Feature request: Time Tracking

[JeffH]

Using MLO to plan and execute projects and tasks is fantastic. Having
to use a separate app to track time spent is frustrating, involving
duplicate data entry, inconsistencies, etc. I believe time tracking
could be integrated into MLO cleanly and unobtrusively, so as not to
bother those who don't want or need it. I recently looked at over a
dozen time-tracking apps, listed below, with brief comments. First,
some design ideas. Throughout, when I say project, I mean any non-leaf
node of the hierarchy.

- Maintain a list of task or activity types (eg Administration,
Coding, Maintenance, Documentation, etc.)

- Maintain a list of clients.

- Maintain a log of activities. Each entry includes a start date/time,
end date/time, associated task id. Give the task log a separate tab
next to Task Notes and Properties. By default, show the current date.
Allow filtering by date; maybe show a calendar or drop-down calendar.

- Provide a timer to accumulate time to a task. Select the task, right
click, and start the timer. Maintain a MRU list of tasks; show on
right-clicking the tray icon.

- Provide a properties pane (or tab?) to capture expenses. Associate
each expense with a project. Capture date, amount, vendor,
description, paid (bool).

- Provide reporting options: Summary by date (today, week, month),
Detail by date, Summary by project, detail by project, projects by
client (detail/summary, Client billing (paid, unpaid, all), Activity
per time unit (detail/summary) (eg this week 20 hours coding, 10.5
hours admin, etc.), ...

- Don't need detailed financial accounting of billing.

Products I reviewed:

Maybe
- Easy Time Tracking - sluggish ui, but pretty functional. Allows
customized statuses for projects and tasks; task categories; does
invoicing. Tray window is informative but a intrusuve.

- Timeless Time & Expense - Seems to have everything, but pretty
awkward. Version 3 coming soon, free upgrade, Allows expense tracking.
UI seems sluggish here too. Tray control but no window.

Almost
- AllNeticWorkingTimeTracker: very clean ui. has tray app for start/
stop. Doesn't have task categories (activities). Reporting not great.

- TimePanic - interesting. activity centric. Allows projects +
subprojects; no expense support;

Definitely not
- FruitFul

- Office Time - has projects and categories, but no tasks. Multiple
windows confusing.

- Responsive Time Logger - pretty rich feature set. Expensive. Tray
app doesn't allow task switching (per screen shot).

- Complete Time Tracking - kind of cool, compact ui; no activities;

- Time Shadow

- Time Tracker

- ya Timer - http://www.nbdtech.com/yaTimer/Help/ - kind of cool, no
task notes

- WHID - sourceforge

- TimeSheets MTS - pretty heavy duty - requires manually entered
project and task ids -

- Fanurio - http://www.fanuriotimetracking.com/ - Java based. no tasks

That just scratches the surface. There are TONS of tools out there,
none with an MLO's highly tuned look and feel, most very awkward,
heavy, sluggish. AllNetic comes closest, but lacks functionality. I
would easily fork over more $ for an integrated MLO implementation.

Anybody else?

[vikram.sjn]

+1

I too recently reviewed a number of above mentioned time tracking
tools, and had the same wish that it would be lot better if it were
part of MLO itself. Most of these apps look like beasts, and slow. An
integrated clean time tracking in MLO will be great.

> - ya Timer -http://www.nbdtech.com/yaTimer/Help/- kind of cool, no

> task notes
>
> - WHID - sourceforge
>
> - TimeSheets MTS - pretty heavy duty - requires manually entered
> project and task ids -
>

> - Fanurio -http://www.fanuriotimetracking.com/- Java based. no tasks

[Juan Ignacio Gelos]

www.toggl.com

Saluda atte.,
Juan Ignacio Gelos
Evolutio Software
ju...@evolutio.com.ar

[Juan Ignacio Gelos]

Add another 6 votes for this feature.

