cloud time tracking

Smash Your Working Day With Time Blocking

by Surekha Shetty | Jun 9, 2021 | Project Management, Software, Time Tracking

We’ve all probably created a to-do list at some point, and they can be very useful at helping us to remember what we have to do. But to-do lists are not so good at time tracking and helping you actually get stuff done. Considering that research has shown 41% of items on to-do lists never get done, it would maybe be more appropriate to call them things that probably won’t get done lists.

So, why is it that to-do lists so often just don’t get done?

One reason is that to-do lists are not great for efficient time management is that they don’t take into account how long a particular task will take. Such a list will say nothing about whether a particular task will take a few minutes, or a few hours, potentially leaving you without enough time to complete other tasks on your list.

Another reason to-do lists aren’t great for boosting productivity is that you can end up trying to do multiple things at once, harming your productivity overall. As one ancient Roman dude by the name of Publilius Syrus once said: “To do two things at once is to do neither”.

The good news is that time blocking helps to make project management so much more effective.

What is Time Blocking?

Time blocking is a time management system that involves segmenting your working day into ‘blocks’, and assigning a particular task to that block. During each block, you will focus on the task allocated to it, and nothing else. This task management system helps improve productivity for numerous reasons, including:

Prioritizing: Time blocking helps to make it easier for you to prioritize your most important tasks, helping you to make sure they get done first. It also helps you see where some tasks can be delegated to other people.
Allows Better Focus: A lot of people seem to think that multi-tasking helps to get more done, but they’re quite mistaken. Indeed, research has shown that multitasking can ⦁ increase the length of time it takes to complete tasks by 40%. By dedicating a block of time to one specific task, you can cut out multi-tasking, making yourself more productive.
Parkinson’s Law: Parkinson’s law states that the amount of work you have will expand to fill the time available to complete it. It also means that if you know that you have a limited time slot then you’re more likely to get the task done within that time.
Helps to Draw Boundaries: One of the biggest issues facing time management is that other people always need x, y, or z done. It can be difficult to say no to helping other people with their tasks, meaning that less time is being spent on your own task. Assigning blocks to certain tasks and letting other people know will make it easier for you to draw boundaries and say no.
Improved Time Management: Time blocking helps you with time management; it helps you be more realistic in terms of how long a particular task will take and how it will fit into your day.

How to Time Block Like a Boss

You should also use time tracking software like the PK4 TimeTracker. A time tracker will help you get a better idea of just how long you are spending on particular tasks – a potentially very powerful tool for project management. It can be surprising to learn from a time tracker just how much time you’re spending on relatively unimportant tasks, helping you to boost productivity by focusing on other more important activities instead.

Using a calendar will help make task management a lot easier for you and make it a lot easier for you to visualize your week ahead. Being able to visualize your day makes it much easier for you to prepare, boosting your productivity. Don’t forget to share your calendar with other people so they know to leave you alone when you’re focusing on something important.

When time blocking, one of the first things you should do is to ask yourself which of your tasks are high-priority, and which are less important. Your time-blocking calendar should then focus on making sure there’s sufficient time for the more important tasks. When setting a block of time for each task, make sure to be realistic in terms of how long they will take to complete.

Also, try to allocate your most important tasks to when your productivity levels are at their highest. If you’re somebody who isn’t quite with it until 10:30 am when you’ve had your caffeine fix, then plan your day so you’re working on the important stuff when you’re firing on all cylinders.

We’re not superhuman; we all need the occasional break to recharge our body and mind. Effective project management requires allocating blocks of time to breaks. It might mean taking an hour or so out of your working day, but feeling energized will help to increase your productivity levels overall.

10 ways to track time! Part 2

by Surekha Shetty | Aug 3, 2020 | Software, Time Tracking

Good to see you back. In Part 1 of this blog, we explored the four ways in which you can track time inside Salesforce. Today, we’ll move on and explore how you can track time on the web and on the Time Tracker mobile app. Remember that in all these cases, all your time tracking data is still safely within Salesforce. One other thing to remember is that users who use the Time Tracker on the mobile or on the web, do NOT need to be Salesforce users.

On the Web
There’s two ways to track time on the Time Tracker Web app. You can track time by checking in time for multiple tasks/activities or you can use a timer that you can Start/Stop as you do your work.

