time tracking common activities

time tracking common activities

[J Aaron Farr]

I'm using org-mode to track my time on projects and todo items, but I'd
also like to start tracking time I spend on things such as my email,
reading rss feeds, etc.  I'd prefer to continue to use org-mode for that
so that all my time tracking is in one place with one system.

My current thought is to have a `diary.org` file that I keep tasks that
don't clearly fit in any of my projects.  The file would look something
like:

    * <2009-02-20 Fri>
    ** Notes for the day
       blah blah blah
    ** Activities
    *** DONE Checking email                  :email:
        CLOSED: [2009-02-20 Fri 18:56]
        :CLOCK:
        CLOCK: [2009-02-20 Fri 17:56]--[2009-02-20 Fri 18:56] =>  1:00
        :END:
    *** DONE read rss feeds...

and so on.  I could then archive the contents of the file monthly.

I'm wondering if anyone has any better ideas or sees some particular
flaw to this approach.  I thought about creating a daily repeating event
for things like email, but then the clock section would eventually get
huge, right?

-- 
  J Aaron Farr     jadetower.com        [US] +1 724-964-4515
    馮傑仁         cubiclemuses.com     [HK] +852 8123-7905

Re: time tracking common activities

[David Bremner]

J Aaron Farr wrote:

>I'm using org-mode to track my time on projects and todo items, but
>I'd also like to start tracking time I spend on things such as my
>email, reading rss feeds, etc.  I'd prefer to continue to use
>org-mode for that so that all my time tracking is in one place with
>one system.

>My current thought is to have a `diary.org` file that I keep tasks
>that don't clearly fit in any of my projects.  The file would look
>something like:

>    *** DONE Checking email                  :email:
>        CLOSED: [2009-02-20 Fri 18:56]
>        :CLOCK:
>        CLOCK: [2009-02-20 Fri 17:56]--[2009-02-20 Fri 18:56] =>  1:00
>        :END:

I don't see anything wrong with this, but I also don't see the need
for a TODO. Do you need to be reminded to check email?  You could just
make a headline, and clock on that.  Clocktables (or, maybe,
clocktable view in agenda mode) could narrow down e.g. time spent
reading email in one week.

I guess you would still have to think about comfortable ways to find
the right file/buffer and clock in there.

David

Re: time tracking common activities

[Bernt Hansen]

David Bremner <bremner@unb.ca> writes:

> J Aaron Farr wrote:
>
>>I'm using org-mode to track my time on projects and todo items, but
>>I'd also like to start tracking time I spend on things such as my
>>email, reading rss feeds, etc.  I'd prefer to continue to use
>>org-mode for that so that all my time tracking is in one place with
>>one system.
>
>>My current thought is to have a `diary.org` file that I keep tasks
>>that don't clearly fit in any of my projects.  The file would look
>>something like:
>
>>    *** DONE Checking email                  :email:
>>        CLOSED: [2009-02-20 Fri 18:56]
>>        :CLOCK:
>>        CLOCK: [2009-02-20 Fri 17:56]--[2009-02-20 Fri 18:56] =>  1:00
>>        :END:
>
> I don't see anything wrong with this, but I also don't see the need
> for a TODO. Do you need to be reminded to check email?  You could just
> make a headline, and clock on that.  Clocktables (or, maybe,
> clocktable view in agenda mode) could narrow down e.g. time spent
> reading email in one week.
>
> I guess you would still have to think about comfortable ways to find
> the right file/buffer and clock in there.

When I did something similar to this recently I created a tag for
:ONGOING: tasks and used the agenda view to quickly find these tasks for
clocking in.

I just used a single task to clock multiple times and then at the end of
the year create a new one and archive the old one so they don't grow
forever.

-Bernt

Re: time tracking common activities

[Bernt Hansen]

Bernt Hansen <bernt@norang.ca> writes:

> David Bremner <bremner@unb.ca> writes:
>
>> J Aaron Farr wrote:
>>
>>>I'm using org-mode to track my time on projects and todo items, but
>>>I'd also like to start tracking time I spend on things such as my
>>>email, reading rss feeds, etc.  I'd prefer to continue to use
>>>org-mode for that so that all my time tracking is in one place with
>>>one system.
>>
>>>My current thought is to have a `diary.org` file that I keep tasks
>>>that don't clearly fit in any of my projects.  The file would look
>>>something like:
>>
>>>    *** DONE Checking email                  :email:
>>>        CLOSED: [2009-02-20 Fri 18:56]
>>>        :CLOCK:
>>>        CLOCK: [2009-02-20 Fri 17:56]--[2009-02-20 Fri 18:56] =>  1:00
>>>        :END:
>>
>> I don't see anything wrong with this, but I also don't see the need
>> for a TODO. Do you need to be reminded to check email?  You could just
>> make a headline, and clock on that.  Clocktables (or, maybe,
>> clocktable view in agenda mode) could narrow down e.g. time spent
>> reading email in one week.
>>
>> I guess you would still have to think about comfortable ways to find
>> the right file/buffer and clock in there.
>
> When I did something similar to this recently I created a tag for
> :ONGOING: tasks and used the agenda view to quickly find these tasks for
> clocking in.
>
> I just used a single task to clock multiple times and then at the end of
> the year create a new one and archive the old one so they don't grow
> forever.

and... replying to my own post - I do this slightly differently now.

Clocking a task in sets the TODO keyword to STARTED.  I don't mark
tasks as ONGOING anymore - I just clock it in (and don't mark it done).

I have an agenda view to display STARTED tasks so I can easily find
anything that's been clocked and is not finished.