See the same feature request and votes here:
http://groups.google.com/group/myLifeOrganized/browse_thread/thread/9ebd899b2dd50994/2df8a2fa4d9fbcf2?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=[MLO]+Feature+Request+-+A+method+of+recording+time+increments+on+a+task#2df8a2fa4d9fbcf2

Saluda atte.,
Juan Ignacio Gelos
Evolutio Software
ju...@evolutio.com.ar

[Woody]

Hi,
I agree this would be a great addition.
I am currently using Timless Time & Expense version 3 (beta) for my
time & expense tracking. It's OK but
a little time consuming.
Cheers

> - ya Timer -http://www.nbdtech.com/yaTimer/Help/- kind of cool, no

> task notes
>
> - WHID - sourceforge
>
> - TimeSheets MTS - pretty heavy duty - requires manually entered
> project and task ids -
>

> - Fanurio -http://www.fanuriotimetracking.com/- Java based. no tasks

[Andrey]

Thanks for thoughtful post, JeffH. I am still thinking how to include
time tracking into MLO. Just do not want to make the application
"heavy" because of this feature.
I will use this information when/if design the feature.

Andrey.

> - ya Timer -http://www.nbdtech.com/yaTimer/Help/- kind of cool, no

> task notes
>
> - WHID - sourceforge
>
> - TimeSheets MTS - pretty heavy duty - requires manually entered
> project and task ids -
>

> - Fanurio -http://www.fanuriotimetracking.com/- Java based. no tasks

[Canuck]

Time tracking would be very useful to those of us who bill projects on
a 'time' basis.

Another vote for time tracking.

[pottster]

A recurring theme on this thread is the need for a light MLO type app
to achieve time logging.

I use TimeEdition.

http://www.timeedition.com/en/index.html

It got a very favourable mention and response on Lifehacker earlier
this year. I find it to be a an elegant piece of software which gives
exactly what I need. In terms of really sophisticated functionality
you're better off doing that stuff in Excel. TimeEdition can export to
Excel.

I'd be interested to know what you guys think of it.

Regards,
Ken

[tomd]

On Sun, 24 May 2009 21:41:49 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:
> Thanks for thoughtful post, JeffH. I am still thinking how to include
> time tracking into MLO. Just do not want to make the application
> "heavy" because of this feature.

I'm another fan of this possible feature, and of as minimalistic implementation as possible:

- shortcuts for starting and ending work on an item

- tracking records in a single file in a common format (CSV, tab separated,...) that can be read in a spreadsheet (and that's where any further processing should occur), and tracking total time spent on an item in MLO's internal database (whereas the file with individual records I'd consider "external data", those that MLO just records but doesn't do anything else with it)

- GUI - there shall be some indication that there is an item worked on (in progress) right now

NOTES:
- maybe time require for the task fields could be used for tracking. Ideally though it would be nice to see both a] originally planned time b] time actually spent.

- maybe optionally, some would like for a records to be appended to a note field of the task

- how to deal with errors (forgot to stop an item, need to delete an erroneous record, etc...):
by manual editing only: 1) edit CSV log file 2) edit the total time spent field in MLO (it shall be user editable if possible)

Tom

[JeffH]

I liked TimeEdition. What killed it for me was lack of support for
what I call Activities, things like Design, Coding,
Administration, ... etc that cut across clients, projects, and tasks.

[gadgety]

Yes Jeff, I totally agree with you. I suggested this about a year ago.
At the time there were a few people who agreed, but not enough to get
noticed. For my use it would be sufficient with a per customer/
project, start-stop-accumulated time. It would also be good to have
the possibility to compare the "pre-activity estimated time" and
withthe "actual accumulated time."

[gadgety]

Hello Andrey,

I would like to see a timer that could be used to measure how much
time is used on a task. It would basically need five features for
each
task:

Start timer
Stop timer
Time elapsed
Time accumulated for the task
Ability to edit the time (for the those instances when one forgets to
turn the time on or off)


and a fifth feature for the project level:


Time accumulated for the project (accumulating time on all subtasks)


I've used another software on my mobile phone that did this, and it's
really handy for following up and learning - did I use what I thought
I would use in terms of time? I also use it to bill clients. Since
effort is estimated and also used to set the priorities in the todo
list it would seem natural to have the timing tool as part of MLO to
increase accuracy in the planning phase.

