Toggl - Intuitive time management

Toggl (found via LifeHacker) is one of those wonderfully simple applications that does a limited number of userful things very well. In Toggl’s case, its project time tracking: set up clients and projects, and Toggl serves up a dashboard with “power switches” (toggles!) next to each project: click one to start a timer for that project, click it again to stop it. Extensive reporting options let you view accumulated data in a variety of ways.

Adding projects is easy, though not attractive in beta form:

Well placed AJAX functionality automates common tasks:

The Projects tab makes starting and stopping your work simple:

The time tracker for started projects resides in the left-hand column:

And there’s a great reporting tool:

Final notes:

1. You can close your browser window and log back in later; Toggl times run on the server and will continue to count between sessions.
2. Business Model? No idea. No adverts on the site yet, no mention of “pro” accounts or a fee based service.

All told, Toggl is a great app: not showy or glitzy, but effective at gtd. Recommendations? Avoid feature bloat! Don’t complicate the simple functionality in place with the myriad of add-ons that could be layered. One suggestion: As with DoMyStuff, it would be great to see accounting system integration with FreshBooks.

Other coverage:

1. One person’s use of Toggl for personal time management - trying to lead a more productive life.
2. Download Squad: “If you think pie is easy, Toggl is easier.”
3. The Toggl Blog itself - a good read of what’s new, what’s under development, etc.
4. AJAXian - a minimalist post with some grouchy comments and a note that Toggl is being built in Estonia.
5. Jeff Nolan chimes in with a deeper dive on the team behind Toggl and a suggestion to add wiki-functionality to the tool.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 1st, 2007 and is filed under Site Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.