I have been using Qbserve for over a year. The collected data is quite instructive about my productivity; about myself really.

Here is mine that I collected over the years using Qbserve.


http://take.ms/Koqor

It is very embarrassing. I always consider myself to have a stronger will-power: that I can manage myself very well. But, the actual data is on the opposite.
If I remove the "sleeping" from the productive category, my productivity would plummet to 30-40%. This is really disturbing fact/lesson about myself.


Do you guys use Qbserve or Timing?

What have you learned from your data? can you share it?

I manually log my working time (and the given task) and break time in a Google Sheet that is always open.

I progressively add up the totals of both, so I can see how things evolve cumulatively during the day.

I'm mainly interested in making sure the break times don't get out of control and that I reach my daily "pure productive work time" goal (which is based on the average observed over years of doing this).

It also works as a work diary of sorts, and it helps me write my diary at the end of the day.

And of course it remains an archive of my working life.

It does not give me any end-of-the-year summaries (in which I'm not all that interested). I'm mainly just focusing on the given day, and at most on the week (or a project that might span several weeks).

I totally agree with your strategy of focusing on the week or the project. I also do that.

But, I am very skeptic of your manual logging: I don't think that is a reliable, object means of acquiring data. It might be better than nothing; but nowhere close to the reality.

Ego always comes into play; minimizing digressions, trivializing small chats (that probably spanned longer than you thought).

The independent tool tells you the true story.

I didn't look at your report, since that seems private.

I've used Timings occasionally, and Vitamin-R2, which is a different approach. I've found Vitamin-R2 useful, as is the Pomodoro method that Vitamin-R2 is an extension of. Timings was less useful. First, it seemed to be constantly nattering me to report -- which broke attention.

But, I get my work done. I already know I put far more tasks on my todo lists than I could ever act on. And my major challenge is always scheduling the work day around the constant interruptions of calls, emails demanding immediate attention, meetings, and commuting. My executive clients drive my schedule, I don't, and I don't think Findings would help much with that.

Maybe I'm wrong? I might have misunderstood the proper use of the software, but I found the process to be more annoying and stressful than necessary.

Paul Korm wrote:

, I don't, and I don't think Findings
would help much with that.

Maybe I'm wrong? I might have misunderstood the proper use of the
software, but I found the process to be more annoying and stressful than
necessary.

Do you mean Qbserve?



My understanding of myself is pretty misguided. Strong ego always tells that I am efficient, and doing good. The data from Qbserve is pretty an eye opener because I can look it just like any scientific data.

Apart from that, Qbserve is not like Vitamin R that helps you control/program your time. It simply collects the data on the background. But, it can execute Shell scripts (AppleScript): but, that is it.

Dellu wrote:

But, I am very skeptic of your manual logging: I don't think that is a
reliable, object means of acquiring data. It might be better than
nothing; but nowhere close to the reality.

Maybe we have a different definition of what "work" means. In my line of work it's quite simple: I am either engaged in a productive activity (call it a pomodoro) or I am on a break. It's a binary system.

So I only measure "pure productive work", by which I mean that I am engaged in focusing on solving a task (usually on the computer).

Tracking it is quite easy in Google Sheets. I already have a template set up, so all I need to is type a number ("1" etc.) at the start of the row, which represents the session number (kind of like Pomodoro 1, 2 etc.), to start a session.

Then when I'm done, I just hover the cursor over the "last changed" indicator, and it tells me how much time had passed since I typed "1". Then I record the time elapsed (e.g. 40 min), and this automatically starts the break time.

When I'm back from the break, I just check how much time had passed, record it, and type "2" to start the next session, which starts/resets the clock.

Google Sheet tracks the time for me automatically, I don't need to look at a clock or stopwatch at all.

BTW, getting stats about my software usage is not very useful for me because it doesn't tell me whether I was using it for work or pleasure.

Dellu wrote:

Paul Korm wrote:

Do you mean Qbserve?

Oops. No. I wrote “Findings” but meant “Timings”.

Hey, Paul - Timings 2 resolves that irritating "always wanting to report" problem and is a superb background logging tool.

Hey, Dellu - thanks for the very honest self-assessment; very interesting in a productivity setting. I agree, I've found my own productivity vastly less stellar than I thought it was. Kind of embarrassing, but also kind of predictable...


I've not tried Qbserve - I'll have to take a look.

Cheers!
Bill

report" problem and is a superb background logging tool.

Hey, Dellu - thanks for the very honest self-assessment; very
interesting in a productivity setting. I agree, I've found my own
productivity vastly less stellar than I thought it was. Kind of
embarrassing, but also kind of predictable...


I've not tried Qbserve - I'll have to take a look.

Thank you Bill.

Timing 2/3 has pretty much copied Qbserve. They are almost identical now. You don't need Qbserve if you own Timing.
I find them totally indispensable.

Dr Andus wrote:

BTW, getting stats about my software usage is not very useful for me
because it doesn't tell me whether I was using it for work or pleasure.

That used to be my problem when I was using RescueTime. But, that is not a problem in Qbserve and Timing because you can exactly tell the application which of the websites are for productive works (Google docs) and which are non-productive (facebook). But, if you use the same website for both fun and work, yes, the software can't tell.

I nearly bought Timing a little while ago - but actually, I'm just experimenting with Qbserve and I have to say, I find it more intuitive/easier to use (oh, and cheaper ;-))

And having your productivity constantly measured in percent on your menu bar is a real incentive to get on and Finish Your Homework! That's a very neat feature!

What a great little find! Thanks very much!

I too did not know about Qbserve, so many thanks for the suggestion.

And BTW, to clear up a possible confusion in the thread so far, especially for later readers: for the Mac there's a Timings app (https://mediaatelier.com/Timings3/ and there's a Timing app (https://timingapp.com and the two are different. If it's any help, I've used both, and I think most of the references in this thread are to the Timing (no "s") app (which I personally somewhat prefer).

MadaboutDana wrote:

I nearly bought Timing a little while ago - but actually, I'm just
experimenting with Qbserve and I have to say, I find it more
intuitive/easier to use (oh, and cheaper ;-))

I have been following both Timing and Observe. You will be surprised how the current version of Timing just copied Qbserve. I was taken back when the new version of Timing appeared.

As for the price, isn't Timing in the setup package? That might make it cheaper than Qbserve.
But, I love Qbserve. It has been with me for ages.


It also sends a shell script to turn of the display in case I have been distracted for a longer time: nice trick.
It also can trigger Focus and Freedom apps to bring you back to your focus by turning off the Internet and shutting down browsers.


Here is one of my scripts to turn of the display if I have been unproductive for more than 40 minutes.

http://take.ms/zcWwU

Hi,

Daniel here, the creator of Timing. I just wanted to point out that Timing has been around for much longer than Qbserve. Dellu, how would you say that Timing 2 copied Qbserve? For example, Timing 2's timeline and manual tracking features appeared in Timing 2 _before_ they showed up in Qbserve. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

In addition to that, I'm of course happy to answer any questions you guys might have and/or help you with using Timing. You can also reach out to me directly via https://timingapp.com/contact

Best,
Daniel Alm

Dellu wrote:

I have been following both Timing and Observe. You will be surprised how
the current version of Timing just copied Qbserve. I was taken back when
the new version of Timing appeared.