Searching for "time," this subject has been raised many times over the
years, and always attracts a following. I'm also encourged to see Time
Tracking in your "Features Plan" http://www.mylifeorganized.net/products/my-life-organized/features-plan.htm
as item #F107 under "3 - Next versions (10 item(s))", and that this
has normal priority. To me your software would be worth more with the
time tracking feature.

•#F107 Time spent measurement and transfer to the time spent field -
New How hard : 1 - Medium
How useful : 1 - useful
Priority : 3 - normal
Description

time spent measurement and transfer to the time spent field (like in
MasterList Professional for example)
Tom
----
...I would especially like to be able to track my
"time on task" for each task, and some kind of overview of how I
actually
have spent my time on tasks from day to day.

Richard Musselwhite

--------
More info on TimePanic
http://groups.google.com/group/myLifeOrganized/browse_thread/thread/73f7308f00c34a70



On 25 Maj, 06:41, Andrey <for...@myLifeOrganized.net> wrote:
> Thanks for thoughtful post, JeffH. I am still thinking how to includetimetrackinginto MLO. Just do not want to make the application

> "heavy" because of this feature.
> I will use this information when/if design the feature.
>
> Andrey.
>
> On May 16, 3:23 pm, JeffH <holtzma...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Using MLO to plan and execute projects and tasks is fantastic. Having

> > to use a separate app to tracktimespent is frustrating, involving

> > duplicate data entry, inconsistencies, etc. I believetimetracking
> > could be integrated into MLO cleanly and unobtrusively, so as not to
> > bother those who don't want or need it. I recently looked at over a

> > dozentime-trackingapps, listed below, with brief comments. First,

> > some design ideas. Throughout, when I say project, I mean any non-leaf
> > node of the hierarchy.
>
> > - Maintain a list of task or activity types (eg Administration,
> > Coding, Maintenance, Documentation, etc.)
>
> > - Maintain a list of clients.
>
> > - Maintain a log of activities. Each entry includes a start date/time,
> > end date/time, associated task id. Give the task log a separate tab
> > next to Task Notes and Properties. By default, show the current date.
> > Allow filtering by date; maybe show a calendar or drop-down calendar.
>

> > - Provide a timer to accumulatetimeto a task. Select the task, right

> > click, and start the timer. Maintain a MRU list of tasks; show on
> > right-clicking the tray icon.
>
> > - Provide a properties pane (or tab?) to capture expenses. Associate
> > each expense with a project. Capture date, amount, vendor,
> > description, paid (bool).
>
> > - Provide reporting options: Summary by date (today, week, month),
> > Detail by date, Summary by project, detail by project, projects by
> > client (detail/summary, Client billing (paid, unpaid, all), Activity

> > pertimeunit (detail/summary) (eg this week 20 hours coding, 10.5

> > hours admin, etc.), ...
>
> > - Don't need detailed financial accounting of billing.
>
> > Products I reviewed:
>
> > Maybe

> > - EasyTimeTracking- sluggish ui, but pretty functional. Allows

> > customized statuses for projects and tasks; task categories; does
> > invoicing. Tray window is informative but a intrusuve.
>

> > - TimelessTime& Expense - Seems to have everything, but pretty

> > awkward. Version 3 coming soon, free upgrade, Allows expensetracking.
> > UI seems sluggish here too. Tray control but no window.
>
> > Almost
> > - AllNeticWorkingTimeTracker: very clean ui. has tray app for start/
> > stop. Doesn't have task categories (activities). Reporting not great.
>
> > - TimePanic - interesting. activity centric. Allows projects +
> > subprojects; no expense support;
>
> > Definitely not
> > - FruitFul
>

> > - OfficeTime- has projects and categories, but no tasks. Multiple
> > windows confusing.
>
> > - ResponsiveTimeLogger - pretty rich feature set. Expensive. Tray

> > app doesn't allow task switching (per screen shot).
>

> > - CompleteTimeTracking- kind of cool, compact ui; no activities;
>
> > -TimeShadow
>
> > -TimeTracker
>
> > - ya Timer -http://www.nbdtech.com/yaTimer/Help/-kind of cool, no

> > task notes
>
> > - WHID - sourceforge
>
> > - TimeSheets MTS - pretty heavy duty - requires manually entered
> > project and task ids -
>