Check In/Out: Checking In/Out on the Time Tracker web page means that you are Starting / Ending a timer as you work on a Project / Task (or whatever has been configured for you). You do this by selecting

the Check-in button on the top right hand corner of your screen when you login to the Time Tracker Web. You simply select the Project / Task that you are working on. Key in any notes that you want your manager/supervisor to see and click on the Check-in button. This option tracks time as you are working on a Project/Task. When you are done working, click on the Check-Out Now button, if you want to Check out at the current time. If you forgot to Check-Out at the time that you actually finished your work, you can put in the actual hours and minutes that you worked on the task and click on the Checkout button. This will work as long as the Check-in time plus Hours Worked is less than the Current Time.

Multi Check In: Use the multi check-in option, when you want to add timesheet entries for Project / Task that you worked on each day from

the drop downs, Add any information that you need on the additional fields configured for you. Fill in the Start and End times for the activities that you worked on. You can enter up to 10 different activities on this screen. When you are done, click on the Submit button. If you have more activities that you need to add in, you can do so.

A Manager/Supervisor can also Approve / Reject timesheet entries put in by people that report to her.

On the Time Tracker Mobile app

The Time Tracker mobile app works on both iOS and Android devices.There are four different ways that you can track time on the mobile app. Checking in/out as you work on an activity OR manual entry after you’ve completed the activity. We also have a Kiosk mode that you can use as a replacement for a punch clock. This is really useful in a factory/warehouse/office setting where you want all your employees to Clock In and Clock Out as they start and end their work for the day The Time Tracker Team mode allows a Team Lead/Supervisor to Clock In/Out individual team members and then Check In all Clocked in team members.

Check In / Out: As in the other cases, Check In/Out means that you are starting a

timer for work that you are currently working on. There are two ways that this works. If you are set up as an Individual User, you can check in/out of Projects / Tasks on your mobile device. This is a good option for Exempt employees who need to track time for billing/invoicing. If you are set up as a Personal User, you can clock in at the Start of your work day and Check In/Out of multiple Projects/Tasks with different check-in types. Some check-in types that our customers currently use include options for Job, Travel, Loading, Cleanup, etc. This option is good for non-Exempt employees for whom you need to track hours and breaks for payroll purposes. On the mobile, you can configure the app to collect GPS locations at specific transactions. Users can also take pictures at the jobsite and add them in.Users on the mobile can get notifications, when they are assigned a project or when anything changes on their projects.

Manual Entry on the mobile: Sometimes, you may want to enter your time

Manual Time Entry - Mobile — Manual Time Entry – Mobile

details after the actual work is done. You may have forgotten to enter the time, your phone could have been out of charge or perhaps you left your phone at home, Whatever the reason, you may not have been able to Start/Stop the timer as you worked. In such a case, you do have the ability to add the Project / Task that you worked on along with the Start and End Times for the work done. You can add multiple manual entries. You could use this mode of timesheet entry, if you are adding all of your timesheets after completing the work. In general, we suggest that you do this at the end of the day, so you don’t forget things that you have worked on.

Team Mode check ins for entire team

In the Team mode, only the Team Lead needs to have the Time Tracker on his/her mobile phone. The Time Tracker configuration in Salesforce lets you set up Teams with a Team Lead. When you set up Users in Salesforce, you can assign

them to specific teams.

When the Team Lead of a specific team logs in, she sees the names of all the people on her team. The Team Lead can Clock In each member of the Team as they arrive for work. When the Team Lead clicks on the Start Job, Start Travel or Start Loading buttons, all Clocked in Team Members are checked into the Selected Project and Task for that Check in type. When the Team Lead clicks on Stop on the previously Started Check in type, all checked in Team Members are automatically checked out of that Project / Task. This is a great option for teams working together on Construction/Landscaping/Installation type of work. GPS locations and photos can be configured to be collected at the jobsite.

Team members can be transferred between teams for better utilization. A Team Lead can Release a Team Member from her team, if needed. Another Team Lead can “Add” the released Team member to their team, as needed.

Kiosk mode Check In / Clock In

The Kiosk mode can be used in a factory/warehouse/office to replace the

traditional punch card / bio metric time clock. With the Time Tracker in the Kiosk mode, the big advantage is that all time tracking data is in Salesforce and can therefore be used for analysis. Depending on how your Users are set up in the configuration, Users may be able to Check In/Out OR Clock In and then Check In/Out of individual projects. We suggest using an iPad or an Android tablet for the Kiosk. Since multiple people will need to use the same device. The app works just as well on a phone, but the larger format is useful, when you need multiple people to access the device.

So that covers all ten ways of tracking time using the Time Tracker for Salesforce. Whether you want to track time in Salesforce on a web app or on a mobile device, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a solution as configurable and as user-friendly as our Time Tracker for Salesforce.

