No More Time Sheets?

Well, probably not quite, but I ran accross a pretty interesting little program the other day that might bring us one step closer.  It is a program called Qlockwork by Workingprogram.

The basic premise of the program is this:

1. Upon installation, the program creates a new calendar in your outlook, and installs a program on your computer that logs your activity.

2. You create a list of projects and assign keywords and email addresses to each of those projects.  So, for instance, if you have a project called Smith Tax Planning, your keywords might be: smith, smith planning, jonsmith@gmail.com.

3. As you work, the program logs your activities on your computers, and creates entries in the new calendar folder in outlook, at a minimum of 5 minute increments.  The details of the activity include the program you were working in and the associated files you were working on, or the emails you were reading or composing.

4. If the details of the activity match any of the tags you associated with your projects, then that activity will be assigned to the project.

5. You can then export a report to excel, and sort and summarize the data as needed.

This is a very intriguing idea.  I would love to be able to just let this thing work in the background, and then refine the data at the end of the day or the end of the week, then print out the report, or email it to my assistant to prepare my time sheet.  In order for this to work well, I think you would need to be able to group multiple Qlockwork entries into one entry after they are created.  I also think that as much detailed tagging of projects as possible would be needed to get as much accuracy out of the program as possible.  To do that, I think you need to be able to import your projects and associated tags.

I have been using the program for only a day and half, but so far I really love the concept, but am not so sure the data that comes out of the program will be useful.

Filed under: Office Technology, Outlook, Software, Time & Billing , Office Technology, Outlook, Practice Management, Software, Time & Billing

Simple Tool to Insert Date/Time

I use outlook tasks as my system to make sure I don’t let anything fall through the cracks.  A handy tool that I have found is the Insert Time Stamp tool from Sperry Software.  You can configure the software to insert your name, initials, and many date and/or time formats.  You simply hit the f6 key in Outlook, and almost any other program you are in.  It comes in handy when completing electronic checklists and review sheets, and when signing off on electronic workpapers.

Filed under: Outlook, Paperless Office, Software , Outlook, Paperless Office, Software