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Ask HN: Do you log your time at work?

25 points by agateau ↗ HN
At work we are required to log time spent on each JIRA task. I can see the value of it: it makes us better at estimating tasks, but it's quite a burden to do.

Some colleagues log time at a macro level: at the end of the day they enter what they did, based on what they remember. I believe this way of logging is not precise enough though because you can easily overlook time you spent on some tasks. For example I do a lot of reviews: there is no way I can remember at the end of the day how long I spent reviewing each pull request. So I track my time as I go, using Toggl. At the end of the day I sum up time spent on all tasks and enter them in JIRA. That's annoying to do, as I end up logging time slices of 20, 10 or even 5mn (some reviews take short amount of times, others requires more).

Do you log time at work? If you do, do you do it at a macro level or do you try to be more precise? Do you use any tool to help you?

25 comments

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welder
I use https://wakatime.com for this. I use a Git branch for each feature/Jira ticket and at the end of the day WakaTime tells me how long I coded in each branch.
agateau
Looks interesting, can it distinguish time spent in the browser, so one would know if time was spent on pull request #33 rather than on Twitter?
welder
It's more for coding time, using the text editor plugins not browsing time. Using the api you can distinguish between browsing activity and coding activity, but the website displays it as the same activity right now.
bendixso
I do. I try to focus on improving my estimates. I find that some things work better when lumped into a general category like "Code Review" while you can be more specific with other things, for example a particular feature or user story.

You have to ask yourself, what value would you get from estimating that a code review will take 10, 20 minutes? Is that kind of information particularly useful for forecasting? I would guess it isn't because it seems too granular. Nobody I know sits down and plans a series or 10 or 20 minute code review sessions. They usually plan out bigger blocks of work.

I use a tool called Track - Simple Time Tracking and Invoicing (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/track-simple-time-tracking/i...)

Full disclosure, I built Track and I own the company that sells it.

I built Track because I wanted a cleanly designed time tracking tool that syncs my data between devices and doesn't make me sign up for an account. It's iOS-only. It works on the iPhone and iPad.

So yeah, I use the tool that I built. I use it every day while I'm working on my client projects.

agateau
The thing is, we often have tasks estimated to last 2 or 3 hours. 10 or 20 minutes of review starts to be a significant duration in this case.
bendixso
Yeah, so in that case I think it would make sense to tie each code review session to the feature/story you are reviewing. Maybe that's what you were already doing. I'm not sure.
agateau
Yes, we consider a task to be done when code has been reviewed and merged, so our estimates include review time.
andriesm
toggl has very nice desktop,mobile and web apps, reporting, tagging, simple and easy to use, team mode etc. You get a lot out of the free version. Recommended
imranq
I like this app: ATracker PRO - Daily Task and Time Tracking by WonderApps AB https://appsto.re/us/Ab-9E.i

You set up some tags and tap on them to start the timer. For example I track things like meeting times or time spent in code review. Also generates reports and gives you JSON to write custom apps with.

By the way, I don't have any affiliation with the app or company, I just think it's a well designed app

hugodahl
I use RescueTime (https://www.rescuetime.com/ref/386085) (disclaimer: referral link but I am an active and paying user) which can track time based on open/active/focussed app, per-site productivity tracking based on your settings, open API, mobile and offline tracking, focussed mode (block all distracting sites), integrations and much more.

I've been a paying customer for over 5years, and well worth EVERY penny!

1123581321
I use it as well. A few years ago I had to switch to a clunky, oversold time management system (Workamajig) and in addition to the interface being extremely poor, losing my automated RescueTime categorizing setup was painful. (It's still technically there, but Workamajig forbids API access, probably because the internals are a complete mess.)
wcummings
If you want to track it for yourself, go for it, but you should be pissed if your employer wants to collect that information.
caseymarquis
I'd disagree. You tell an employer you're going to spend 480 hours on a project. You have far more responsibilities than just that project. A month later it is perfectly reasonable for them to ask how many hours you've invested, and what the remaining timeline looks like. I'd love to be able to automate this process.
altaweelali
I tried many apps/ways and finally created my own. It is a local web app I put together inspired by Slack bots/commands. It is like CLI on a web interface with autocomplete and suggestions. I like it because I don’t have to click many things to add, view, or delete tasks.

Example: (/Todo-New taks name here –Project project name –Due 1/1/2016 –Tags #one #two #Three –Time 2h)

Anyways, I do track time because we bill hourly and eventually I have to move the totals for billable work from my app into our timesheet system (very clunky Microsoft Project Server).

elsurudo
Yes – hourly for obvious reason, and fixed-price so I can improve my estimates.

I use Freshbooks for invoicing, and it also allows simple time tracking, for which I use a macOS dashboard widget (a bit outdated, but it works).

itomato
If I am on a project uses JIRA, there is a good chance I will be using Tempo. Otherwise, I provide a cumulative account on a daily basis with the facilities built into JIRA, or directly to the PM (sometimes me) to account for my time.

In my experience, the requirement for per-task time allocation is not met with the appropriate review and tally at the PMO level.

It is more pain than gain.

larose
Yes, I use https://github.com/larose/utt

Disclosure: I'm the author.

agateau
I have been using it for the week, I like it!
falloutx
I made almost a similar thingy when I was working for a freelancing agency last summer. Its not packaged like yours, and was meant to be used internally. Since then i have put it on my github[0].

Only thing I am proud of in that project is the firebase support. Since I was managing my tasks on 2-3 computers, I had to build something that syncs itself. I am thinking of packaging this thing, so that other people can use it in thier command line.

[0]:https://github.com/FalloutX/cmd-todo

nigel182
I use http://mydamntime.com of which I am the author. I track time there because it's easy to account for lots of task switching, then transcribe the summary to the company timesheet app at the end if the day.

Note: the mobile interface is very dated. I only use it in desktop.

sprobertson
I also use Toggl, paired with either Jira or Trello depending on the client. To solve the annoying data entry step I built a small tool. It lists tasks with a "play" button to start the clock. When done or done for now I can stop the clock, the tool saves the time spent and potentially updates the issue status (or moves the card)
EliRivers
At the end of the week, I look back at the hours/tasks I have allocated to me and I fill them in. Generally, there's no link between how long something took me and how many hours I write in it; I just write all the hours in. If there were 8 hours set aside for it, I write 8 hours in the box. Sometimes I spread it over several days.

If I don't have enough tasks/hours allocated, I look back at anything I did during the week that isn't on the allocated list, and I have it added to the allocated list and then I write the hours in. Sometimes, I'll do this during the week rather than all on Friday.

The purpose is to fill in the boxes and make the numbers match. Nobody ever examines the boxes and numbers, and they bear no relationship to what actually happens. If I don't fill in the boxes and make the numbers match, someone comes to insist that I fill in the boxes and make the numbers match.

In the ones that I get added, I pick the number. Other ones just appear with numbers already in them. Sometimes I like to spread the numbers out. Sometimes I just do them in big blocks.

jtfairbank
https://ding.io/ was super nice when I was logging my time as a contractor. Worked great for personal stuff too, like going to the gym. Easy to separate that out from the work stuff.
hifunda
Yes I use RescueTime for work tracking as well and has been pretty useful so far. haven't dug in too much though for analysis - a quick look at the chart is enough to stop me from procrastinating too much :)