10 ways to track time! Part 1

by Surekha Shetty | Jul 24, 2020 | Software, Time Tracking

Yesterday, we had a long and interesting demo of the Time Tracker with a fairly large group of people at a new prospect. During the demo, one of the people commented “So you have four different ways of tracking time inside Salesforce”. It struck me that I had never thought about it that way. Perhaps, when you work with the product every day, you gloss over some of these facts.

In any case, this morning, I decided that I’d make a list of all the ways

that you could track time with the Time Tracker. It turns out that there are 10 different ways in which you can track time with the Time Tracker for Salesforce. See my list here on the right. That’s 4 ways within Salesforce, 4 ways on mobile devices and 2 ways on the Time Tracker web app. Pretty cool, huh?

Based on my list, here’s a short description of each of the ways of time tracking and where you could use it.

Within Salesforce

Within Salesforce, you can track time by Check-in, checking in time for multiple tasks using the Multi Check-in, tracking time automatically to specific Salesforce whenever you are on that record in Salesforce and manually entering the time for a specific task when you are on that record.

Check in: Checking in to work within Salesforce means that you

are tracking time to a specific project/task (or whatever has been configured for you). You do this by selecting the Track Time button on the Salesforce Utility Bar. Clicking on the button, pops up a configured window that lets you choose your Project/Task from drop-downs. You can also enter in any notes that you may have. In this case, you are tracking time for an activity as you work on it. So you Check in when you Start on the activity and Check out when you are done.

Multi Checkin: Use the Multi Check in option when you want to

add multiple activities in a time-sheet format. You may choose to add in all your activities for the day at the end of the day or maybe at the end of the week. We suggest doing this on a daily basis, because chances are you’ll have forgotten something important that you did on Tuesday by the end of the week. 🙂 You select the Project / Task / Worktype fields from drop-downs. Fill in the Start and End times or the number of hours that you worked on each activity. By default, you’ll see 5 lines on this screen. Once you click on the Submit button, you can add your next set of activities.

Automatic Time Tracking: This is a great way to track time for

people who spend most of their time inside Salesforce. You do NOT need to Start / Stop a timer like you do with the Check in process. Every time you go to records in Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, Cases or any other Salesforce object, an Automatic Timer starts right away. It keeps tracking time until you move away from that record. If you move to another Opportunity, the Auto Timer starts tracking time to the new Opportunity. The Auto Timer can be added to all the objects that you want to be able to track time to.

Single record time tracking: This feature again allows you to easily

track time to specific records in Salesforce. But it’s meant for use when you do NOT want time to be tracked automatically. This is meant for users who want to be able to track time to specific Accounts, Opportunities, Cases. But if the users work primarily outside Salesforce using other tools like AutoCAD, drafting and design tools, then this is a great way to track time. These users can go to the specific record where they want to add their time to. A Salesforce component allows you to add the task and the time that you spent on the activity; while the main Opportunity / Case is automatically selected.

So that’s 4 ways to track time just inside Salesforce. Checkin, Multi Checkin, Automatic Time Tracking and Single record time tracking.

Phew! that was a lot. Next week, we’ll talk about the different ways of tracking time on the Web and on the Time Tracker mobile app. Until then, auf wiedersehen!

5 reasons to go green with mobile time tracking

by Surekha Shetty | Mar 21, 2019 | Mobile Apps, Software, Time Tracking

Eliminating paper timesheets, physical time reports to your payroll agency/department, physical paychecks and paper pay stubs are huge steps towards a green organization. In fact, most studies reveal that employees prefer receiving their checks and payroll stubs electronically.

Done right, implementing an end-to-end green path from time tracking to payroll deposits is a win-win for everyone. Let’s start with just the time tracking side of the process.

The endless paper trail

Have you looked closely around your office lately? How much of that paper lying around is for paper timesheets and paper Paid Time Off (PTO) requests? Chances are that it’s quite a lot. And have you ever looked through some of those time cards and thought that it looked worse than your doctor’s squiggles? And have you had your payroll supervisor complain on payroll day that they don’t have all the paper timesheets back from employees? You could suggest using hours from memory, but you could end up over or underpaying employees, which isn’t good for anyone. So what do you do?

Sustainable time tracking

If you are stuck in that frustrating cycle, then making the move to a mobile / web-based time tracking system can eliminate many of those frustrations. Think about how much you spend on buying the paper every year. And how much more on filing, finding, and searching for relevant documents. This is where a huge amount of time, energy, and paper (and therefore money) is wasted while increasing the amount of garbage that your company generates.

