Time management is critical when working remotely. Distractions, boredom, or even general low motivation can waste valuable work time and reduce productivity. So, in order to stay motivated, it is very important to keep track of your time. Whether you want to use the Pomodoro method or simply limit your work time to a specific time frame, you can achieve this with one of these best time tracking apps for your Mac.
1. Stay Focused – Editors’ Choice
If you’ve been using a time tracking app on your iPhone or iPad, I’m sure you want to extend it to your Mac. Be Focused is the productive time tracker if you want simple and easy use. While the app looks like a modal window when you open it, further digging reveals its hidden features.
Be Focused uses the typical 25-minute Pomodoro countdown timer to schedule continuous work for the specified time. You can customize this if you like. However, the end-of-session notification is quite impressive. One of its most intriguing features is the task management component. Using this, you can create tasks, set due dates, and set goals for each.
To keep track of your progress, Be Focused has a detailed reporting panel that allows you to see work intervals, missed work intervals, and the total duration of each interval. You can use Command + R while using the app to view your performance statistics.
pros
- Lightweight and easy to use
- Use the statistics dashboard to track your productivity
- Use the recommended Pomodoro timer to stay productive throughout the day.
Minuses
- You need to purchase the professional package to access advanced features
Price: Free (In-app purchases start at $4.99)
2. Clockify is the best time tracker for splitting teams
Clockify provides a clean interface for creating and deleting commands and adding them to existing or new projects. Overall, it allows you to manage your team, helping them to be more productive.
The admin panel for editing and adding commands is only available through the web application. However, team members can install the software on their Mac; this syncs with the admin panel where you can track working hours. Using the grouping feature, you can isolate certain team members and manage them separately.
If you’re billed by the hour, the Clockify desktop app has a control panel for setting a task as billable. So you can activate this to share working time and accrued rate with clients or your employer. However, automatic billing is only available on a paid basis. You can set the lifespan of a task or project and get alerts when needed. You can also set reminders for upcoming tasks or those that are almost due; this is only available in the paid version.
pros
- Personal or team account management
- Monitor your team members in real time
- Add team members and easily isolate some into groups
Minuses
- Most of the advanced features are only available in the professional version.
Price: Free (In-app purchases start at $3.99)
3. Harvest is the best time tracker for invoicing
Harvest is another great time tracking software to track personal or team time remotely. It has a billable time tracker and is one of my top options for creating invoices. When setting the hourly rate, you can set up earnings or use the app’s hourly rate.
Using Harvest’s intuitive dashboard, you can keep track of your project schedule and optimize requirements for upcoming projects. Harvest allows you to track your team’s expenses. And it provides reusable templates for sharing project estimates.
If you are an HR or manager with a large team, you can add team members by uploading them from a CSV file. Although the application is strict about the allowed fields for CSV, fortunately it provides everything you need to download your team details without any hiccups. Harvest is also a great choice for personnel records management as you can easily export personnel data to your computer in CSV format.
pros
- Great app for tracking personal and team time
- Get staff record in CSV format
- It comes with a 30 day free trial.
Minuses
- 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 for Mac, iPhone or iPad. The application is universal and functional. The app’s dashboard is comprehensive, allowing you to effectively track real-time time. And you can also keep track of reopening and closing hours just like in the office. However, one issue that puts off potential users is that it only supports Macs with an M1 chip and macOS 11.0 or later.
Otherwise, you can upgrade to this if your Mac qualifies given that it’s free with no in-app purchases. Desk Time has a built-in feature that also allows you to work offline. It syncs your data with the remote control panel after the Internet connection is restored.
pros
- Detailed and comprehensive working time dashboard.
- Its native nature makes it super fast and easy to use.
- It’s completely free
Minuses
- Limited operating system and machine support
Price: Free
5. Time Doctor – Supports downloading staff emails in CSV format.
Time Doctor is another all-in-one time management software for teams and individuals. Whether your employees work internally and use a company computer or remotely with their own, Time Doctor has options to suit your needs. Its dashboard contains adequate information about the performance of each employee in real time.
While you can get the mobile version for iPhone and iPad, you can access the desktop version via a web browser or download the installation package from the app’s download page. By inviting users to your organization through the web app, you can set roles right away or edit them every time someone changes roles.
Time Doctor is a great choice for adding multiple team members from an existing directory because it supports loading data from CSV. However, if you use this option, you will need to manually provide each employee with upload and access credentials. You don’t have to worry about manually inviting members if you enter their email addresses in the email field instead.
pros
- Great app for big teams
- Easily specify and edit user roles
- Monitor your team members in real time
Minuses
- You need to invite members manually
Price: Free
FAQ
Time tracking helps improve productivity as you can set time limits while you work. In addition, it allows you to calculate hourly rates without the need for manual calculations.
The perfect time tracker should help you manage your work time effectively. To do this, you need a time tracker that will allow you to set productive goals and track your working hours. If you need extra features for teams, a good time tracker should have a detailed dashboard for managing teams and projects.
The clock is ticking….
Time is invaluable and you have to value every little thing you have in order to maximize your productivity. While these best Mac time tracking apps help keep track of your work time and help you be more productive, it’s better to use them wisely than just install them.
Do you use a time tracker for yourself or your team? Which is your favorite? Let me know in the comments.