How do you track time ?

[TehCamel]

this is probably aimed mostly at IT support based, but obviously, would welcome ansewrs from anyway.

My model is mainly break-fix, bill-in-arrears, IT support. So, Joe calls me up, needs help, I work on it for 8 or 9 minutes, fix it.
I add an entry to my journal in outlook, so I know roughly what I did, and use a 3-digit company code, so at the end of the month, I can search the entire journal for that month, and create invoices accordingly.

this is not the best solution for any number of reasons.

Mostly, I'd like to be able to integrate it into a tracking system. Over the past month or so, I've trialed or demo'd countless versions. I've found quite a few that do really acceptable helpdesk based ticket tracking, with "time-worked" field.
However, I can be a bit lazy and disorganised at times, so I sometimes forget to add time.
Or, I might be working on two things at once, and won't add the right amount of time etc.

So.. what do you use, to track tasks, problems, whatever. With automated timers?

The few I seem to be coming across that might do it out of the box are a bit out of my budget at the moment..
It doesn't NEED RMM/MS capabilities, but the ability to add that on as a bolt-on later would be fantastic.

creating of tickets/tasks from email, would also be great..

Any thoughts.. ?

(I've tried Paymo, and A few other online engines, most of them only record one task at a time.. which makes double-billing difficult..)

I know.. the obvious answer is to be better at recording my time.. but I also want to scale for future, when I have others.. so.. yea.

[David@Verve Recruitment]

Originally Posted by TehCamel

I know.. the obvious answer is to be better at recording my time.. but I also want to scale for future, when I have others.. so.. yea.

I think you might have the answer there. Find a ticket tracking software system you're happy with and get more diligent at using it. Don't handle 2 things at once.

But I have another thought... get a Chess clock. I don't know how they work exactly, but perhaps a physical stop watch will help you get into the habit.

Maybe just a simple Excel spread sheet that you have open throughout your working day will be the ticket.

[Couple It]

...or a $5 kitchen timer. Set it for 20mins or 30mins - whichever block you charge in. And mark off the blocks as you go.

Wendy

[FS Concierge]

Hi TehCamel,

I've been using http://www.getharvest.com/ for the past couple of years and it has been really simple. It can be accessed from either your PC or your email. It's pretty cheap too (from memory a single user is about US$12/month).

I've loved it, but I'm moving away from it now as I need some features it doesn't have (i.e. quick BAS reporting), but it might suit you.

Good luck,
Jayne

[The Copy Chick]

I use Task Coach which will allow you to track multiple projects at the same time (although kudos to you if you can do that! ) and stop them simultaneously.

It's free too!

[Phillip P]

Little overkill maybe for your needs as i have about 5 people that work with me too.. but i i use basecamphq.com for the projects and log time using worksnaps which actually shows the client proof of work being done on the computer. It also updates basecamp with times logs and on what project.

Its a great method considering we charge $650 for 25 hour blocks of web dev/graphics work the client can login at anytime and see exactly what we have been working on and how long tasks have taken.

keeps everyone working hard and honest

[Khalid Adam]

19 min blocks.iphone timer. it's for me though.

I would never charge billable hours when pay for performance yields the highest return.

[gossipism]

me?

i block out jobs in my outlook calendar. i have a couple of days in advance and have nothing more than the client name and 1-2 words on what needs to be looked at. if its full on, ill just cut and paste an email into it.

after i attend the job (literally when I walk out the door) i adjust the leave time to suit. then spend each sunday invoicing. (i wouldnt do it monthly for many reasons).

i was going to spend money on a system for it (freshbooks, etc) but decided not to in looking @ the bigger picture.

remote stuff is done also in outlook. everything is categoried and colour coded (onsite, meeting, remote support, personal etc)

once this is done, usually at the end of the day i create a task in outlook again that is categorised also, with the client and how much i should charge them in hours and or hardware. (this is based off the outlook calendar time).

i have apps that sync with friggen everything so i can do it from the laptop, ipad, iphone, web browser if need be.

time to add calendar appt and task is less than 5 seconds.

[Jerome Pearce]

Basecamp is my preference too. The main reasons are it allows you to manage projects quite well, and it allows unlimited users. It is not cheap at about $50 a month, but with our level of involvement it makes commercial sense.

The main benefit is to allow customers to log in and view status and share information. Email communication and updates, including files, are useful too. You can, of course, hide anything from the customer, and time is automatically private.

I also liked Harvest as a more time oriented option (although we need project management more, so have moved to that). Harvest allows full timesheets and invoices to be generated and sent to customers. As such it may be more what you need.

Both tools have plenty of associated application to record from PC's Mac's and Android phones/tablets and iPhones/iPads.

I use pomodairo to manage daily tasks using the Pomodoro technique and record 1/2 hour slots of work. At the end of the day I can (and sometimes do ;-)) enter the total hours into Basecamp for the record.

[The Copy Chick]

Originally Posted by Khalid Adam

I would never charge billable hours when pay for performance yields the highest return.

It's still good to be able to track how much time you're actually spending on a project - whether it be for a client, or yourself - and work out billable hours vs non-billable hours. Once you have a good idea of how you're ACTUALLY spending your time, you can review processes to increase efficiency.