Wondering what people are using for keeping track of their time?

For example I have a number of editing projects coming up for clients that I did not shoot for.

Need to track my time. Not necessarily for them but so I can see how much time these projects are taking me, divided into things like, Capturing time, previewing time, editing time etc.

Low tech but a piece of paper divided into Time and Task sections is how I used to keep track when I was editing in my client's edit bay. Built a template in Excel and...

I have a time and billing program called "Timeslips" that is designed for professional practices like lawyers and consultants. Would probably work well but perhaps overkill.

I used to use Timeslips many years ago - nice program, but "overkill" is probably right.

Now I use QuickBooks Pro which comes with the QuickBooks Timer. It's a small app that my employees and I have running constantly. I can select a client and an activity, enter a short description and click "Start". At the end of the month, I import the timer files and QuickBooks generates invoices based on the exact time spent on each project.

I've been using that system since about 2000 and it works great. It makes sure I get paid for all of the time we spend on a project.

Billings is a nice application for the Mac that produces fancy invoices but also allows you to track time & expenses on your Mac or iPhone. You can bill your time down to 6 minute increments just like a lawyer:-)

I'm using MacFreelance, but honestly can't recommend it. More than once, it's just given an obtuse "cannot save due to error" upon closing and wipes out all the changes made since it was last opened. This is less than ideal.

Other than that glaring problem, it works just peachy.

for windows there's a gadget called activity tracker - works pretty well

I'm trying "Easy Time Tracking" by logic software. Anyone familiar with it?

for windows there's a gadget called activity tracker - works pretty well

I'll have to check that out. Though, I usually have gadgets turned of on my editing machines.

What are you editing in? Avid tracks your time in a project automatically.

Lately, been editing in Edius. I just installed MC5 though. WHere is the time tracking in AVID? I don't recall it back when I used to use AVID (few ver ago).

Lately, been editing in Edius. I just installed MC5 though. WHere is the time tracking in AVID? I don't recall it back when I used to use AVID (few ver ago).

I'll have to check. I remember seeing it in MC4. Haven't looked for it in MC5 yet.