Time management is critical while working remotely. Distractions, boredom, or even general low motivation can waste valuable work time and lower productivity. So, to keep yourself motivated, it’s crucial to keep track of your time. Whether you want to employ the Pomodoro method or simply cap your working hours to a particular time interval, you can achieve that with one of these best time tracking apps for your Mac.
1. Be Focused – Editor’s Choice
If you’ve been using a time tracker app on your iPhone or iPad, I’m sure you want to extend them to your Mac. Be Focused is the productivity time tracker if you want for simple and lightweight usage. Although the app appears as a modal box when opened, digging further reveals its hidden features.
Be Focused uses the typical Pomodoro 25-minutes countdown timer to schedule work non-stop work for the specified time. You can adjust that if you want. However, the end-of-session alert is quite impressive. One of its most intriguing features is its task management component. Using this, you can create tasks, define due dates, and set goals for each.
To monitor your progress, Be Focused features a detailed report dashboard that lets you see work intervals, skipped work intervals, and the total duration for each interval. You can use Command + R while using the app to see your productivity stats.
Pros
- Lightweight and easy to use
- Use the stats dashboard to track your productivity
- Use the Pomodoro recommended timer to stay productive throughout the day
Cons
- You need to purchase the pro package to access advanced features
Price: Free (In-app purchases start at $4.99)
2. Clockify – Best time-tracker for splitting teams
Clockify provides a crisp interface for creating and removing teams and adding them to existing or new projects. Overall, it lets you manage your team while helping them get more productive.
The admin panel for editing and adding teams is only accessible via the web app. However, team members can install the software on their Mac; this syncs with the admin dashboard, where you can track work time. Using the grouping feature, you can isolate specific team members and manage them separately.
If you have an hourly rate, the Clockify desktop app features a control panel for setting a task as billable. So you can activate that to share work time and accrued rate with clients or your employer. However, automated invoicing is only available on a paid basis. You can set a task or project lifespan and get an alert when it’s due. You can also set reminders for upcoming tasks or those that are almost due; this is only available in the paid version.
Pros
- Manage personal or team invoice
- Monitor your team members in real-time
- Add team members and isolate some into groups easily
Cons
- Most advanced features are only available with the pro version
Price: Free (In-app purchases start at $3.99)
3. Harvest – Best time tracker for invoicing
Harvest is another excellent time tracking software for remotely tracking personal or a team’s time. It features a tracker for billable time, and it’s one of my top picks for creating invoices. While setting hourly work rates, you can customize earnings or use the app’s hourly rates.
Using Harvest’s intuitive dashboard, you can monitor your project’s timeline and optimize requirements for upcoming ones. Harvest features expense tracking to monitor your team’s expenditures. And it provides reusable templates for sharing project estimates.
If you’re an HR or a manager with a large team, you can add team members by uploading them from a CSV file. Although the app is strict about accepted fields for CSVs, thankfully, it provides all you need to upload your team details without a glitch. Harvest is also an excellent choice for keeping staff records, as you can easily export staff detail to your computer as CSV.
Pros
- Excellent tracking app for tracking personal work time and team time
- Get staff record as CSV
- It comes with a 30-day free trial
Cons
- Only available as a web app
Price: Free (In-app purchases start at $10.80)
4. Desk Time – Free time tracker for Mac
Desk Time is a free time tracking app option for Mac, iPhone, or iPad. The app is versatile and functional. The app’s dashboard is comprehensive – allowing you to track time effectively in real-time. And you can also track resumption and close hours as you would in an office setting. However, one problem that puts potential users off is that it only supports Mac with an M1 chip and macOS 11.0 or later.
Otherwise, you might want to jump on this if your Mac satisfies the requirements, considering it’s free with no in-app purchases. Desk Time has a native feature that also allows you to work offline. It syncs your data to the remote dashboard once it regains an internet connection.
Pros
- Detailed and comprehensive dashboard for monitoring work time
- Its native nature makes it super-fast and easy to use
- It’s completely free
Cons
- Limited operating system and machine support
Price: Free
5. Time Doctor – Supports CSV upload of staff emails
Time Doctor is another versatile time management software for teams and individuals. Whether your employees work within the organization and use the company’s computer or remotely with theirs, Time Doctor provides options that suites your needs. Its dashboard has adequate information about each employee’s real-time productivity.
Although you can get the mobile version for the iPhone and iPad, you can access the desktop version via your web browser or download an installation package from the app’s download page. While inviting users to your organization via the web app, you can set roles immediately or edit them any time someone changes roles.
Time Doctor is an excellent choice for adding multiple team members from an existing catalog, as it supports data upload from CSV. However, you’ll need to manually provide each employee with a download and access credential if using this option. You don’t need to worry about inviting members manually if you’re entering their email addresses into the email field instead.
Pros
- Great app for large teams
- Easy to specify and edit user roles
- Monitor your team members in real-time
Cons
- You need to invite members manually
Price: Free
Time tracking helps improve productivity, as you can set time limits while working. Additionally, it lets you accrue hourly rates without needing manual calculations.
An ideal time tracker should help you manage your work time effectively. For this, you want a time tracker that allows you to set productive goals and calculate your working hours. If you require extra features for teams, a good time tracker should feature a detailed panel for managing teams and projects.
The clock’s ticking….
Time is irredeemable, and you should value every bit you’ve got to maximize productivity. While these best Mac time tracking apps help track your working hours and help improve your productivity, using them judiciously rather than just installing them is better.
Do you use a time tracker for yourself or your team? Which is your favorite? Let me know in the comments.
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