Five Free Tech Tools to Better Manage Tasks – Part 2

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Time is like water cupped in hands… it seeps away in drips and droplets.  In no time, it is gone and even the wetness evaporates.  Still, it is easier for a person to make water than to make time.  Water is, after all, made of two hydrogen atoms attached to an oxygen atom.  That is basic chemistry.  And there are plenty of hydrogen and oxygen atoms.  However, smashing those atoms together is dangerous. 

To make water, it’s not enough to mix oxygen and hydrogen atoms together.  The orbits of each hydrogen and oxygen atom’s electrons must become linked.  But, to get those shy atoms to link requires a sudden burst of energy.  ­Since hydrogen is extremely flammable and oxygen supports combustion, it doesn’t take much to create that force.  All that’s needed is a spark – not even a flame – and kaboom… hydrogen and oxygen atoms’ electrons’ orbits become conjoined.  Presto, you have water.

So why isn’t this done in desserts and places where there is extreme drought?  The reason is the “kaboom”, which — if large enough — can be deadly.  Case in point.  On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg blimp was filled with hydrogen to keep it afloat. As it approached New Jersey after a trans-Atlantic voyage, static electricity caused the hydrogen to spark. When mixed with the oxygen in the air, the hydrogen exploded.  The Hindenburg was enveloped in a ball of fire that completely destroyed the ship in 30 seconds.  But, that explosion also produced a lot of water.  Suffice to say, making water is extremely difficult.  Difficult, but not impossible.  “Making time” is impossible.

Time is finite.  No one can add hours to a day, days to a year or years to a life.  We can only manage time and ensure that precious little is wasted and as much as possible it is used on what matters most.  Thankfully, technology can help.  Time tech tools can help properly schedule time, capture how much time is spent, and maximize use of every minute.

Get More of What Matters Done with Time Tech Tools

The first thing to know is that time management and time tracking are not synonymous.  “Time management” is a process that starts with analyzing and reconsidering main life goals – what matters most — and then taking action to ensure you achieve them without getting distracted.  To do that, you must decide what you want to achieve and what your priorities are and put it all on paper.   Then you need to look at where your time is going now and identify your biggest time wasters and distractions.  Once you do that, you must start reclaiming time that was being wasted, put it to good use and track your progress.  That’s where time management software comes in. That should help to put an end to distractions, stop the multitasking and return to single-tasking, and ensure that you are making the highest and best use of your time for your skillset, job and life.  That’s time management.

“Time tracking”, on the other hand, is the process of recording time against assigned tasks and planned activities. It serves as an additional source of information during productivity measurement and helps businesses to compensate employees for working fairly and accurately.  The time tracking process includes three basic steps:

• Time logging
• Timesheet approval
• Reporting and analysis

Time tracking software provides handy tools for capturing time as well as analytics and reports that give insight into personal and team productivity, costs and profits, time distribution across tasks and projects, etc.

The second thing to know is that all time management and tracking tools are not created equal.   And the “best” time tools depends on your individual needs and preferences.  Consider the features that are most important, needed or valuable to you, such as the number of users, the type of reports, and the integrations with other apps.  Once you’ve narrowed down your options, try out a few different programs to see which one works best for you.  But to get you started, here are five of the top free time management and/or tracking apps on the market. 

Top Five Free Tools to Maximize Time Use

1. Clockify – is a free time tracking software that helps track time, manage projects, and improve productivity. It’s available for individuals and/or teams, and offers a variety of features to help get the most out of every hour of the day. With Clockify, you can track time spent on tasks and projects and use the tracking to create reports that show how you’re spending time, identify areas where you can improve productivity, and – if you are a consultant or expert such as an attorney — bill clients for time spent.  And you can use Clockify to create invoices for clients, so you get paid faster.  It can also assist with managing projects, allowing you to assign tasks to team members and track their progress.  Best of all, Clockify integrates with a variety of other apps, such as Asana, Trello, and Slack, which streamlines workflow.

