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What
Use timers as you work to track time with ease.
Why
  • Reduce manual effort by tracking time across different tasks as you work.
  • Switch timers seamlessly as your work focus shifts throughout the day.
Who
  • Standard users and client users with the project permission (on at least one project):
    • Log time (allows users to track time to the project and its tasks using any time tracking method)
When
Any time you're working on a project or task, especially if it's work you'll be billing for!
What
Use timers as you work to track time with ease.
Why
  • Reduce manual effort by tracking time as you work.
  • Switch timers seamlessly as your work focus shifts throughout the day.
Who
  • Standard users and client users with the project permission (on at least one project):
    • Log time (allows users to track time to the project and its tasks using any time tracking method)
When
Any time you're working on a project or task, especially if it's work you'll be billing for!

Start a timer


There are multiple ways to start timers (options below), but via the Quick add menu is a favorite because it's so easily accessible.

  1. Select + Quick add from Teamwork.com's main navigation menu.
  2. Click Start timer
     

     
    💡 Want a keyboard shortcut? Press and hold q, then press s to get a timer running.  
  3. Select the project time should be tracked against. This step's required! Choose from projects you're a member of.
  4. Choose a taskThis one's optional, but we highly recommend it for more granular time tracking.
  5. Add a description.
  6. Click Billable time (or non-billable time) to choose how time is tracked.
  7. Click Start timer. Now, work on your task or project while the timer runs!
     
    Image Placeholder
     
When you're finished working, skip below to the "Log time from a timer" section to see what to do.
 
📝 You can also start a timer directly on a task from a project's List or Table view.
  • List: Hover over the task, click the clock (Image Placeholder) icon, then select Start Timer.
  • Table: Hover over the Logged time field in the relevant task row, then click play (Image Placeholder).

 

Use multiple timers

Working on multiple tasks or project each day? Set up multiple timers so you can seamlessly switch between them as you work.

📝 While you can have multiple timers on screen, only one can be actively running at a time.

Each time you need a new timer, simply:

  1. Select + Quick Add from Teamwork.com's main navigation menu.
  2. Click Timer and fill out the relevant project, task and other details.



Interact with the timer stack

View active timers

Timers stack on top of one another in a group and each timer displays the associated project, task (if set), and current tracked time amount.
  • Once you have more than three active timers, scroll through the stack to view the remaining timers.
 Image Placeholder
 

Move the timer stack

Move the timer stack around your screen so it's not disrupting your work, while also remaining accessible for easy switching. The stack stays pinned where you place it until you move it again.
  • Single timer: Hover over the timer. Click and hold the set of dots on the left, then drag and drop the timer to a new screen position.
  • Timer stack (multiple timers): Click and hold the header row, then drag and drop the group to a new screen position.
     
    • Image Placeholder
        


Collapse the timer stack

Click the downward arrow at the top of the timer stack to hide all timers except the one currently running (or most recently used).

Image Placeholder
 
 

Manage timers

Manage which timer's currently running, as well as individual timers' details, directly from the timer stack.
 
Pause (Image Placeholder)
Pause the running timer.
Resume (Image Placeholder)
Resume / start a timer.
Stop / Log time (Image Placeholder)
Stop a timer and log the tracked time.
Edit
Hover over a timer and select the pencil to update the associated project, task, or description.
Project
Click the project name on a timer row to view the project.
Task
Click the task name on a timer row to view the task.
Pause (Image Placeholder)
Pause the running timer.
Resume (Image Placeholder)
Resume / start a timer.
Stop / Log time (Image Placeholder)
Stop a timer and log the tracked time.
Edit
Hover over a timer and select the pencil to update the associated project, task, or description.
Project
Click the project name on a timer row to view the project.
Task
Click the task name on a timer row to view the task.


Delete a timer

No longer need a timer you created?  You can delete the timer (and its existing tracked time).
 
  1. Hover over the timer.
  2. Select the pencil icon.
  3. Click Delete timer.
 
The timer is deleted immediately.
 

