This has been a long time coming, but after some consultation with our beloved metallic mandible, Tinjaw has expressed he may be interested in adding some modifications to his former NANY 2009 "
Click2LogIt" time recording utility. The following mods would make it a very useful app for my purposes, but your mileage may vary. Please note there is no rush on adding the functionality as I hope to use it long-term; however, if it had the additional functionality, I could use it now.
Keeping track of time for billing is important, but the ability to identify and correct unproductive patterns pay special dividends. It is so easy to get lost in the details or get distracted by email, the Internet, posting on boards, IRC, etc. Having a simple, effective tool such as I would like to see Tinjaw's app mature into would be very beneficial in recognizing bad habits and correcting them. It is in this light I offer the following suggestions based on criteria from my own real experience. ...
First off, here is some criteria for requesting the mods...
- The need to be able to track various aspects of multiple projects.
- The need for a statistical summary report for each project. An additional global report of all project progress would be nice to see the big picture. An example is suggested later in this post, but here is what would be needed/desired on the report(s)...
- How long it has been since starting on a project(s)? Total Elapsed Time since beginning Project "A". - This helps to highlight patterns of procrastination.
- How much time have I actually worked on a project(s)? Total Working Time on Project "A". - This speaks for it self.
- In order to get a picture of "what" kind of time I am spending on my project(s), it will be necessary to keep track of how many times I have left/come back to the project(s). Total Session Number. - This would not necessarily have to be printed, just tracked in order to calculate the next bullet item.
- Average Session Time. - Again, this can be useful to highlight unproductive patterns.
- Total "Computer On" Time since beginning of Project "A". Similar to the "Total Elapsed Time" except it excludes when the computer is off or in a suspended state. - This does not have to be printed either, just tracked for the following bullet.
- What percent of recorded time has been spent on Project "A". Percent of Recorded Time - Given that people spend time on the things they like and don't spend time on the things thay would like to avoid, this statistic could be very telling.
- Provision for up to 10 simultaneous projects (more, anyone?). Maybe this could be a user-definable quantity. For folks that need juast a few they might select 4-5 and for power users, 20-25 might be the right number.
- Addition of project hotkeys to encourage use by keyboard-centric users. (SHIFT+CTRL+ALT+1, SHIFT+CTRL+ALT+2, ... SHIFT+CTRL+ALT+0
- Add color-states to the existing systray icon to indicate logged "in" (green) or logged "out" (red).
- Option to choose 10 different sound files to provide additional specific auditory feedback. - Personally, I would record my own quick, "Floor Staining Design," "My Attic Library," etc. wav files.
- Change "right-click" to a mouse-hover event to instantaneously produce the menu. Menu would hide either by left-clicking the desired item or navigating mouse off the menu. Keyboard users would use keys to envoke the menu. Arrow keys to navigate, if necessary. The ENTER or ESC key would hide the menu as required.
- The addition of a simple "ScrtatchPad" (shortcut to notepad.exe to make quick notes). This is easily worked around, but would be a useful and nice addition.
- Hopefully find the right balance of extending Click2LogIt's usefulness while not straying too far from the original intent.
- The need to let the "computer" do the work instead of me!
Here is a mock-up of what the mouse-hover menu would look like...
If you right-click the "Click2LogIt" systray icon that looks like this (only smaller)
...
you will see something like this..
Below is the existing SysTray menu tree in black with the suggested mods highlighted in
red. The following examples are based on two simultaneous example projects ("Floor Staining Design" and "My Attic Library") with dynamic functionality. The use of a permanent static menu of projects listed vertically could be used instead of dynamic creation depending on the coding work load Tinjaw would be willing to do. I can work with a static list or a dynamic one.
- About
- Select Sound for...
- Floor Staining Design
- My Attic Library
-----------------------------
- View Log File for...
- Floor Staining Design
- My Attic Library
- Choose Log File for...
- Floor Staining Design
- My Attic Library
- Change Log Text for...
- Floor Staining Design
- My Attic Library
- ScratchPad
- Exit
Today, time management and related disciplines are hot topics and fuel continues to be added to the fire in a seemingly never-ending frenzy quite frequently. This makes for a pretty fertile soil for the growth, acceptance and use of Click2Logit! a more useful tool.
If you are interested in the genesis of this project click ->
Here.
Tinjaw, "Thanks!" for even
considering this addition to your plate. Maybe this could develop into its own child board?
CT
