Personal Time Management software

[Christian]

Today i found this software that tracks everything you do on your computer, what programs you use, at what time, for how long, so you can actually see how much time you have been working on your projects and how much time you have spent in other things. You can also set tasks and an estimation of the time you want to spend on it. Its free. Does anyone know a better program than this for this purpose?.

http://ptm.sourceforge.net/

[Pallav Nawani]

MapleXp Express is a similar tool. It is free, but not open source.
http://maplexp.veex.net/
I use it to log the time I actually spent on working on my project.

[Grey Alien]

I use Excel because it's flexible but I'd like to find a really decent program that does everything I want it to.

[Stephen Morris]

Hi Christian,

Had a quick look at PTM QuickStart but I don't like the fact you are continually asked if you are still doing a current task every 10 mins. I've been using the RescueTime webapp to accurately track all my computer usage, set goals and learn/alter my patterns.

I really wouldn't swap it for anything now.

Regards,
Stephen

[Christian]

I also used Excel before, but the bad thing is that you have to manually update it, with other software like ptm it stores exactly what you have been using and the exact time you used it, more precise i think.

MapleXp seems to be like Todolist, more like a task manager than a time manager, it doesnt track exactly what you do, wich is what i am after so that i can actually see statistics of my real productivity.

With ptm, you can change the time so that it doesnt ask you each 10 minutes, it can be anytime you want, ill try Rescuetime though, thanks.

[matmilne]

i always set myself a schedule for the end of a given day or week, i would say 10 minutes of music a day, or 20 minutes of a film, or a particular track or scene. each day i would work as hard and fast as i could to achieve that no matter how long it took sometimes working 26 hours without breaks to get it done. it ain't pretty and it ain't 9-5, it isn't easy on anybody around you and your mental health will suffer over a longer period of time, but that's the life of an artist, and if it gets the job done then that's what you've gotta do.
i could be given 6 weeks to complete a project, but i'll aim to be finished in 1 granting the schedule an extra 5 weeks to play with which is useful for editing and mixing.

obviously again with game production it's a number of years, but in each day for each task you know what your own workrate is and you can push for it. ordinary people don't get to do amazing things so an ordinary life goes on hold or doesn't exist for the duration of a project. It's not a cushy job, but then being an artist isn't a job, it's an existence, a life, something you spend your entire life being.
Time managment is fairly irrelevant, if you've got a job to do you do it by the end of the period, no matter what it takes, and everything else is pushed aside or cancelled, that's just what the job takes. this life is easy on you, it's hardest on those around you, and yes folks family last, the job comes first.

[Christian]

i always set myself a schedule for the end of a given day or week, i would say 10 minutes of music a day, or 20 minutes of a film, or a particular track or scene. each day i would work as hard and fast as i could to achieve that no matter how long it took sometimes working 26 hours without breaks to get it done. it ain't pretty and it ain't 9-5, it isn't easy on anybody around you and your mental health will suffer over a longer period of time, but that's the life of an artist, and if it gets the job done then that's what you've gotta do.
i could be given 6 weeks to complete a project, but i'll aim to be finished in 1 granting the schedule an extra 5 weeks to play with which is useful for editing and mixing.

obviously again with game production it's a number of years, but in each day for each task you know what your own workrate is and you can push for it. ordinary people don't get to do amazing things so an ordinary life goes on hold or doesn't exist for the duration of a project. It's not a cushy job, but then being an artist isn't a job, it's an existence, a life, something you spend your entire life being.
Time managment is fairly irrelevant, if you've got a job to do you do it by the end of the period, no matter what it takes, and everything else is pushed aside or cancelled, that's just what the job takes. this life is easy on you, it's hardest on those around you, and yes folks family last, the job comes first.

In my experience, your mind gets tired if you push it to the extremes, and when that happens you wont be able to work at all, or even if you can work it wont be at 100% of you capacitiy, thats why some big companies have opted to include leisure time and relexation times in the schedule of theyr employees, to add some balance between rest and work.

So, i find it important to add just the right balance between rest, excersize, leisure and work, and what do to first and what last, so that i do things at the right times, i do art when my mind is tired, and i program when my mind is awake, i work just the right ours, i rest just the right hours, i have fun just the right ours so my productivity is maixmized, i dont push myself too hard, i rather design my schedulle for maximum efficency of my mood, my body, my mind and my motivation. Brute force may work sometimes, but in a long term plan it doesnt work, its better to take care of yourself as a high efficienty F1 car to maximize you productivity.

[Jamie W]

I've tried simular things, and RescueTime, in an attempt to improve my own productivity, and I find these kind of applications can be just as distracting as time-saving!

It's a big issue though, how we utilize our time, and I think a big part of it comes down to how we personally manage our projects and information.

I'm with David Allen (GTD), in that it's good to get things out of our minds and in to some kind of trusted system, though what form that takes, is up to the individual. The important thing is to get the stuff (ideas) outta your head. Only have relevant information at hand, to the specfic task you're currently working on. All other information needs to be filed away in some kind of organised system, at hand if you need it, but also, out of your workspace, so you can focus more of your attention on what you're doing right now.