What is Reddit's opinion of ManicTime?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I prefer just using a tool like ManicTime or RescueTime to track my reading time. I'm not sure how this Visual Novel Manager program works exactly, but the tools I mentioned only track the time a program is actually being actively used aka in focus. Plus, you don't need to launch the VNs through the tool for the tracking to work.

I don't think there's any tool out there that could backtrack the time you spent on it. That'd be pretty cool, though.

I've used Procrastitracker and ManicTime for years. Procrastitracker's very lightweight, simple, and stable, loads fast and the database files are small. Manictime is much nicer looking but it's heavier and has a bunch of features I don't use and the database files are hundreds of megabytes large after years. Comes with a really useful timeline that I use all the time to check what I was doing when and for how long. I still have them both installed.

Raptr tracks gameplay hours and integrates with Steam, PSN, and Xbox.

Evolve tracks as well I believe.

ManicTime is a general purpose time tracking software.

>I used Xfire for many years before it shut down

Wow I had no idea it shut down. I used it back when it first came out around 2004 with my Halo PC clan. Sad to hear that it's gone for good. It never really could compete Steam.

They've pretty much all but admitted that it's for micromanagement in this case (We want an extra way to confirm what people have been working on)

And the software package is pretty much made for micromanagement purposes. So 'all that technology' is basically nothing, because it's off the shelf with virtually no ongoing cost.

http://www.manictime.com/teams

http://demo.manictime.com/#/analytics/dashboard?from=7-7-2017&to=7-7-2017&dayDate=7-7-2017&groupBy=2

there is manic time which is a stand alone program that tracks all your computer usage. It's nice because you can see times for specific pages of sites or the entire site's agregate (ie a specific article on reddit or all of reddit as a whole).

I like ManicTime as a starting point. It logs what applications and documents/websites you are using in the background and what times you use them. You can upgrade to a premium account if you want to go more in depth with reporting but for what I use it for, I just stick with the free version.

My favourite is called Manic Time - it doesn't just track websites, it tracks documents, programs anything automatically from when you turn your computer on. You can tag things that it will also then automatically track. Changed my life.

You should try somethng really cool I just discovered last week!

It's called ManicTime, it's an application you can get that tracks your active tasks. It's great for seeing how much time you spend at your desk working vs. slacking, and it's already helping to keep me on task.

I know you are right, but merely saying "to change your habits, change your habits" isn't gonna help that much.

I too have a problem with being too much on the internet, I installed ManicTime this morning and think that knowing everything you do gets logged already motivates to actually do something productive.

That being said, I'm on reddit right now, so probably that's not enough.

For each application, but maybe not individual files: WhatPulse.

For active window tracking: ManicTime.

Both programs will only record stuff that happens after you install either or both of them, so nothing before.

The Witcher 2 works with the Steam overlay, just set the short cut to the actual game executable, no the launcher. You don't get the time tracking of course, but the overlay is fine. It even picks up the game that's playing so it shows it on the chat window.

For time tracking, I use ManicTime. Though it tracks application time, so the menus and loading time is included.

I'm solo so I need time tracking for time-paid projects and as an analyzing tool to understand what tasks are more/less profitable.

When I asked myself the same question I wanted something that could run autonomously on the background and wouldn't require me to toggle it on and off every time i do something. I chose manictime.

It keep tracks of every application I use, the windows titles, the websites I visit, etc. and I have even added a custom timeline which tracks what files I modify. All my projects have their own folder.

Then, I set some keywords and tags so that manictime can automatically identify when I was working on what project.

It just requires 2 minutes at the end of the day to review it.

I find the app is around $50 (bought it a while ago), but then no recurring fee, so I think that's fair.

I use http://www.manictime.com/ and it's great. Not free but a one time payment only. It tracks what applications I'm using and opened files/websites. Then you can automatically create tags based on keywords.

There is also a custom timeline that I use to track what files have been edited and as they are all in folders specific to projects, I get a clear idea of the time spent on each project.

When I was using windows I ran my own software created in Gamemaker Language. It saves the data to a text file which can be easily copied and pasted into a spreadsheet, but it doesn't actually track the data itself.

Right now, I'm running Ubuntu Linux, and I use project hamster, which logs all of the data, and at the end of each day (or really whenever I feel like it), I can manually put the data into my spreadsheet file to be able to visualize the data how I want.

Before these to programs, I experimented with ManicTime, which I really liked, it just didn't quite do what I wanted.

I've used the free version of the proprietary Manic Time product (screenshot)for awhile on Windows. It works great, but I'd rather use an open source alternative. It is a free version with a paid version with more features. I haven't really been frustrated by any limitations, although I'd love an alternative that support multiple computers, while still free.

