Top 6 task management time tracking tools of 2024

From project planning and development to reporting and testing, task management involves a lot of work.

And that’s why you should track time for each of these processes.

Task management time tracking not only helps monitor various workflows but allows you to identify bottlenecks and opportunities.

In this article, we’ll cover why task management time tracking is important and highlight the six best time tracking tools for your task management activities. We’ll also provide three simple tips to help you choose the right tool and implement it efficiently.

This article contains:

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Why Do You Need Task Management Time Tracking?
6 Best Task Management Time Tracking Tools
3 Simple Tips for Effective Task Management Time Tracking

Let’s get started.

Why do you need task management time tracking?

Task management time tracking (or project time tracking) involves tracking the time spent handling a task’s entire lifecycle.

And while some task management software comes with a built-in time tracker, it’s always better to use a dedicated time tracking solution.

Why?

A task management tool will simply tell you how much time you spent on tasks, but a time tracking solution usually offers useful productivity features and reports that help you enhance team productivity.

Before we explore the tools, let’s quickly dive into the benefits of project time tracking:

1. Smarter resource management

The tracked data and reports provide a bird’s eye view of resource allocation.

The task manager can gauge the average time each team member takes to deliver a specific task. They can then decide on how they should assign tasks for maximum productivity.

Moreover, task managers can also reassign project tasks if someone has too much workload. This can help prevent employee burnout.

2. Gain insights into productivity

Most time tracking tools offer built-in reports functionality. They convert the tracked data into intuitive reports that are easy to understand and provide actionable insights into each user’s productivity.

You can use these time reports to review team performance and efficiently manage your projects and team.

For example, a report on your team members can help you see how they spend their time on individual tasks. You can then decide what to change to increase employee productivity.

3. Easy payments

Does calculating overtime pay seem a hassle to you?

Or, does your workforce heavily rely on freelancers?

With time tracking software, you’ll be able to track how long your team spends on each task to determine their billable hours and overtime pay down to the second. This will also help you with client invoicing.

Additionally, some tools even offer integrations with online payment systems for easy payments.

Now that you know why time tracking is essential for your project management activities, how do you go about it?

The first step is finding the right time tracking and management tool.

So, here’s our list of a few handpicked tools to help you get started.

6 best task management time tracking tools

Let’s look at the six best time tracking tools for task management:

1. Time Doctor

Time Doctor is a powerful time tracking and employee productivity management software used by SMBs like Thrive Market and large companies like Ericsson and RE/MAX to boost employee productivity.

This tool allows you to accurately track the time taken for all your tasks and projects in real-time. It’s compatible across all devices that support Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, and Chrome operating systems.

Key features

Here’s a detailed look at Time Doctor’s key features:

A. Simple time tracking

Time Doctor’s time tracking feature helps employees track their work activity with a simple and easy-to-use interface.

Here’s how you can track time manually:

Open Time Doctor and log in with your credentials.
Create a new task or choose one from the task list.
Click on the Play button to track time.

Time Doctor will now track time while running in the background. And if you’ve completed your task or want to take a break, simply click Stop.

This time tracking software also offers automated time tracking in which the Time Doctor app starts recording time when you turn on your computer.

With an automatic time tracker, you won’t have to worry about manually starting or stopping the timer every time you work or take a break.

B. Productivity reports

Time Doctor gives various comprehensive productivity reports based on tracked employee activity.

Here’s a quick look at some of them:

Hours tracked report: See the total number of hours tracked by employees for any date range.
Timeline report: Gives an insight into how much time each employee spends working and on breaks.
Activity summary report: Shows active seconds and minutes, mobile use, unproductive activity, and more.
Attendance report: See which employee is absent, partially absent, present, or late.
Project & tasks report: See how long your employees take to complete any given task.
Custom export: Generate reports with custom data to suit your business needs.
Web and app usage report: View how much time each remote worker spends on different sites and apps.

C. Idle time tracking

Time Doctor tracks the idle time of employees during their workday. You can use this to easily determine who is actively working on their tasks and who needs improvement.

You can also set how long the timer can run without any keyboard or mouse activity. Once the timer reaches its limit, it automatically stops tracking time and displays an idle time pop-up – gently nudging the employee to focus on their tasks.

Note: Time Doctor doesn’t track any keystrokes or mouse clicks to protect privacy. It only checks if any key was pressed.

D. Productivity ratings

Most time tracking apps classify social media sites like Instagram as unproductive sites.

But what if your marketing team needs it for work?

Fortunately, Time Doctor’s productivity ratings feature allows you to categorize websites and apps based on their relevance with work.

You can rate them as Productive, Unproductive, Unrated, and Neutral. The employee productivity reports are generated based on these ratings, making them highly accurate.

E. Payroll management

Time Doctor offers smart payroll management to let you pay your employees with ease.

It even integrates with online payment platforms like PayPal, Wise, Gusto, and ADP — eliminating the need to use another tool for managing employee billable hours.

You can customize this payroll software feature by setting the:

Payment method.
Payment time range.
Pay rates for each employee and more.

F. Chrome extension and integrations

Time Doctor’s Chrome extension integrates with 50+ tools to help you manage employee hours and productivity across your favorite apps.

For example, you can integrate with your favorite project management tool, like Zoho Projects, Asana, Trello, and more.

Other integrations include:

CRM: Zoho, Pipedrive, etc.
Communication: Podio, Slack, Zapier, etc.
Customer support: Zendesk, Freshdesk, etc.

Pricing

Time Doctor offers a free 14-day trial without any credit card requirement. Paid plans start as low as $7/user per month.

User ratings

G2: 4.4/5 (230+ reviews)
Capterra: 4.5/5 (370+ reviews)

2. Harvest

Harvest is a time tracking software designed for freelancers and agencies. It helps you track time, ensuring your team is on track with the projects.

Using their sister app Forecast, you can also determine your team’s capacity and plan your work allocation.