We’ve all been there. Your workday is going smoothly until you hit a snag on a project. Next thing you know, you’ve lost track of time, and what should’ve been a quick detour has thrown your entire schedule off course. If this story sounds familiar to you, you’re not alone. Most people struggle with staying on track at work. We reportedly lose nearly an hour of productivity every day due to distractions. Whether it’s a sudden email from a client or a coworker stopping by to chat, our attention rarely stays on one task for long. Instead, we jump from task to task, losing sight of what we were doing in the first place. And, while it’s impossible to avoid all distractions, we can get better at managing our time and knowing how to pick up where we left off. That’s where learning how to track time spent on tasks comes in. This blog will illustrate the value of keeping tabs on time and share popular methods for tracking time, including how to do a time audit. You’ll also learn best practices that will help you track time and use the information to improve your productivity.
Automatic time-tracking software like Tackle can simplify the entire process, making tracking time on tasks seamless and effortless. Before you know it, you’ll have a clear overview of your productivity with little to no effort.
How to Track Time Spent on Tasks (6 Popular Methods)

1. Track Time Using Time Tracking Software
The time-tracking software industry is booming. In 2023, it was worth a whopping $5.23 billion, and experts think it’ll hit $12.3 billion by 2030.
Why? Time tracking tools are very effective at accurately tracking work hours.
Time-tracking software has become extremely popular for tracking time spent on tasks. This tool records how long you spend on tasks and projects. Everyone from freelancers to big companies uses these apps to make timekeeping a breeze. A reasonable time tracker makes logging your work hours accurate and easy. When tracking time is this simple, employees are likelier to stick with it and make it a habit.
Pros
Time tracking software can record time automatically in the background, with a start and stop timer, or manually. Most time tracking comes with reports to analyze your team’s time data to gain productivity insights.
2. Tracking Time Using Paper Timesheets
If you’re going old-school, you might use timesheets. Timesheets are summarized reports of employee work hours during a specific period. Picture a sheet with days of the week across the top and your tasks down the side. You’d jot down how many hours I spend on each task daily. It’s simple, but it gets the job done.
Pros
Manually tracking time doesn’t require additional tools or software, so it’s inexpensive. It has no learning curve and requires no training.
Cons
Like any manual input, this type of time tracking is prone to human error and can be inaccurate. Compared to automated systems, manual time tracking is limited when analyzing data for patterns or trends.
3. Tracking Time Using Spreadsheets
Using spreadsheets to track time is a step up from paper timesheets. It’s still straightforward but offers the following benefits:
- Calculate work hours faster; Keep your data neat
- Spot patterns in how employees spend their work hours
- Reduce the risk of losing time data or messing up calculations
It has all the pros of paper tracking but with a few additional advantages.
Pros
Spreadsheet time tracking is cost-effective. You can use Excel or Google Sheets to track your time at no extra cost if they are already part of your tech stack. You can quickly sort, organize, and filter data with spreadsheet tracking for better management.
Cons
Spreadsheets may have a learning curve as they require a basic understanding of spreadsheet functions and formulas. The initial setup of a time-tracking spreadsheet is time-consuming.
4. The Honor System
The honor system of time tracking relies on an employee’s rule-of-thumb estimate. The system works like this: You report the time you think I’ve spent on a project to my project manager. Your project manager estimates the amount I should be paid based on the hours I’ve worked and my hourly rates.
Pros
This time tracking method is the easiest. It’s also one of the most affordable ways to track time because it doesn’t require additional materials or apps.
Cons
However, the honor system can be problematic due to Inaccuracy. You may underestimate or overestimate my time working, so my compensation may be less or more than what you truly earned, and there is a lack of details.
If you wish to provide a client or a project manager with a detailed report on the assignments you completed and the time that went into them, you can’t because I don’t have one.
5. Calendar-Based Tracking
You create a fixed work schedule, including breaks for your workers, using a digital calendar. Working hours are calculated by looking at what time slots in the calendar were blocked off for work.
Calendar entries can be labeled to reflect the task or activity, and notes can be added for additional context. Workers are then paid their hourly rate according to the calendar for their work hours.
Pros
It is easy to visualize how time is spent across tasks. Notes can be added to entries for additional context.
Cons
It is difficult to track how much time was spent during work hours. Doesn’t prevent time theft. Managers will need to create timesheets and payroll reports manually.
