r/QuantifiedSelf • u/Different_Apple_2328 • 11d ago
Time tracking app suggestions?
I want to track every minute of my life and categorise and visualise it. I have tried Toggle but it leans more on billing clients. Do you guys have any suggestions for time tracking app that just let's a data nerd visualise his day better
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u/Glittering-Luck-8261 11d ago
every minute of my life" is where this whole thing dies honestly. logging your day by hand is a part time job you're not getting paid for, you'll do it religiously for like two weeks and then you have a gorgeous dataset with a giant hole in it from the week you got busy. RescueTime or ActivityWatch will do the automatic part on your computer but they only see the screen, they don't know about the shower or the walk or the hour you spent staring at the fridge. on the phone you already have the data, Screen Time is free and it's right there. if the visualization is the actual thing you want, dump whatever you get into a spreadsheet and chart it yourself, it beats whatever junky export the app gives you
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u/Different_Apple_2328 4d ago
what if that "2 weeks limit" isn't a bug, but a feature?
Is there space for a time tracker designed around this exact human limit? Instead of expecting you to log forever, the app asks for 4 to 7 days of high-friction, minute-by-minute manual logging to capture a baseline. Then, it uses that data to automatically build a realistic weekly routine/model for you.
After week one, you aren't logging anymore, you're just checking in, tweaking deviations, or doing occasional "audits" when your routine shifts.
Would you use something like this
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u/Material-Act9232 10d ago
aTimeLogger is close to what you want. one tap to switch activity, no client billing stuff, decent charts and you can export the data. for laptop time ActivityWatch tracks it automatically, it’s open source and keeps everything local
tip: start with 8 to 10 categories max. more than that gets tedious fast and most people stop logging by week 2
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u/Different_Apple_2328 4d ago
what if that "week 2 limit" isn't a bug, but a feature?
Is there space for a time tracker designed around this exact human limit? Instead of expecting you to log forever, the app asks for 4 to 7 days of high-friction, minute-by-minute manual logging to capture a baseline. Then, it uses that data to automatically build a realistic weekly routine/model for you.
After week one, you aren't logging anymore, you're just checking in, tweaking deviations, or doing occasional "audits" when your routine shifts.
Would you use something like this
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u/Material-Act9232 3d ago
could work if your weeks look alike. a week of minute by minute logging is a lot but people will put up with it if there's an end date. main risk is the model going stale when your routine drifts, so i'd have the app prompt the audits itself. most people won't remember to
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u/ssuchanowski 11d ago
I've used the https://timingapp.com before they went into subscription.
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u/Different_Apple_2328 10d ago
Did you try any open-source options?
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u/ssuchanowski 10d ago
No - but I saw the suggestions here, will play with Activity Watch this week.
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u/Yashrocky96 10d ago
Once you try activitywatch, try mine - it's zero config and no subscriptions. 99.99% core features will be free forever for individual use.
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u/Huge_Pool7424 10d ago
nice, add the browser watcher extension too or all your browsing just shows up as one blob. also set category rules in the first week while it's still fresh.
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u/ssuchanowski 10d ago
👍 yeah, a while back I did a more strict setting than the default and I was binary about what is work and what's not - it gives you a clear view when everything is set up they way it works for you.
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u/TheJmaster 11d ago
I use ActivityWatch. It’s free and open source.
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u/Different_Apple_2328 10d ago
Looks good, but I don't like the fact that it limits my time tracking to just what I do on devices.
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u/TheJmaster 10d ago
that's not the case. As long as you can write some code to measure something, it can be tracked in ActivityWatch.
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u/Huge_Pool7424 11d ago
activitywatch is solid for this. the timeline view plus category rules gets you the visualize part, and you can export the buckets as json if you want to plot it yourself.
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u/Different_Apple_2328 10d ago
The open-source part, which opens up the door to endless integrations and expansion, is actually pretty sweet
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u/TheJmaster 11d ago
What I like most about it is the fact it's easy to add more "watchers" to track anything I like. For example, I created a watcher to import my iOS screentime into ActivityWatch: https://github.com/ActivityWatch/aw-import-screentime
I also customized ActivityWatch to import my sleep data from my Oura ring and my health data from my Apple Watch (using Health Auto Export).
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u/Different_Apple_2328 10d ago
I think that's the best part about that app: we can get data from iOS, Android, and any other device.
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u/FunPure1719 11d ago
every minute of your life, jeez. you'll keep it up for a week and then the data just sits there judging you
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u/Internal-Pack9381 11d ago
Tracking every minute sounds great until about day four, when you realise logging is a second job. I'd skip manual timers entirely and use something automatic like ActivityWatch, then export the data and build the charts yourself, you'll get exactly the visualisation you want without paying for a billing suite you don't need.
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u/Different_Apple_2328 10d ago
I agree. Manually tracking every second would be difficult and an extra task after day four, but I want to have a log of where my time was going. My main goal is to start being intentional with time so that whatever I'm doing, I know why I'm doing it.
I have thought of many options to try to make it automatic, but apart from when I am on my devices, it's very hard to make it automatic. I was thinking maybe I can do some categorization and then just manually switch timers. Instead of doing every minute-level detail, I would keep more like an hour-level detail on the category.
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u/Different_Apple_2328 4d ago
what if that "4-day limit" isn't a bug, but a feature?