Try a time tracking tool like http://www.manictime.com/ or https://www.rescuetime.com/. They're used to help you improve your productivity by letting you see how you're wasting your time: when your computer was on, what program you were using, what webpages you were on. This should give you the information you want, but it also has a clear legitimate use on its own (compared to a keylogger, which you would only use if you think you'll catch someone).

I'm using ProcrastiTracker since ages, who is free and open source.

It's a little lightweight app who does his job.

In the past, I've also tried ManicTime, but was too much for me and with too many limitations.

Yep. They can be really useful for freelancers who want to track time spent doing any given task (to allow for accurate billing).

ManicTime logs what applications are being used, for how long, etc. and has a free version. There are alternatives, like Rescue Time which I believe offers similar features.

The only issue with these is that you'll be collecting a lot more data than you need for what you want, and it's probably simpler to keep a conscious log of it yourself with a spreadsheet/ledger and stopwatch, though if you run a task logger (which are typically designed for project management) it will do all of that automatically.

I'm the only hourly tech guy in an office of salaried marketing people, and my soon-to-be former employer is adamant about billing every possible moment to a client. The nature of my work--hopping around on dozens of tasks for numerous clients every day--makes it impractical to start and stop timers.

I use ManicTime to automatically record and tag my activities. At the end of the day I can review the timeline and doublecheck the tagging, make any manual updates, and get time summaries per client. And it can generate daily or weekly timesheets.

Some nice alternatives are Timesnapper & TimeDoctor.

As for the wife calling for 2 minutes... I used to not count any personal interruptions, hallway chats, bathroom breaks, dishwashing, etc. until I realized no one else was doing that. They'd just sit down at the end of the day and chop up their 8 hours into subjective client buckets, including all their personal chatter and pencil sharpening.

I still know how much of my time is consumed by office baloney, but now I proportionately pad the client work so I get paid for my whole day just like everyone else.

How well that works in a home office depends on the kind of distractions and interruptions you face. If you treat it like an office workday and are relatively focused, it seems reasonable. If you squeeze work in between errands, dog walking, laundry, etc. then you'd have to be more black & white with your time tracking.

Could work. Also has problems. Like when have you been in lunchbreak? When did it overwrite? What did you do 3weeks ago for four hours?

I would suggest a time tracking tool (for windows) like http://www.manictime.com/ It is more accurate and has no downfalls I encountered.

I tried more software-solutions, but manictime is imo the best. I tired these here too Klok, Rescue-Time, Procasti-Tracker, toggl.com, syncd.com, chrometa

OK what i had on my computer a few years ago (2011) was called ManicTime.

I knew people in this class that I dropped kept having the date of a project changed because they said it was too hard and they needed more time to the Prof. I called BS and said i could probably write the entire code in a week. Like all challenges i make for myself i wanted to make sure i really could. I stumbled upon a Lifehacker post about the software and decided to use it to track my time. Worked pretty well, could even tell what doc i had active in Eclipse for how long, but not eclipse itself. Just the Java Binary.

http://www.manictime.com/#features

Back to the story. I managed to do 75% of the code in roughly 36 hours with that was accurate enough that the error rate was something like 1.2x10^-16 or something ridiculous like that

I just hope this isn't used to penalize someone's work habits....

> Could you claim that a task took an hour when really it was 15 min of work and 45 min of staring at the wall?

I guess but you don't do much staring at walls. If you find yourself staring at a wall-- that would be a good time to try and find an internal project to keep yourself occupied.

That being said, it's self reported. You log time via an internal application. People keep track of their time via calendars, via best guess, some even use manic time to track time. YMMV.

Mac or PC? For Mac there's Finch.

After a quick search I also found ManicTime which seems to do what you want but I've never tried it before.

Why not just look at the time logged on the save/load game menu? I realize that excludes the time you've played before dying and reloading, but unless you die constantly it should be relatively close. It sounds like your interested in statistics none-the-less. You should check out Manic Time. It's a cool little app that keeps track of how much time you spend on things. Technically, you could use it to keep track of the time you've spent playing Skyrim

I use ManicTime, the free version, on windows.

I especially enjoy its stability - you can really set it and forget it. The paid version has more support for billable hours, but I'm not sure how good it is.

Also I believe the database is in an accessible format, but there's csv export as well.

It tracks time per application, time per website (domain) or file open, and away from computer time. Overall recommendable, the downside is I don't think there's any type of integration with multiple PC, phones, etc.