Clockify is different from other time management programs in that it is free for unlimited users and projects. This makes it a great option for small businesses and individuals looking for a cost-effective time tracking solution.  It’s also easy to use and set up. Even if you’re not tech-savvy, you’ll be able to get started using Clockify very quickly.  And it’s available on a variety of devices, including computers, phones, and tablets so you can track time anywhere, anytime.

Pros:

1. Free for unlimited users and projects
2. Easy to use and set up
3. Tracks time, tasks, and projects
4. Generates reports and insights
5. Integrates with other apps

Cons:

1. Some features are only available in the paid version
2. The interface can be a bit cluttered
3. Not as customizable as some other options

2. TimeCamp – is a useful time tracking tool for teams.  Features for TimeCamp include automatic time tracking, so you don’t have to worry about manually tracking your hours, and productivity tracking, which provides detailed data on productivity including the number of tasks completed, time spent on each task, and overall efficiency.  This is coupled with time tracking reports that help you clarify how time was spent, identify trends, and make more informed decisions.  It’s available for free for up to 10 users. Its intuitive interface is easy to navigate, and it seamlessly integrates with other popular tools such as Trello, Google Calendar, iCal, Asana, Monday.com, and Jira.  

For businesses that bill clients, TimeCamp has a paid plan that allows customized billing rates per client, project and/or task and has an easy invoicing system.   For employee management, it has an easy timesheet approval process, if you can call one step “a process”.  Just one click and a timesheet is approved, streamlining workflow substantially.  And it tracks employee attendance so you are aware of absenteeism and tardiness issues at a glance. 

Pros:

1. Easy to use even for beginners. The interface is clean and intuitive, and the features are well-organized.
2. Affordable especially for small businesses and freelancers. The free plan is very generous, and the paid plans are competitively priced.
3. Even the free version has a wide range of features
4. Accurate, able to track time down to the second (talk about not wasting a single minute!)
5. Secure, using industry-standard security measures to protect data

Cons:

1. Some key advanced features, such as timesheets and billing, are only available in the paid plans.
2. The mobile app is not as full-featured as the web app
3. Customer support can be slow to respond

3. Toggl Track – is an intuitive time-tracking app that offers a generous free tier of service as long as there are five users or less in the company.  Formerly just Toggl, Toggl Track has desktop apps and a browser plug-in, as well as mobile apps for tracking time on the go or in meetings. It is PC Magazine’s Editors’ Choice time tracking service for freelancers and micro businesses because solopreneurs — who are on a tight budget — can get so much out of it for free. Toggl’s comprehensive time-tracking module features one-click tracking, background tracking, and calendar integrations.  This helps managers to monitor and organize their workforces. The application also features a robust reporting module with detailed summary reports that can be exported in commonly used formats including CSV and PDF. Toggl Track also offers scheduled email reporting support. Users can also take advantage of a project and revenue tracking feature that comes with a clutter-free management dashboard, graphical reporting through charts and graphs, and project estimates. 

It works well for teams, too, as long as all you need is to track time spent working without offering invoicing, expensing, or employee-monitoring services.  Of course, with a paid Starter or Premium account, you can get more advanced features, many of which benefit teams.  The Starter plan is $9 per user per month, while the Premium option costs $18 per user per month. There is also the Enterprise plan, which is custom-priced and free of user caps. Users are also free to opt for a monthly or annual billing plan.

Pros:

1. Free for up to 5 users
2. Tracks time, tasks, and projects
3. Generates reports and insights
4. Very user-friendly
5. Easy to set up

Cons:

1. Not as many features as some other options
2. The interface can be a bit basic
3. Not as customizable as some other options

4. TimeTree – is an app that is really meant to help manage time scheduling for people who are pulled in many directions and into many different personal and professional circles.  Originally created in Japan, the founders of TimeTree wanted to answer to one question:  When plans and projects almost always involve other people, why are most tools made for individuals?  So they created TimeTree to be a collaborative approach to time management.