I haven't been using this system long enough to know whether it's a good
fit for me long-term.  Time will tell :)

-Bernt

Re: time tracking common activities

[Peter Jones]

David Bremner <bremner@unb.ca> writes:
> J Aaron Farr wrote:
>>
>>I'm using org-mode to track my time on projects and todo items, but
>>I'd also like to start tracking time I spend on things such as my
>>email, reading rss feeds, etc.  I'd prefer to continue to use
>>org-mode for that so that all my time tracking is in one place with
>>one system.
>
> I guess you would still have to think about comfortable ways to find
> the right file/buffer and clock in there.

I think this is probably the key to making this successful.  If it takes
you too long to locate the headings, you won't bother clocking in.

What's the best way to quickly get to a heading?

I'd have to say that using isearch (C-s) is the fastest method to find a
heading.  There's also org-goto, but it requires extra steps.

What are other people doing to quickly get to a specific heading?

-- 
Peter Jones, http://pmade.com
pmade inc.  Louisville, CO US

Re: Re: time tracking common activities

[Matthew Lundin]

Hi Peter, 

Peter Jones <mlists@pmade.com> writes:

> David Bremner <bremner@unb.ca> writes:
>> J Aaron Farr wrote:
>>>
>>>I'm using org-mode to track my time on projects and todo items, but
>>>I'd also like to start tracking time I spend on things such as my
>>>email, reading rss feeds, etc.  I'd prefer to continue to use
>>>org-mode for that so that all my time tracking is in one place with
>>>one system.
>>
>> I guess you would still have to think about comfortable ways to find
>> the right file/buffer and clock in there.
>
> I think this is probably the key to making this successful.  If it takes
> you too long to locate the headings, you won't bother clocking in.
>
> What's the best way to quickly get to a heading?

The easiest way to do this is via the agenda. Simply type "I" and you
will clock into the task. Type "X" to clock out. If you set the variable
org-clock-in-switch-to-state you can automatically clock in when
switching to a particular todo.

> What are other people doing to quickly get to a specific heading?

Again, the agenda and org-follow is the easiest way to get to headings.

Best,

Matt

Re: Re: time tracking common activities

[Sebastian Rose]

Matthew Lundin <mdl@imapmail.org> writes:
> Hi Peter, 
>
> Peter Jones <mlists@pmade.com> writes:
>
>> David Bremner <bremner@unb.ca> writes:
>>> J Aaron Farr wrote:
>>>>
>>>>I'm using org-mode to track my time on projects and todo items, but
>>>>I'd also like to start tracking time I spend on things such as my
>>>>email, reading rss feeds, etc.  I'd prefer to continue to use
>>>>org-mode for that so that all my time tracking is in one place with
>>>>one system.
>>>
>>> I guess you would still have to think about comfortable ways to find
>>> the right file/buffer and clock in there.
>>
>> I think this is probably the key to making this successful.  If it takes
>> you too long to locate the headings, you won't bother clocking in.
>>
>> What's the best way to quickly get to a heading?
>
> The easiest way to do this is via the agenda. Simply type "I" and you
> will clock into the task. Type "X" to clock out. If you set the variable
> org-clock-in-switch-to-state you can automatically clock in when
> switching to a particular todo.

I agree. 

  C-c a T s TAB RET

bring's all my started task on screen. I use several seperate TODO-files
- one for each customer and one as my personal organizer.

I only recently started to use the agenda. And I'm starting to love it
:) It's so painless to find something, annotate, toggle TODO states,
clock... to do anything in those files without ever visiting them. Wow!

TAB (other window) and RET (current window) bring you to the file itself
if desired.



Best,

-- 
Sebastian Rose, EMMA STIL - mediendesign, Niemeyerstr.6, 30449 Hannover
Tel.:  +49 (0)511 - 36 58 472
Fax:   +49 (0)1805 - 233633 - 11044
mobil: +49 (0)173 - 83 93 417
Http:  www.emma-stil.de

Re: Re: time tracking common activities

[J Aaron Farr]

On Sat 21 Feb 2009 00:01, Matthew Lundin <mdl@imapmail.org> wrote:

> The easiest way to do this is via the agenda. Simply type "I" and you
> will clock into the task. Type "X" to clock out. If you set the variable
> org-clock-in-switch-to-state you can automatically clock in when
> switching to a particular todo.
>
>> What are other people doing to quickly get to a specific heading?
>
> Again, the agenda and org-follow is the easiest way to get to headings.

thanks for the replies everyone.

I'm going to try just keeping it under a single heading for now, though
I do have email, for example,  as a daily repeating scheduled TODO.
This way I can easily track it from the agenda view.

-- 
  J Aaron Farr     jadetower.com        [US] +1 724-964-4515
    馮傑仁         cubiclemuses.com     [HK] +852 8123-7905

Re: time tracking common activities

[Jason F. McBrayer]

J Aaron Farr <farra@apache.org> writes:

> I'm wondering if anyone has any better ideas or sees some particular
> flaw to this approach.  I thought about creating a daily repeating event
> for things like email, but then the clock section would eventually get
> huge, right?

I do exactly this for my daily processing and weekly review tasks.  The
clock section does eventually get huge, but because it's in a drawer,
that's not really a problem.  I don't need to keep that time data for
more than a month, so I can purge it periodically.

-- 
+-----------------------------------------------------------+  
| Jason F. McBrayer                    jmcbray@carcosa.net  |  
| If someone conquers a thousand times a thousand others in |  
| battle, and someone else conquers himself, the latter one |  
| is the greatest of all conquerors.  --- The Dhammapada    |