Time Tracking Tool For Mac

Time Sink is a time-tracker and organizer for Mac OS X that tracks your activity throughout the day and helps you understand where the time goes. The app automatically records the time you spend in applications and windows on your Mac. MacTimeLog Simple time tracking tool for Mac OS X: Introduction MacTimeLog is a simple time tracking tool for Mac OS X. It's written in Python, using PyObjC interface to Cocoa, it's completely free and released under GNU GPL License. Blog/Productivity tools. Time Tracker for Mac OS X. So we made a list of time-tracking software for Mac OS X that will help you monitor your productivity and collect accurate data to bill your clients. ActiTIME is a time-tracking and work management application for teams of any size. The app allows to submit work and leave time.

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Where does the time go? Find out with these Mac time trackers.

Whether you’re trying to work out how much time you waste online5 Tools to Track How Much Time You Waste While Online5 Tools to Track How Much Time You Waste While OnlineRead More or just want a way to track projects so you can bill clients, there’s a Mac timer out there for you. Here are some of the best ones out there, broken down by category.

For Finding Where Your Time Went: Rescuetime (Free or $9/month)

Does your time ever just disappear? RescueTime is a cross-platform app that monitors everything you do on your computer, then reports back to you. If you want to know exactly what it is you’ve been doing on your Mac in order to find out which distractions to avoid and which projects are taking up too much time, this is the app to install.

We called this system web-based time management for geeks9 Best Time Management Tools for Staying Organized9 Best Time Management Tools for Staying OrganizedThe time management tools shown here will assist you with making the most of your days. Suitable for any business or personal situation. This is the time to organize your life!Read More way back in 2007, and more recently noted that it’s a great way to accurately keep track of what you do you on your computerAccurately Keep Track of What You Do on the Computer and for How Long With RescueTimeAccurately Keep Track of What You Do on the Computer and for How Long With RescueTimeIf you spend a considerable amount of time working at your computer with no Corporate Big Brother to monitor what you're doing, you may find yourself spending a bit more time than you should be...Read More. It’s been around a long time, and is much loved for its in-depth reporting.

You can spend a lot of time tweaking, letting Rescuetime know which sites or apps are and are not distracting for you. This really can vary: your boss might not love it if you spend all day on MakeUseOf, but for me it’s literally my job.

For Tracking Projects: Toggl (Free or $5/user/month)

If you’re a freelancer, you need to keep track of how much time you’re spending on various projects for billing purposes. If you want a no-nonsense tool for doing that with all kinds of reporting features, I recommend checking out Toggl first.

The Mac app stays out of your way: just tell it what you’re working on, and which project that’s related to it, and it’ll do its job. You can check out full reports over at the Toggl website. You’ll need an account to get started, but it doesn’t take long.

Of course, there are a number of alternative apps worth checking out; here are a few:

  • TimeTracker Mac is an open source alternative.
  • Harvest for Mac is, like Toggl, tied to a web service that offers a premium version.
  • Klok is a similar system built on Adobe Air. So it’s not native, but many users love the features.

If your favourite business-oriented time tracker isn’t here, fill me in using the comments at the end of the article!

For The Pomodoro Method: Pomodoro One (Free)

The Pomodoro Method is one of those tricks that takes the stress out of productivity4 Ways To Take The Stress Out Of Productivity4 Ways To Take The Stress Out Of ProductivityWith a few well-targeted changes, you can boost your productivity by leaps and bounds. Apply these simple methods to your life and the result is what you would expect -- better work with lesser effort.Read More. Basically, you work 25 minutes uninterrupted, then take a 5 minute break. There are a plethora of different Mac Pomodoro timers out there, but the first one you should check out is Pomodoro One.

This free tool is both attractive and functional – just click “Play” when you’re ready to get started. The app lets you know when your five minute break has started, then starts counting automatically – it’s not going to wait for you. This is good: putting off your break (or your working period) defeats the point of the Pomodoro Method.

Just in case you disagree on that point, there are so many alternative Pomodoro timers out there:

  • Focus ($20) is an app that blocks distracting websitesCan't Get Anything Done? Block Distractions With Focus For MacCan't Get Anything Done? Block Distractions With Focus For MacForce yourself to work instead of browsing. Focus is a Mac app that blocks distracting sites that shows you an inspirations quote when you try to visit a site you shouldn't.Read More and also features a built-in Pomodoro timer.
  • Pomodoro Time: is similar to Pomodoro One, but includes a to-do list. Ideal if you’re not already using some other todo list.
Time Tracking Tool For Mac

There are a lot of Pomodoro apps out there and everyone has a favorite, so let fellow readers know about your favorites in the comments below.

Also: as longtime Pomodoro fan, here’s a tip: use Lego to track your time betterHow To Use LEGOs To Manage Your Time BetterHow To Use LEGOs To Manage Your Time BetterI think I've found the ultimate productivity tool: LEGOs. Don't leave! Let me explain.Read More. Seriously.

