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TagTime: Stochastic Time Tracking for Space Cadets | Messy Matters

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But there’s a big problem with time tracking tools. You either have to (a) rely on your memory, (b) obsessively clock in and out as you change tasks, or (c) use something like RescueTime that auto-infers what you’re doing. Well (a) is a non-starter, and (b) is hard if someone comes by and distracts you, for example. It can even be impossible. If you space out and start daydreaming about sugarplumbs [1], you can’t capture that. By definition, if you could think to clock out then it wasn’t spacing out. (And it might be a real problem you’re working on, rather than sugarplumbs [1], but either way.) Maybe we have attention deficit disorder or something but manual time-tracking never worked well for us. That leaves (c), software that monitors what applications or web pages you have open. That really seems to miss the boat for us. You might be hashing out an API design over email or working out an algorithm on paper. Or what if you’re testing your Facebook app, not screwing around on Faceboo

TagTime: Stochastic Time Tracking for Space Cadets | Messy Matters --> Messy Matters Bring your own data << Ode to Power Laws When Close Isn&#8217;t Good Enough >> TagTime: Stochastic Time Tracking for Space Cadets Saturday, April 30, 2011 By dreeves This article is co-authored with Bethany Soule . If you want to (bee)mind how you spend your time ( and oh do we ever !) then you need a time tracker. But there&#8217;s a big problem with time tracking tools. You either have to (a) rely on your memory, (b) obsessively clock in and out as you change tasks, or (c) use something like RescueTime that

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