Tools to track the time!

Before we have talked why time tracking is so important if you want to succeed in your career, or organise your day in a better way. In this article we want to share some tools that will help you to track the time.

1. Stopwatch 

It is an accurate instrument that is used to measure the interval of time. Stopwatch  is widely used in various fields, such as: sport, culinary, laboratory researches…etc. It counts the time from start to stop.There are two main types of stopwatches: 

• digital 

• analog

And both are very simple to use, you press 1 button to start the time, and press the 2nd button to stop it and the device will show how much time was spent. Pretty useful when you need to check how much time you need to complete specific task. So later when planning your day you will know how much time to dedicate for that specific task. 

Nowadays there is no need to buy a separate devise as the function of stopwatch can be found in every phone and most of the hand watches. Also most of the time tracking soft wears are based on stop watches, as they calculate the time you spend working in different programs, starting automatically when you open your computer or log in the system or manually. 

2. Timer

The operating principle of a timer is pretty similar to the operating principle of a stopwatch. With one significant difference. You don’t check the time you need for one task, but you set the time you want to actually spend on this task. So after starting the timer you will have a specific amount of time to complete the task. And when the time is over you will hear or see a signal notifying you about that. Another useful tool when it comes to time management. And just like stopwatch you can find it in your phone, hand watch, online, or get one of the cool timers in local or online store. 

3. Hourglass or so called sand clock.

Hourglass is the simplest device for counting the time - two vessels connected by a narrow neck, and partly filled with sand. The time during which sand is poured from one half of the vessel to the other can take from several hours to several seconds. Widely used in ancient times, are not very popular nowadays because of its specific amount of time, that can not be changed, so it is rather used as a decoration. But it can be a good alternative to a regular stop watch when you use a pomodoro technique in your work for example.

4. Candle 

Thats right! Regular church candle, that can be found in many home supplies stores. Just like hourglass it can only measure specific amount of time, the only difference is that hour glass is more accurate but it can be another great alternative to a regular stopwatch in pomodoro technique. One thin candle burns out in about 1 hour which corresponds to two pomodoro, for any larger task. And this is really cool, as you can see how time is running, how much time is left, what motivates you to keep on working and not get distracted. It psychologically affects our brain, when we see our Time literally burning up. In the same way you see that you have less and less time left to complete a particular task, which also motivates you to continue working. when the candle is burnt and the work session is over You can take a longer break, have some water, snacks or just rest and get back to work. It's a really great hack to try.

5. Phone or computer apps

And probably the most popular ways to track the time today is to use the apps of your choice. In App store or Google Play you can find tones of different time tracking apps. Free or paid, they more or less work in the same way, so its up to you which one to use. We have made a selection of some cool apps  that we personally like:

• Forest

• Flora

• Plantie - stay focused 

• Tide

• Awesome pomodoro 

• Tomato timer

• Focus keeper

• Focusmeter 

• Interval timer

Most of these apps can be found both in App store and Google Play. So if You don’t have any time tracker in your phone yet, try to use one of these.