A simple mobile time tracking system helps reduce the headaches and wasted effort involved with paper timesheets. Here are some terrific benefits that you get with a mobile/web time tracking system:

Save employees and businesses time and effort with 100% accurate online timesheets
Decrease payroll errors with always available timesheet data
Eliminate time and effort in the PTO request and approval process
Reduce the cost of paper supplies and waste generated
Eliminate rounding errors, buddy punching, and illegible time cards.

Increase payroll and invoicing efficiency

Most certainly, you have a payroll budget. So how can you reduce the errors that

Analyze employee time — Time Tracking reports

inevitably creep in? How can you make the process as smooth as possible. Accurate time and PTO tracking is a major factor in eliminating payroll errors. You want to make sure that your employees are paid accurately for the time that they’ve worked, But you also want to make sure that you are not paying for the time that was not worked. A mobile time tracking system ensures that all employee time is tracked accurately at the time that it was done and that all-time tracking data is automatically synchronized in the cloud. So your payroll team and managers have access to the data immediately, right within your office, regardless of where your employees may be working.

With all data in a single centralized repository, you can easily export simple time tracking reports to your payroll system, ensuring that there is no dropped data or errors in data entry. And you can make sure that every minute is accounted for and billed because you have all the time tracking data for your employees in the same repository.

And all this with no paper anywhere. From your employees mobile phone/webpage to your central repository to your invoicing and payroll systems. All electronically! And because it’s all in the cloud, you are not increasing the carbon footprint within your premises.

Going green makes perfect sense!

Image by iblushay from Pixabay — Go green now!

Sometimes making sustainable changes in your company is difficult. But signing up for a mobile and web time tracking solution on the cloud is easy and effective. The Mobile Time tracker is designed to make life easier for small and medium businesses while accurately tracking employee hours, wherever they may be working. And helping the environment at the same time.

Save time, save money, and save the earth! Now that’s an easy decision, isn’t it?

5 reasons why being on time is important

by Surekha Shetty | Feb 26, 2019 | Software, Time Tracking

Do you think being on time is important? And if so, how important is it? Being a company that focuses on time tracking, our response is obviously biased 🙂 But ask just about anyone (regardless of whether s/he is on time) and chances are that the answer would be “Of course, it’s important”.

Being on time, matters. It communicates whether others can trust you and rely on you. It tells others how you view yourself and them and how important your relationship with them is to you. So professionally, can you afford not to be on time? Being consistently on-time or even early is a great way to make yourself stand out from the crowd and create a fantastic first impression.

Barring true emergencies, there’s really little excuse for not being on time. Being on time is completely within your control. You know most of the factors that control being on time. Taking ownership of them and making sure that you’re punctual shows that you value the other person’s time and relationship. King Louis XVIII of France said, “Punctuality is the politeness of kings”. Let’s look at why being on time is important.

Being late weakens your position: When you’re late, you start off on the wrong foot. You don’t want to start an important meeting with an apology. Not only will you be stressed and scattered, but you may also make the other person question their choice of working with you. If you can’t be trusted to be on time, what are the chances that you can be trusted with a customer’s money?
When you’re not on time, you’re stealing: If time is money, then by being late, you’ve actually taken something of value from the other person. And that is definitely NOT a great way to start business negotiations or relationships. The other person feels that they’ve already given you something, so they’re not likely to make any other concessions.
Being late sends a lot of bad vibes: Being late tells others a lot about you, your integrity and dependability, and your respect for others. It tells them that you value your own time more than theirs and that you think that whatever you were doing was more important than what they could be doing with their time. It shows disrespect and disregard and tells the other person that you are disorganized. None of which are great starts to a relationship.
There’s no good excuse: Other than a real emergency – and sleeping late or traffic don’t make the cut – being on time is 100% within your control. And it’s not difficult. It takes some planning and organization, but compared to most other challenges at work, being on time is simple.
Being late wastes time and money: When you’re late, you’re not getting yourself a few “extra” minutes. You’re throwing away those minutes on things that could have been done correctly with just a little bit of planning. Being late means that you create a lot of extra work for yourself in rescheduling meetings, or follow-up meetings because you couldn’t complete your full agenda, Or you could slow down another project because of the time that you lost on this one. And that’s all in terms of time. Now think about the effect of money. Have you ever missed a flight because you were late? Does your kid’s daycare charge you by the minute when you pick up your kid late? Have you paid extra for parking because your meeting ran over? Being late can lead to costly mistakes.

So we encourage you to take pride in being a person who is always on time and prepared for your appointments. After all, there’s no downside in being early, but there’s a significant downside to showing up late.

So what are your tips for being on time? Do you think being on time is important? Please share your tips and thoughts with us.

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