Log time from a timer

Log the time tracked on one of your open timers.

  1. Click stop (Image Placeholder) on the relevant timer to open the Log time window.
  2. Review the time log's details:
    📝 These are populated automatically based on the details you set when starting the timer. Adjust them as necessary.
    Date
    Defaults to the current date. Click the date to open the date picker and select an alternative date.
    Who
    As the person who started the timer, you're the time log assignee by default. This can be switched to another project member, but we suggest each person be responsible for their own time tracking!
    Task
    If your timer is tracking time to a project (i.e. you didn't specify a task when starting the timer), you can choose a task within the project when logging the time.
    Mark task as complete
    If you're tracking time against a specific task, you can mark that task as complete once the time is logged.
    Start time
    Calculated based on time spent and end time.
    End time
    Defaults to the current time (aka when you stopped the timer).
    Time spent
    Auto-populates with the same duration as your last time entry.
    • When this field is locked (), adjusting the start time automatically adjusts the end time (and vice versa) so that the time spent is maintained.
    • When unlocked, adjusting the start or end time automatically changes the time spent.
    💡 Use the quick time increments (15m, 30m, 45m, 1h) to update the Time spent field.
    Mark as billable
    Ensure the Mark as billable box is checked if the time being tracked is billable.
    Description
    Set or update the time entry's description.
    💡 Set tags using short codes
    Type #tagname or #[multi-word tag name] in the description field.
    Tags
    Click Add time log tag and select one or multiple tags to be applied to the time log.
    📝 Add up to 20 tags to an individual time entry. 20 tags is a lot — try and stick to tags that your team regularly leverages for reporting or tracking purposes.
    Date
    Defaults to the current date. Click the date to open the date picker and select an alternative date.
    Who
    As the person who started the timer, you're the time log assignee by default. This can be switched to another project member, but we suggest each person be responsible for their own time tracking!
    Task
    If your timer is tracking time to a project (i.e. you didn't specify a task when starting the timer), you can choose a task within the project when logging the time.
    Mark task as complete
    If you're tracking time against a specific task, you can mark that task as complete once the time is logged.
    Start time
    Calculated based on time spent and end time.
    End time
    Defaults to the current time (aka when you stopped the timer).
    Time spent
    Auto-populates with the same duration as your last time entry.
    • When this field is locked (), adjusting the start time automatically adjusts the end time (and vice versa) so that the time spent is maintained.
    • When unlocked, adjusting the start or end time automatically changes the time spent.
    💡 Use the quick time increments (15m, 30m, 45m, 1h) to update the Time spent field.
    Mark as billable
    Ensure the Mark as billable box is checked if the time being tracked is billable.
    Description
    Set or update the time entry's description.
    💡 Set tags using short codes
    Type #tagname or #[multi-word tag name] in the description field.
    Tags
    Click Add time log tag and select one or multiple tags to be applied to the time log.
    📝 Add up to 20 tags to an individual time entry. 20 tags is a lot — try and stick to tags that your team regularly leverages for reporting or tracking purposes.
  3. Click Log time.

The time is tracked to the selected project (or task) and can be viewed in the project's Time section.

Best practices

  • Create a routine: Start your day by going to My work to see what needs to be worked on, then start a timer for the appropriate task to keep track as you work.
  • Review timers at the end of the day: Before you log off for the day, log any recorded time on your open timers so that 1) you record time on the day you actually worked on something, and 2) you start fresh the next day.
  • Track time holistically: Use placeholder tasks to track common aspects of daily work not associated with any specific client project, allowing your team to track all parts of their day.
    • Ex. Create a task list called "Time Logs" and create tasks such as "Lunch," "Performance Reviews," "PTO" (personal time off), and "Meeting." Everyone can then run timers (or manually log time) on these tasks when needed.

Elevate

  • Efficiency: Use the Teamwork.com Timer Desktop App to keep all your timers in one place (and out of your workspace). This is especially helpful if you're tracking time on placeholder tasks (outlined in the Best practices section) for general daily work.