The following post is from Prerna of The Mom Writes: Free Time Tracking Apps to Boost Productivity and Reclaim Hours in the Day
Ever wonder if you could keep a track of where all your time goes and if you could possibly reclaim some of those “missing” hours back? Yes, you aren’t alone. Nearly every person wants a few more hours in the day; if you keep track of your time, you can easily do that. Why?
Because you see all those little tasks that are either a big waste of time or can be outsourced to someone else, you’re free to do what matters.
Here are a few free time tracking applications that will help you increase productivity, cut out time-wasters, and spend time wisely.
Table of Contents
1. Klok
Klok is a cool, free application that helps you track time, especially if you work on multiple projects. All you have to do is add a project, fill in some information about it and start tracking the time you spend. It gives you a visual calendar-like overview of how you spend your time, and you can even export timesheets to Microsoft Excel. You can also organize your work and projects just the way you like them and track time spent on them.
The Pro version has a few extra features, such as exporting to Google Docs, importing events from Google Calendar, and more. However, the free version is smart enough to let you track your time and fix inefficient use easily.
2. Rescue Time
If you’re looking for a productivity and time tracking tool that is used by the biggies, Rescue Time is your answer. It comes highly recommended by the press and media, offers both free and Pro options, and allows you to reclaim hours of your time quickly. The free version will let you track apps and sites that you visit when online and offer you 2 months of data storage along with tracking your time.
3. Manic Time
Now Manic Time (love that name, by the way) is a great way to track time spent online. If you’ve been wondering where your “work” time is going, Manic Time is a free and easy way of finding out exactly how much time is spent on Facebook instead of client work. If you get excited by graphs and statistics, you’ll enjoy the colorful graphs that Manic Time puts up to show you the top applications used, top sites, and time tracking on a daily and weekly basis.
4. Toggl
“Software should empower work and not get in the way of it.”
This guiding principle makes Toggl an effective time tracking tool that offers a free account for up to 5 users to track their time with limited features. It is a great way to test the waters to see if Toggl is the time tracking tool for your small business. Toggl claims that you can set up an account in under 12 seconds (wow, that’s fast!) and allows you to track your time via either live tracking or a timesheet approach. Toggl is a great application when you have a team of people working on projects since it allows you to track what team members are doing and provide constructive feedback instantly.
One of the best parts about these apps is that most of them come with apps for your Android or iPhone, which means that you can track time spent away from your computer as well. {Big plus when you’re a mom or home manager trying to find out what are your biggest time sinks.} I’d recommend trying out a couple of these to find the one that best fits your lifestyle and needs, and then playing with the free version for at least a month before moving to the PRO or paid version.
Do you use a time tracking application for increasing productive hours in the day so you can reclaim hours? Which one is your favorite?
| Prerna Malik is a mom, a wife, a writer, and a woman who believes in being positively productive, parenting with love, and creating a home that invites you to put your feet up and relax. Find her sharing her journey and experiences with productivity and parenting at The Mom Writes. | |