6. Punch Cards
All workers are given “punch cards” to insert into a specific physical time clock when they clock in and out of work. The time clock stamps the punch card with the time of entry and exit from work. Employee hours are calculated using the punch cards, and you can create payroll reports using hours worked and hourly rates.
Pros
Physical evidence of punching in and out prevents disputes. Straightforward and easy to use.
Cons
Susceptible to time theft and buddy punching. Timesheets and payroll reports need to be created manually. Doesn’t account for rest breaks and meal times. It is administratively heavy to store and manage employee punch cards.
Why Track Time Spent on Tasks

1. Improved Productivity
For Businesses
Time-tracking apps give businesses access to performance metrics beyond just an essential record of their employees’ working hours. With the best productivity time tracking tools, you can see:
- Activities that consume the most time
- Times when team members are most active
- The apps and websites that make teams most productive or become distractions
- Utilization rates and time spent in meetings vs. working independently
For Employees
Time tracking lets employees measure the time they spend on specific tasks. It makes sense to think that time-tracking data is nothing more than records of hours and minutes, but there’s more to it than meets the eye.
Time tracking data at all times is a great way to increase productivity. Employees can use this data to identify their biggest time-wasting tasks and optimize productivity methods like the Eat the Frog or The Pickle Jar method.
2. Enhances Billing Accuracy
For Businesses
Billing is an inherently delicate process regardless of which industry you work in. There’s zero room for error. Billing errors can even result in legal repercussions that significantly cost businesses.
Time-tracking software won’t magically fix all billing issues. However, it ensures that employees are compensated appropriately and the company does not incur any overpayments or losses.
You can use these reliable billing records as references in the future should the need arise.
For Employees
In most cases, employees aren’t meant to be payroll and time-tracking experts. So why would you want them to waste billable hours struggling with manual timesheets? Tools like TimeTackle can convert time-tracking data into real-time, detailed timesheets to simplify the process.
3. Better Project Management
For Businesses
Project management can’t exist in a vacuum. For businesses to be successful, they’ll need people with strong collaboration skills, superb time management, and a great project manager to oversee everything.
The best time-tracking tools make life easier for project managers and businesses by ensuring every team member can track time for projects and tasks to gauge real-time project spending and adjust project scope as needed.
For Employees
Even for the most capable project manager, starting a project and expecting to complete everything as planned without understanding how other employees use their time is impossible. No project was ever successful without the proper project management tools and a project manager who knows which tasks to prioritize and who best to delegate them to.
4. Reduced Time on Administrative Tasks
For Businesses
Beyond payroll, time-tracking tools help businesses reduce time spent on other administrative tasks. The ability to track time to specific tasks and even see real-time spending on a project-by-project basis allows companies to visualize how much it costs to add an employee to a project.
That said, leadership can also apply this same logic to employees’ time not working on core tasks. This work might include things like:
- Filling out timesheets
- Responding to emails and Slack messages
- Staying up-to-date on security and compliance training
- Employee pay rates don’t usually change based on the work you have them doing, so classifying tasks is a great way to ensure employees are appropriately utilized.
For Employees
The same thought above benefits employees, too. Most of us would much rather be doing the work we’ve been hired to do than responding to a mountain of emails, searching for documents, or watching mind-numbing training videos.
Reducing admin work is also in an employee’s best interest in commission-based roles like sales. Employees in these roles know full well that they make much more from sales than they do from internal admin work.
5. More Accurate Invoicing And Expense Reports
For Businesses
Invoices are one of the most polarizing aspects of managing a business.
Do an excellent job, and no one even notices. Make even a tiny error, and catastrophe ensues. A recent article by Versapay found that over 60% of C-level executives have overseen a lawsuit or a threat of one due to an invoice dispute.
The report also found that 98% of businesses believe upper management gets burdened with invoice and payment disputes.
When you track time, most of the time, monitoring apps auto-generate the financials.
For Employees
Like clients, employees benefit from accuracy in this department. Expediting the expense reporting process helps ensure that employees are reimbursed on time for travel, food, lodging, and transportation.
6. Increased Work Flexibility
For Businesses
More and more companies are shifting to remote work, and the 9-to-5 is becoming less prominent. Modern workforces are prioritizing flexibility, so it’s up to businesses to accommodate that need.
Time tracking not only makes that flexibility possible; it makes it work. A time tracking tool lets employees keep track of their work and create timesheets anywhere and anytime.