> > - Fanurio -http://www.fanuriotimetracking.com/-Java based. no tasks

>
> > That just scratches the surface. There are TONS of tools out there,
> > none with an MLO's highly tuned look and feel, most very awkward,
> > heavy, sluggish. AllNetic comes closest, but lacks functionality. I
> > would easily fork over more $ for an integrated MLO implementation.
>

> > Anybody else?- Dölj citerad text -
>
> - Visa citerad text -

[Andrei]

Andrey hello

Have you started the implementation of a task time tracking feature.
Will we see it as a feature of MLO in the nearest time?

Thank you

Have a nice day !

Andrei Bacean

понедельник, 25 мая 2009 г., 7:41:49 UTC+3 пользователь Andrey Tkachuk (MLO) написал:

[Grant]

+1  9 years later and no time tracker.  It seems like the perfect complement to a task manager.    Just a simple On/Off design. Would it be hard to implement? 

[Michael Emerald, CFA]

Seconded!

 

Why?  It’s a hot time management technique nowadays.  I implement it externally (app Productivity Challenge). 

 

MY WISH LIST:

1.       You have a set of time management items, just as flags and contexts

2.       You can specify how much time you want to spend in each category

3.       The software alerts you when you’ve exceeded the time in a given time category

4.       The software shows you the percentage of time spent in each time category (example: I spend 5% of my time reading email)

5.       You can specify what time period you want to track results for, e.g. rolling 7 days, rolling 30 days, today

 

Obviously, though, there are a lot of options possible, depending upon how complicated you want to get.

 

TO USE:

You set your time categories and optionally how long to spend in each time category per desired time period (see 5 above).  So if I want to check email 1 hour per week, I put in 1 hour.  I use MLO as usual and a pop-up shows me when I’ve exceeded my time goal for my specified time period (1 hour in 7 days).

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[Pavel G]

I understand that time tracking may be a whole project on it's own, so no wonder it's not yet in MLO.

Maybe, somebody has found a way to use MLO in combination of dedicated time tracking (timer) tool, like Toggl, etc? There is "copy as"->"local link"/"URL" in MLO, so maybe there is a way to provide at least "one way" linkage between MLO's task and records in external tool like Toggl.

субота, 16 травня 2009 р. 14:23:23 UTC+2 користувач JeffH написав:

[Pavel G]

Hi. Has anyone found an external time tracking tool that somehow integrates with MLO?

[John Hughes]

I use ATracker Pro on my Iphone to track time. I noticed that you people are looking for many features. I only want to point out that this time tracker will synchronize with your schedule and will create scheduled events for whatever you time track. Then these events will show up in the day view of MLO running on the Iphone. That's all I have. 

[zel...@gmail.com]

Consider my vote negative if we are talking about an integrated time tracker.

A time tracker will add bloat and unseen complications. It will also limit a very unique niche that MLO has. No one else publishes a PC, android, iOS based synchronizing organizer that can be this customized.

There are multiple time trackers, only one MLO.

On Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 7:23:23 AM UTC-5, JeffH wrote:

[Jeff Smith]

I agree with zelzvga. It would be neat if MLO had API to allow integration but it should not have to worry about all these extras that get suggested from the customizable task manager that it is. Think hope can I improve with GTD and part of that is not complicate things.

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[Ford Ford]

True. An API or simply increasing the commad line fuctions that MLO already has would allow to create many external tools that would give extra features without slowing MLO down.

[zel...@gmail.com]

I would agree as long as support for the API by MLO is low in priority. I would like the programmers to improve MLO, not interactions with some program a subset of users prefer to use.

[Jeff Smith]

I've already seen how slowly they are trying to improve it. 10 years of observation. MLO5 is a good example of how they leave so many problems that slow me down but just add new problems. My software should not consume all of my time, I need to work on actually getting things done I needed to do in the first place.

I think it's because the platform never gets thought out and rewritten. You can't keep making it better if you never look at the big picture of what's wrong in the base code. What is taking too much time to manage. If there were an underlying API then other minds could start solving problems that shouldn't take up the companies resources and mine because I don't need everything others need.

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