For Quick Countdowns: Menubar Countdown [No Longer Available]

When I want a simple countdown, I prefer Menubar Countdown – a timer that talks to you. Yes, using the speech is a gimmick, but it’s such a fun one – your computer can remind you, out loud, what you intended to do later in the day.

There are other apps out there, of course:

  • Thyme is an open source app.
  • TeaTimer is cool if you still use the Dashboard: it’s a simple widget you can use to make countdowns.
  • Timer for Mac ($25) is a combination stopwatch, timer and alarm that you can program to do just about anything when time runs out.
  • Speaking of programing timers to do things: you can also use timers to schedule system shutdownsSchedule A Shutdown In OS X With These Tools [Mac]Schedule A Shutdown In OS X With These Tools [Mac]Computers often pose a dilemma of power consumption. You'd like to do batch jobs like downloading, system repair or back-ups at night, when you aren't bothered by it. Then again, it seems a bit wasteful...Read More.

What Are Your Favorite Mac Timers?

I’ve tried out a lot of different Mac timers over the years; the above are my favorites. But you might — as a Mac user — be know to think differently.

So I’m asking: which timers did we miss? Add your favourites in the comments below, because I’m always excited to learn about new apps.

Explore more about: Business Technology, Invoice, Productivity, Time Management, Timer Software.

  1. Thanks for sharing this toolkit!
    You've asked what timers did you, miss - in my opinion, TimeCamp should be included here. My company has used it since last June and we're satisfied with the results. It's much easier now to stay organized and disciplined.
    Kathy

  2. Also, is there any similar article about linux time tracking software?

  3. IMO, Toggl is the best

    • Ha, you are probably an employer this company, are you :)?
      I recommend TimeCamp.

There are a handful of decent time tracking applications for the Mac. While none of them are perfect, our favorite is Klok thanks to its straightforward time tracking and entry, flexibility, and easily-understood interface.

Free Online Time Tracking Tool

Klok

Platform: Mac OS X (and Windows)
Price: Free ($16 for Pro Version)
Download Page

Features

Download Tools For Mac

  • Track any project, billable or otherwise
  • Drag and drop time entry
  • Provides a simple dashboard overview of how you've used your time
  • Define multiple projects
  • Automatic updates
  • Can export time sheets to Microsoft Excel

Additional features in the pro version:

  • More information in the dashboard
  • Import data from Microsoft Exchange, Google Calendar, and more
  • Export time sheets to CSV, HTML, and Google Docs
  • Automated backups
  • Additional skins/themes

Where It Excels

What's great about Klok is that you can start using it in about a minute. You just define a project in the project section, provide a little information about the project (if you want—you can add it later, too), and start tracking your time. You can add projects as needed and track them as well. Klok will display them all in a nice calendar view. You can then export your time sheets to Microsoft Excel if you want, or just reference the information in Klok to put together an invoice in whatever application you choose.

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Where It Falls Short

Klok was written in Adobe Air, so if you prefer an app that feels native to OS X you may struggle a bit with its interface. It can take some getting used to if you fall into that camp, but it's mainly an issue of not using the menu bar. What's most annoying about Klok is how the free version hides little hints to upgrade. Every feature of the pro version is available to click in the interface, but when you do actually click on any of those features you'll be reminded that you need to upgrade to the pro version. You're getting a good time tracking app for free, so it's a reasonable trade-off, but it could be dialed back a bit. Klok's settings also get fairly complicated. The good news is that you can do basic time tracking without ever getting into the details, but Klok can get pretty detailed and it can be a little overwhelming.

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The Competition

Time Edition (Free) is the way to go if you're looking for simple and free. Even though it's a tiny little app, it can track your projects with a lot of helpful detail. It's designed to track projects for billing purposes, but like any time tracking app you could use it for other projects as well.

Time Tracking Tool For Freelancers

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RescueTime (Free and Paid) will track everything you do on your computer and analyze it so you can reclaim wasted time. It's not meant for billing clients but becoming more productive, and it's really smart. Whitson wrote a guide on using RescueTime so check that out for additional details. It's free to use but you can pay yearly fees for additional features.

Sharepoint Time Tracking Tool

Time Track (Free or Pro) tracks your application usage. The pro version will track documents as well. It's a lot like a simplified version of RescueTime, but runs solely on your Mac's desktop and provides limited statistics. If you just want an overview of how long you use specific applications, it's worth a look.

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Freshbooks Time Tracker (Free) is a widget you can install for OS X's Dashboard that will simply track the time you spend on a specific project and send it to the Freshbooks invoicing service. Harvest and other invoicing services generally provide time tracking widgets and apps as well for your time tracking needs. If you use one of those services already, be sure to check out their add-ons page for handy ways to track your time.

Time Tracking Tool For Mac

Best Time Tracking Application For Mac

Lifehacker's App Directory is a new and growing directory of recommendations for the best applications and tools in a number of given categories.

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