Designed for a broad range of people and situations – including couples, families, study circles, work teams, etc – TimeTree ensures that everyone (yes, every person) you’re connected with is organized and knows exactly what’s coming up not just in their own day, but in everyone’s day.  You can sync calendars with others and also have calendars just for yourself!  So each individual member of your circle – whether they are coworkers on a project, vendors collaborating on a deal, members of a family or friends within a social group – are connected to you on the calendar you share but also has total control over their own calendars.  You can look at every calendar all at once or separately. 

This collaborative approach extends to the events themselves too. TimeTree has a plethora of tools that make it easy to discuss and organize, with every event having its own chat room, comments, notes and even the ability to upload photos.  This is incredibly handy, keeping all the need-to-knows and discussion points in one place.  This puts an end to toggling from one platform to another just to find out if Joe is bringing copies of the report to the meeting.  And TimeTree provides a full timeline of all upcoming events, making it easy to know what’s coming up and what still needs to be sorted out.

Besides meetings and events, TimeTree also provides the ability to put together shared wish lists, shopping lists, memos, and so on.  And it’s handy for jotting down ideas and staying organized.  TimeTree streamlines time management when it involves lots of other people in many different groups… and, let’s face it, that’s most people.  In fact, Apple awarded TimeTree the Best App of 2015 award and the company has over 10 Million users worldwide.

TimeTree has a free subscription that allows a user to create multiple calendars, share calendars, post comments and photos, import other calendars, and use and create public calendars, etc.  The paid version, for $4.49 per month or $45 per year, allows more calendar views by time, ability to mark priority for events, dedicated customer service support, and no ads.

Pros

• Cross-platform compatibility on iOS, Android, and the web.
• Collaboration keeps everyone in sync
• Smooth communication; able to send comments, notes and reminders
• Customization; change the color scheme, add widgets to your home screen, and set up different calendars for different purposes.
• User-friendly; clean interface and simple tutorials minimizes learning curve
• Paid version is extremely affordable

Cons:

• Recurring events and invitations only available in the premium version
• Notification system can be unreliable
• TimeTree is not available in all countries, but it is available in the US
• Recent server issues makes it slow to load sometimes; bugs / glitches, and connection issues.

5. My Hours – is a simple time management tool said to have all the features a consultant or solopreneur needs and none they don’t.  With MyHours, professionals can track time with the seamless timer or use a keyboard-friendly timesheet that includes expenses or mileage, set billable rates and budgets, automate calculation of billable amounts by setting precise hourly rates by project, task or team member and analyze logged hours and expenses.  With their Dashboard, you get a bird’s-eye view of billable vs non billable hours, earned income by project, under- or over-utilized employees and more.  Inside MyHours, an attorney, for example, can create numbered invoices straight from hours logged.

Managers can add and assign tasks with an estimated budget, create templates when identical tasks appear across projects, and generate detailed reports that are completely customizable and display as much information as needed. Supervisors get an email whenever timesheets are submitted. Each timesheet can be approved or rejected with an email message.  Team members can track time on their projects without seeing each other’s hours and rates while managers can oversee the team and manage their work.

My Hours is a cloud-based app with nothing to install.  It is hosted in Microsoft’s Azure cloud and boasts 99.95% uptime. They perform regular security checks to keep your data in safe hands.

Pros:

• Free for up to five users
• Tracks time, tasks, and projects
• Generates reports and insights
• Integrates with other apps
• Very user-friendly
• Easy to set up

Cons:

• Meant more for time-tracking than time management and increasing productivity
• Not as customizable as some other options

Ultimately, the goal of time management software is to ensure that your time is spent on what matters most… to you.  What that is varies from person to person.  But remember this.  Whether you actively decide or passively refuse to decide, your time will be spent… and it will be gone.  So squander not.  Wise up and use technology to help you make the most of each day.

Quote of the Week

“Once you have mastered time, you will understand how true it is that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year – and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade!” Anthony Robbins

© 2023, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.

The post Five Free Tech Tools to Better Manage Tasks – Part 2 first appeared on Monday Mornings with Madison.