Procrastination and time-wasting are two of the greatest problems when it comes to being productive, no matter what the circumstances are. As a chronic procrastinator myself, I know what it means to not only miss deadlines, but also not know where all that precious time has gone when the day is done.
These days there are many tools that help people keep track of time. Some are better than others but there are certain attributes that make up a good time tracking solution. SlimTimer has two that make it a good choice: ease of use, and the ability to be made accountable to someone else. Oh, and did I mention that it’s free?
Getting started with SlimTimer
The obvious first step is signing up for the service. All they really ask for is your name, email, and a password. The interface of the app is a little aged, but don’t worry, it works flawlessly. The site warns that it only works on Firefox, Internet Exlorer, and Safari, but this writer uses Chrome almost exclusively and there hasn’t been any issues at all.
Next, click “OPEN TIMER” to open a small window with everything you’ll need. the website suggests that you add that link to your bookmarks (which would make life a lot easier).
Adding tasks
In order to track the time it takes you to do a task, you must first setup the task. You can have more than one on the list at a time so don’t feel too pressured to pick one over the other. In order to begin a task, click Add Task. You can then give it a name and press enter.
Running the timer
To start recording the time, simply click the name of the task you want to record. Pretty easy, right? To stop the timer, just click the task name again or just close the window. The data is all saved for you. You can stop and restart the timer over and over and the time just gets added to the task for you. Notice that at the top of the window, you’ll see the running total to the left and the current time running to the right.
Sharing tasks
SlimTimer gives the option to be held accountable as well as hold others accountable and even add your own time to other people’s tasks. This is all done by going back to the SlimTimer main page and clicking the “Manage Tasks” tab. Click the Edit link next to the task you want to add people to.
There are two types of people you can add to a task: Coworkers and reporters. A coworker can log time on a task, mark the task as complete, and run reports about the task. A reporter can run reports and nothing else. Once you enter the email address for each person you want to add, each person will receive email messages with further instruction.
Conclusion
As you can see, SlimTimer is very easy to use and makes adding accountability to your tasks just as easy. Now, go get a grasp on your procrastination and time wasting and give this tool a try!