For Employees
What matters to remote employees?
Time tracking helps promote a culture of autonomy in your workplace. Let your employees know you trust them to use their time best. It’s also important to communicate that they are responsible for prioritizing their well-being with a healthy work-life balance.
7. Adherence to Compliance Requirements
For Businesses
Specific industries, such as health care, manufacturing, or government contracting companies, must adhere to compliance requirements that mandate accurate timekeeping. Time theft and fraudulent timesheets (even accidental instances) are punishable by law.
For Employees
Compliance is not just for businesses; these regulations also trickle down to employees. Time tracking and productivity tools ensure that employees stay abreast of their compliance requirements and are adequately compensated for overtime, PTO, and more.
8. Smoother Payments
For Businesses
As fun as it is to get paid, processing payments can be a tedious task. Can you imagine having a fully remote, global team of 100 people and sending payments to them twice a month? We’re pretty sure you’d agree when we say computing for a large team’s payroll isn’t something most are looking forward to.
In case you didn’t know, time-tracking tools can automate payroll, too. You can set hourly rates for your employees to compute payments automatically. Not only does this save you potentially hundreds of hours, but it also ensures payment amounts are correct.
Time-tracking apps also integrate with payment platforms like PayPal and Wise, allowing you to send direct payments to international employees.
For Employees
Getting paid is the point of going to work for employees. That’s probably why 24% of employees will leave after one payroll mistake. After just two mistakes, another 25% will follow suit.
Your business may be something you’re passionate about, but at the end of the day, everyone you employ is there for a paycheck. By improving payroll processes, you can ensure more accurate and timely payments that keep employees engaged and more likely to stay with the company.
Tackle: Revolutionize Time Tracking with AI and Calendar Integration
Tackle revolutionizes time tracking through seamless calendar integration, eliminating the need for manual logging. Our platform automatically captures and categorizes your time, providing actionable insights through intuitive dashboards and reports.
We’ve built everything you need into one seamless package:
- An intelligent tagging system that works your way
- AI-powered automation to handle the tedious stuff
- Flexible reporting tools to track what matters
- Intelligent time capture right in your browser
Trusted by Roblox, Deel, and Lightspeed Ventures teams, Tackle helps executives, team leaders, and customer-facing professionals understand and optimize their time allocation. Simply connect your Google or Outlook calendar, set up custom tags and automations, and gain valuable insights into how your team spends their time.
Whether you’re tracking strategic initiatives, measuring team efficiency, or ensuring resource optimization, Tackle transforms time monitoring from a chore into a powerful decision-making tool.
Start using our automatic time-tracking software for free with one click today!
Related Reading
- How To Track Hours Worked
- Calendar Audit
- Time Audit For Employees
- Time Audit Examples
- Keeping Track Of Time At Work
What Goes Into Effective Tracking of Time Spent on Tasks

You may not know what to expect when you start tracking your time. Your records might be all over the place at first. That’s okay. With time, things will smooth out. Effective time tracking means logging all your tasks consistently, whether billable or not.
The more accurate your records, the better your insights. So, don’t get discouraged if your time logs are messy and inconsistent initially. Over time, you’ll develop a system that works for you, and your records will become more reliable.
Time Tracking: Gain Actionable Insights, Not Just Data
Tracking time isn’t just about seeing how long something took. It’s about understanding where your time goes. You’re on the right track if your data helps you pinpoint bottlenecks, inefficiencies, or time-draining tasks. Maybe you realize client meetings eat up half my day or that a “quick” task always takes two hours. Once you see these patterns, you can make smarter decisions about workload and priorities.
Productive People Use Time Tracking Tools to Get Even More Done
The best time-tracking systems don’t just collect data—they help you improve. If you’re getting more done in the same amount of time, or if I’ve started cutting out unnecessary tasks, your tracking efforts are paying off. Spotting hidden time-wasters lets you reclaim valuable hours for high-impact work.
Find A Time Tracking Method That Feels Seamless
A suitable time-tracking method shouldn’t slow you down. If entering your hours feels like a job, something’s off. The best systems integrate smoothly into your workflow through automated tracking, intuitive apps, or simple manual logging that takes seconds.