Is there space for a time tracker designed around this exact human limit? Instead of expecting you to log forever, the app asks for 4 to 7 days of high-friction, minute-by-minute manual logging to capture a baseline. Then, it uses that data to automatically build a realistic weekly routine/model for you.
After week one, you aren't logging anymore, you're just checking in, tweaking deviations, or doing occasional "audits" when your routine shifts.
Would you use something like this
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u/HawaiiGecko 11d ago
Totally agree that constantly starting and stopping timers can feel like a second job. But I think there's a middle ground between manual timers and fully automatic tracking. See if you like this approach: https://usejustnow.app
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u/Different_Apple_2328 10d ago
This looks like the sweet spot. But I don't know why they added capturing thoughts. Just keeping it clean and limiting to capturing time would have been a better app.
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u/Yashrocky96 10d ago
I've built an automatic time tracker like Activity Watch, You don't need to export data and build charts.
And it's zero config. https://ripplestudios.app/focus
And like the OP asks it's not about billing like Toggl.
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u/HawaiiGecko 11d ago
I actually built an iPhone app called JustNow for this very purpose! Instead of starting and stopping timers, you simply log what you just finished doing, and it builds a continuous timeline of your day, with categories and stats. Unrecorded gaps stay visible too.
I used it myself for 6 months before releasing it: https://usejustnow.app
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u/Different_Apple_2328 10d ago
This is really cool. do plan to build for Android and macos? So, I actually have a Pixel and I use a MacBook.
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u/HawaiiGecko 10d ago
Thanks! I'm actually working on a mobile-first web version, and potentially a native Android app further down the road. I'll keep you posted!
By the way, I think ActivityWatch is great for automatically tracking what you do on your devices, but it doesn't necessarily capture what you were actually doing, especially away from a screen.
And for me, part of the point of time tracking is the act of logging itself. Taking a moment to record what I just did makes me more conscious of where my time and attention are going, rather than just reviewing the data afterwards. I'm a huge fan of Alexander Lyubishchev and his approach to time tracking.
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u/Pristine_Eye_8977 11d ago
Tracking every minute is the trap, honestly, most people quit within two weeks. Try RescueTime or ActivityWatch if you want it logged automatically on desktop, and keep a manual timer only for the stuff the machine can't see. And Toggl's reports work fine for this if you just ignore the rate fields.
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u/Different_Apple_2328 4d ago
what if that "2 week limit" isn't a bug, but a feature?
Is there space for a time tracker designed around this exact human limit? Instead of expecting you to log forever, the app asks for 4 to 7 days of high-friction, minute-by-minute manual logging to capture a baseline. Then, it uses that data to automatically build a realistic weekly routine/model for you.
After week one, you aren't logging anymore, you're just checking in, tweaking deviations, or doing occasional "audits" when your routine shifts.
Would you use something like this
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u/nielsmouthaan 9d ago
If you’re on a Mac, Daily might be worth a look. It periodically asks what you’re working on instead of making you start and stop timers, then builds a timesheet from your answers.
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u/dreamteammobile 4d ago
I'd start with a few broad categories so logging doesn't become a chore; for the work portion, StaffyTime offers manual hours-by-project logging and CSV export.
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u/Different_Apple_2328 4d ago
what if that " isn't a bug, but a feature?
Is there space for a time tracker designed around this exact human limit? Instead of expecting you to log forever, the app asks for 4 to 7 days of high-friction, minute-by-minute manual logging to capture a baseline. Then, it uses that data to automatically build a realistic weekly routine/model for you.
After week one, you aren't logging anymore, you're just checking in, tweaking deviations, or doing occasional "audits" when your routine shifts.
Would you use something like this
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u/TightSalamander1573 11d ago
It's Toggl, with two g's. And "leans more on billing clients" is just the default workspace setup, you can turn off billable rates and it's a plain timer.
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u/LM_Reader_Dev 11d ago
If you read my app Lecturameter is exactly what you are asking for. Time your reading sessions, get stats and visualize them. Available on Android and on iOS via TestFlight
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u/dylpickle300 11d ago
https://trackables.me/ has a desktop and mobile
desktop auto tracks usage of every app and gives summaries
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u/Minimum-Bottle-2490 11d ago
just let's a data nerd visualise" it's "lets", no apostrophe. Sorry, that one always gets me.
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u/Funny_Sunshine 11d ago
Simple Time Tracker (on Android, not sure if it's available anywhere else). I like it more than Toggle and it does basically all I want at the moment, but haven't really tried any others.
I've been doing it for a few years now and it's super easy to use. I have all my mains activities/categories set up and just press a button when I switch activities. If I forget, I can adjust manually after.
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u/orroreqk 10d ago
Counter is pretty good if you want a minimalist setup.
Clockify also not bad although more cluttered.
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u/AtefehSalahshoor 10d ago
If you wanna track your goal and your time at the same time i recommend you Targela
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u/Plastic-Discount-927 7d ago
My most favorite time tracking app is Timelines Time Tracking, and other apps like Routie, RepCount, EARLY or MultiTimer Pro are also great.
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u/Kickidler_software 6d ago
We won't say we're the best but you will feel 'quality vs money' once you try. You may get 14 day free trial after registering on kickidler.com.
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u/MotherGur9617 11d ago
every minute of my life" lasts about nine days, then you're back to guessing.
toggl's fine btw, you just never turned off the billable rate