How do you track time spent working on a project?

Question

I'm not looking for anything complicated or enterprisey. I'm wondering if there exists something simple where I can "punch" in an out and say what I was working on. I'm interested in both how long I spend on different projects and how much I actually work per day. A command line tool would be preferable, but feel free to recommend anything you find useful. It must run on Unix-line OSes (at least Linux, Mac would be good too but not crucial)

Answer 1

You might like this: Timelog. The project page is here.

Answer 2

I still use, and prefer, the Big Red Book method of time monitoring. I never managed to find any application that was as portable as that method.

It involves carrying around a big red book (no, seriously) and just writing down what you're working on.

Then, if it needs to go into an application, I do that at the end of the day. That way, I'm not bothered by switching apps or having to make sure I take my laptop everywhere. My Big Red Book still puts even the slimline Macs to shame in terms of:

• weight.
• power management.
• boot times.
• reliability (always carry a spare pen).

Sometimes the best application is no application. That's my opinion, it works for me, but others may be different.

Answer 3

Like Pax I use a one-click text messaging system. My preferred tools are a project notebook (one for each project/client) and a fountain pen filled with Private Reserve Lake Placid Blue ink.

I've tried automated systems, online programs, and at one point customized an ASP.Net Starter Kit. I always come back to the notebooks.

Answer 4

There's a really interesting Eclipse based product that you might want to check out. It's called Tasktop.

Answer 5

I use bug tracking software at work called FogBugz. It allows me to log time against the cases that I add into it. It is also completly web based.

Answer 6

Using redmine. You can install using bitnami stack

Answer 7

I've started using the Pomodoro Technique. The 25m timeboxes make it real easy to track time. At the end of the day while doing my review, I simply count the number of timeboxes completed on each project/assignment etc.

I actually log my day to paper (and later read through them for a high-level review), but you could easily download the source code for PomodoroTimer and improve it to log data to a file etc.

Answer 8

Sometime I use Microsoft Office Outlook Journal to see where My time is gone but It seems that Journal automatically record only Office docs. It will be nice if it can log time spend ed using visual studio.

Answer 9

Eclipse's Mylyn. It integrates with several issue tracking systems.