Featured on Forbes, Techcrunch, USA Today, The Next Web-- One of the fastest growing apps according to Mattermark Bonsai is the first free time tracking and expense management solution for freelancers that integrates perfectly within your workflow. Here’s 5 time-tracking apps which will help you be a more disciplined, productive and efficient freelancer: Recommended Reading: Productivity Tips for Freelance Web Designers. On the Job lets you track time with an automatic idle time detection, and sits quietly on your menu bar. Every time you start the timer, a new session will be automatically created.
We’ve all heard the adage “time is money,” and it’s never more true than when you’re a freelancer paid hourly. Not only does the number of hours you work directly correspond with how much you make, you’re also the only one tracking these hours. You don’t have a boss to tally up your time sheets or payroll department calculating your paychecks. It’s up to you to carefully manage your time and make sure you get paid for every second.
To do this, you can definitely use the old pen-and-paper method, but that often leaves too much room for human error, especially among those of us who are slightly terrible at math (ahem). A mistake can cost you hundreds of dollars, so many freelancers choose to outsource the burden of time-tracking to apps designed to do it better, faster, and more accurately. Here are a few of our favorites.
Best Time-Tracking Apps for Personal Productivity
1. Productivity Challenge Timer
If you struggle with procrastination, focus, and recording your hours, this app makes sure you track them. Available on Android and iOS, the Productivity Challenge Timer uses the Pomodoro Technique to segment work into intervals.
The free version of the app lets you designate up to four separate projects, and breaks down your work sessions into smaller chunks. You’re reminded to take a 5-minute break every 20 minutes, and the app aggressively reminds you to get back to work if you’re still slacking after the break is up. Total time spent on each project is also tracked, although you can’t break it down by day, week, or month.
For those who work from home and constantly have the black hole of the internet lurking one unopened tab away, an app like this can be great for keeping you on track.
2. Hours
This time-tracking app has a design as simple as its name. Hours offers easy-to-use time tracking without any unnecessary features getting in the way.
With both an iOS app and a web app that sync together, Hours allows you to create a visual timeline to easily identify dead time throughout your schedule, create reminders, and set rules about time rounding. You can easily switch timers and projects, and access total values for each one.
The only downside to Hours may be that Android lovers are out of luck. To date, the app has only been available for iOS.
3. Timesheet
In the interests of equal-opportunity time-tracking, here’s one just for the ‘droids. Timesheet offers users a connected web-based and Android app to effectively track time between different projects. They can easily see a breakdown of total time into daily, weekly, and monthly totals for each project or client.
Timesheet also allows you to assign rates to each client or project, so that you can see just how much money your time ends up making you.
Best Employee Time-Tracking Apps
![Mac Mac](/uploads/1/2/5/8/125825897/292530271.jpg)
4. QuickBooks
Although it’s not cool to brag, we’d be remiss if we didn’t toot our own horns a little bit here because QuickBooks has one of the most robust time-tracking apps out there.
The QuickBooks’ time-tracking feature allows you to easily track not only the time you spend on a project, but the time your employees and contractors spend, too. They can fill out their hours through QuickBooks Online from any computer, making it ideal for remote or site-based work.
You can also easily generate reports, including:
- Recent/Edited time activities
- Time activities by customer
- Time activities by employee
- Unbilled time
5. TSheets
TSheets is a time-tracking app that seamlessly integrates with QuickBooks. Your employees can use it to track their hours and submit timesheets from any device. You can assign jobs, locate your employees with GPS (no more “Are you at the site?” texts!), and even run reports to figure out where your time and money is best spent.
TSheets is free if it’s just you using it, and you can add up to 99 additional users for $5/month per user, plus a $16/month base fee.
6. BillQuick
BillQuick also plays nicely with QuickBooks, and users love it for the additional features it offers. It’s a cloud-based system which allows for easy time-tracking, with added bonuses like expense reporting, receipt recording, and report generating.
These features do come with a cost, however. BillQuick starts at around $8/month per user, and goes up depending on which functions you need to use. However, it allows for some customization, so you don’t pay for features you don’t use.
Time’s Up!
No matter which app, program, or system you choose to track your time and that of your employees, always remember the end goal: to free up more of your time to work.
Make sure you avoid apps with hard-to-use interfaces, complicated time-entry processes, or challenging reports. There’s no use spending tons of your time on an app designed to track it.
Where does the time go? Find out with these Mac time trackers.
Whether you’re trying to work out how much time you waste onlineThe 6 Best Time Tracking Software and AppsThe 6 Best Time Tracking Software and AppsIt's vital to track your time if you want to get the most out of your day. Here are the best time tracking apps you should try.Read 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.
![Timer Timer](http://thesweetsetup.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/harvest-ios.jpg)
- 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.
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.
- 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 - Also, is there any similar article about linux time tracking software?
- Ha, you are probably an employer this company, are you :)?
I recommend TimeCamp.