Tracking time is a lot easier when you have a timer. Unlike manual time recording, the timer will save you the trouble of remembering the exact time when you started, stopped or paused a task.
Since the timer is an important tool, Fanurio provides several ways to access it. You can access the timer from:
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the Timer menu,
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the toolbar,
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the tray icon menu,
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the iTunes-like mini timer
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the taskbar button's thumbnail toolbar on Windows 7 or
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using global hotkeys on Windows and Linux.
Besides start, pause, resume and stop, the timer has a few other actions. These actions can be accessed from the Timer menu.
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Start Timer...: This action lets you start the timer for a specified service item and attach a description for that task. When the timer is stopped, Fanurio will add time to this item with the specified description.
If a project is open and an item is selected, Fanurio will suggest to start the timer for that item.
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Discard Time...: If the timer is running, this action allows you to discard some of its time.
For instance if you started the timer one hour ago but at some point you took a 15 minutes break, you can use this action to discard this time and keep the timer running. Once you do that, the timer will show it's running for 45 minutes instead of one hour.
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Transfer Time...: If the timer is running, this action allows you to discard some of its time and move it to some other service item.
For instance if you started the timer one hour ago but at some point you did something else for 15 minutes, you can use this action to discard this time and to add it to the project item you've been working on. Once you do that, the timer will show it's running for 45 minutes instead of one hour.
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Timer Info...: This action shows some information about the timer when it is running.
It also lets you change the service item and the description that will be used to add time when the timer is stopped.
Although a timer is a major improvement over manual time recording, it's worthless if you don't remember to use it. When you have lots of work on your head, paying extra attention to a timer is the last thing you want to do. That's why Fanurio has smart timing, an even better method to track time.
A timer is useless if you don't remember to use it. To solve this problem, Fanurio has a few reminders to help you start, resume or stop the timer. Instead of relying on your memory and attention to control the timer, you can use these reminders. We call this feature smart timing.
Smart timing is not enabled by default. You have to enable it from:
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on Windows
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on Mac OS X
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on Linux
Smart timing is how Fanurio figures out what you are doing in order to record time accurately. It uses idle time detection and a set of reminders to do that.
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Reminders: If you are working on the computer, Fanurio doesn't know what you are doing but if you enable smart timing, it will try to learn that from you. Fanurio can ask you repeatedly (you can specify the frequency) what you want to do with the timer.
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If the timer is stopped, it will ask you if you want to start it or if you want to do it later.
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If the timer is paused, it will ask you if you want to resume it or if you want to do it later.
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If the timer is running, it will ask you if you want to stop it or if you want to leave it running.
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Idle time detection: One thing Fanurio can figure out without asking is if you leave the computer while the timer is running. In this case it will ask you to do something with the time you've been away.
Let's see how the reminders work.
As we said, smart timing is about figuring out what the user is doing. If the timer is stopped, Fanurio will try to learn whether it should be started or not. The same happens when the timer is paused. But what about the other reminder, the reminder that the timer is running?
Most activities are not completed in one take because of breaks or interruptions. That's why when Fanurio pops up this reminder, it not only asks whether you want to stop the timer or leave it running but it also tries to learn if you've taken a break or if you've done something else in the meanwhile.
The reminder dialog has four options that you can use to tell Fanurio what you've done since the last notification:
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Discard...: Use this option if you've been on a break and you want to discard time.
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Transfer...: Use this option if you've done something else in the meanwhile (a client called) and you want to transfer time from the timer to a different project item.
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Stop: Stops the timer.
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Snooze: Leaves the timer running.
To understand how smart timing works, let's see the following examples.
Example 3.6. Reminder that the timer is running
Let's assume the reminder is set to 10 minutes and the timer is already running for 32 minutes. Since I started the timer, Fanurio asked me three times (at 10, 20 and 30 minutes) if I want to stop it or if I want to keep it running. Each time I just pressed ESC to cancel the reminder dialog and to keep the timer running.
The fourth time when it asks me (at 40 minutes), I realize I finished working on my task and I choose to stop the timer. I will assign 40 minutes to the project item I was working on.
Tip
When the reminder dialog is displayed, you can postpone the decision by pressing ESC or ENTER.
Example 3.7. Idle time notification
Let's assume idle time notification is set to 10 minutes. That means Fanurio will notify me if I'm away from the computer for more than 10 minutes.
I start the timer and after 40 minutes I leave the computer for a coffee break. When I return after 15 minutes, I see a notification dialog where Fanurio asks me what to do with these 15 minutes. I decide to discard them. The timer will continue to run and to show it's been started 40 minutes ago instead of 55. The 15 minutes I've been away are considered pause time.
Besides Discard, the idle notification dialog has two other options: Transfer and Keep. Use Transfer if you've worked on something else in the meanwhile (a client was on the phone for instance) and Keep if you've been working on the same thing but you didn't touch the computer.
Tip
To tell Fanurio that you want to keep the time and leave the timer running, you can also press ESC or ENTER.
Best practices
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Adjust the idle time interval if you take shorter breaks. It is set to 15 minutes by default.
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Make sure the reminders are not too frequent as they may become annoying.
If you usually do long tasks, you don't want to be reminded each 10 minutes that the timer is running. You could set the reminder to 20 or 30 minutes.
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Use only those reminders that you find useful. You don't have to enable all the reminders.
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