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Author Topic: looking for a simple windows app to track time  (Read 9441 times)

eleman

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looking for a simple windows app to track time
« on: May 21, 2019, 04:55 AM »
I'm looking for a simple time tracker for windows. All I'm asking for is something to let me know how much time I spent in a software I'll specify (it will be Trados translation software). By looking at that figure I'll be able to assess how badly I procrastinated during the day.

I checked a few time tracker applications, but most are really huge behemoths, some weighing 60+ MB for an installer. They are titanic-scale tools when all I need is a small rubber boat. I don't want to issue invoices. I don't want to use it as a team. I don't want to print reports for the past 5 years... All I want is to see how many hours I spent on Trados since I woke up in the morning.

I even thought about programming something in autohotkey but couldn't think of an algorithm to do so.

Have you seen any such tiny and crude time tracker?

x16wda

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Re: looking for a simple windows app to track time
« Reply #1 on: May 21, 2019, 05:26 AM »
This is low tech, but if you can click a button when you start or stop your sessions, then WatchMe might work. If you want something automatic then this won't do it.
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eleman

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Re: looking for a simple windows app to track time
« Reply #2 on: May 21, 2019, 06:03 AM »
I'd rather have the app track my time automatically. I'm likely to forget pressing the timer button.

I found an application called ActivityWatch. It is still overkill but it is the simplest yet automatic time tracker I was able to find.

I hate creeping featuritis. I really do.

Anyway, if you know about something even simpler, any advice will be appreciated.
« Last Edit: May 21, 2019, 08:18 AM by eleman »

Shades

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Re: looking for a simple windows app to track time
« Reply #3 on: May 21, 2019, 09:26 AM »
ManicTimer

Runs in the background and shows you (at any given moment) an overview of applications that were open that day, till that moment and how much time you spent inside these applications. It is overkill for what you want, but it is also not huge in size and, more importantly, a "set-'n-forget"-kind of solution. You can get your overview in the shape of a bar graph or numbers, whatever you prefer.

It comes in 3 flavors, the free one is the most limited, but that would be most ideal here.

Ennovy

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Re: looking for a simple windows app to track time
« Reply #4 on: May 21, 2019, 11:55 AM »
I used ProcrastiTracker: http://strlen.com/procrastitracker/

It's an automated time tracker

At the end of the day you can filter your data

The setup is only 400 KB and it's freeware

More info about the programmer: http://strlen.com/
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« Last Edit: May 21, 2019, 12:16 PM by Ennovy »

eleman

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Re: looking for a simple windows app to track time
« Reply #5 on: May 21, 2019, 12:22 PM »
ManicTime

Thanks for the suggestion. It looked more stable than the solution I originally found.

I used ProcrastiTracker: http://strlen.com/procrastitracker/

This is exactly what I had in mind. It is tiny and does the job without using so much ram and disk space.

BGM

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Re: looking for a simple windows app to track time
« Reply #6 on: May 21, 2019, 01:14 PM »
Heres a link for ManicTime.  It was even updated just today.
https://www.majorgee...tails/manictime.html

flamerz

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Re: looking for a simple windows app to track time
« Reply #7 on: May 23, 2019, 03:59 PM »
Manictime.
« Last Edit: May 24, 2019, 04:24 AM by flamerz »

MTTW

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Re: looking for a simple windows app to track time
« Reply #8 on: May 27, 2019, 02:04 PM »
I'm looking for a simple time tracker for windows

Hi @eleman,

Here is a very a simple time tracker using the portable Multi Task Tool!

Let me know if this is what you want and I will share the script code!


eleman

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Re: looking for a simple windows app to track time
« Reply #9 on: May 28, 2019, 12:21 AM »
Hi @eleman,

Here is a very a simple time tracker using the portable Multi Task Tool!

Let me know if this is what you want and I will share the script code!

Thanks a lot for the time and effort you put into it. It looks really straightforward. I found what I was looking for, in procrastitracker though.

Anyway, I downloaded the multitasktool to fiddle with. It looks more capable for certain tasks, when compared with autohotkey.

MTTW

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Re: looking for a simple windows app to track time
« Reply #10 on: May 28, 2019, 07:43 PM »
Thanks a lot for the time and effort you put into it. It looks really straightforward. I found what I was looking for, in procrastitracker though.

@eleman

Nah, no effort at all, the script code was already written and it took me less than 20 minutes to record and upload the video to YouTube!

I decided to publish the script code anyway, feel free to try it if you want!

https://multitasktoo...le-time-tracker.html