You’ll Feel More in Control When You Track Your Time
One of the most significant benefits of time tracking? Clarity. When you have a clear picture of how you spend your time, stress decreases, prioritization improves, and decision-making becomes more manageable. You’re no longer wondering; you know exactly how it was spent, and that feels empowering.
5 Best Practices for Tracking Time Spent on Tasks

1. Use Digital Time Tracking Software
Digital time tracking software automates the time tracking process to provide accurate and reliable data on your time on various tasks. This software enhances productivity by eliminating manual time entries that are prone to errors.
A time tracking software also reduces administrative work, so you have more time to focus on your projects. Automated time tracking tools can generate time tracking reports to help you understand your time usage better. They can also integrate with other systems to help you manage your tasks better.
2. Be Consistent
Consistency is crucial for effective time tracking. You should track your time regularly and consistently to get the best results.
Instead of trying to remember how much time you spent on a task after completing it, write it down before moving on to another job. This practice will help you develop accurate records of time spent across various tasks, essential for efficient time management.
3. Review Regularly
Conducting periodic reviews of your tracking time on tasks will help you ensure whether it accurately reflects on your work. This data gives you detailed insights into the areas that are lacking and your work habits.
4. Protect Data Privacy
Protect the time-tracking data with strong security features. Ensure that the data is encrypted and that access is restricted to unauthorized personnel to prevent leakage of sensitive information. Ensure that the time tracking does not violate privacy laws like GDPR or CCPA.
5. Integrate with Other Systems
Make sure that the time tracking software integrates with other tools like:
- Trello
- Jira
- Azure DeveOps
- Basecamp
To enhance the management of tasks and their progress. This integration makes it easy to update the time spent on the tasks and ensure the project is well coordinated and planned.
Related Reading
- Best Way To Track Employee Hours
- Time Card App For Employees
- Time Insights Google Calendar
- How to Track Time Spent on Tasks
- AI Time Tracking App
- Best Employee Time Tracking App
Choosing The Right Time Tracking Tool

Choosing a time-tracking tool sounds easy until you realize the many options. Should you go for something simple? Do you need advanced reporting? Will it integrate with your current workflow? Before you spiral into analysis paralysis, let’s break it down.
Start With the Basics: What Do You Need?
Different tools cater to various needs. If you’re freelancing, you might need a simple timer to track billable hours. But if you’re managing a team or juggling multiple projects, you’ll want detailed analytics, custom reports, and integrations to streamline everything.
Features That Can Make (or Break) Your Choice
Here’s what to look for, depending on how in-depth you want to go:
1. Calendar Export
If you’re scheduling work in Google Calendar or another app, a tool that lets
You export tracked time into your calendar, which helps keep everything in sync. This is especially useful if you like seeing your day at a glance.
2. Calendar Analytics
Where is your time going? A calendar analytics tool will show how much time you spend in:
- Meetings
- Deep work
- Admin tasks
- Etc
It’s a great way to spot time sinks and optimize your schedule.
3. Custom Tags & Properties
Flexibility is key. If your work is diverse, being able to tag time entries (e.g., “client work,” “internal tasks,” “R&D”) makes it easier to categorize and analyze later.
4. Custom Charts & Reports
Basic time tracking is fine, but if you want real insights, look for a tool to create custom reports and charts. Seeing trends in your work habits can help you improve efficiency and make smarter business decisions.
5. Goal Alignment
Are you tracking time just for its sake, or do you have specific productivity goals? Some tools let you set targets, for example, spending X hours on deep work or limiting meetings to a set number of hours per week.
6. Sync with Google Sheets
If you love spreadsheets (or need to share data with others), look for a tool that syncs with Google Sheets. This makes it easy to:
- Create custom reports
- Track trends over time
- Collaborate with a team.
7. Chrome Extension
Need something lightweight? A Chrome extension lets you track time without switching apps. Perfect for when you just want to hit “start” and get to work.
Related Reading
- Jibble Alternatives
- TimeCamp Alternatives
- ProofHub Alternatives
- TSheets Alternatives
- Time Audit App
- Sling Alternatives
- Timeular Alternatives
- ActivTrak Alternatives
Start Using Our Automatic Time Tracking Software for Free with One-click Today
Time tracking software has come a long way, and today’s tools are more sophisticated than ever. They don’t just help you keep track of time; they also give you valuable insights into how you, your team, and your business use time.
The right time-tracking software can even automate tedious tasks, so you can spend less time tracking and more time on what matters.