to see I’m not alone. It appears TSheets is changing the life of business owners everywhere.

    TSheets.com – if you’re watching this conversation – Thank you!

    Julia White9:22 AM on June 17, 2008 Reply

  • Hi Julia! No problem…any time. Glad we could help! Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can answer any questions.

    DT6:04 AM on June 18, 2008 Reply

  • We track time together with tracking our projects in Wrike. Works pretty well, as we don’t have to switch from one app to another.

    John — 1:48 AM on June 20, 2008 Reply

  • Hey 1time (http://1timetracking.com ) is a great service for tracking time in a team, analysing budgets on projects and giving the client access to the information if required.

    Derek Organ7:54 AM on December 3, 2008 Reply

  • Another tool for time tracking is Fanurio http://www.fanuriotimetracking.com . Fanurio has a few reminders to help you start, resume or stop the timer.

    ronald8:02 PM on November 18, 2009 Reply

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