Automatic Time Tracking
future
Brad Warner
We pay our employees hourly. We also track time against projects. However, we don't want two separate time tracking systems - one for payroll and one for projects. There are too many systems and silos in this digital age to remember everything.
The Problem: Time doesn't get tracked accurately, doesn't get tracked at all OR there's misallocations in projects/payroll.
Alternatives: Now, there are third-party products that attempt to auto-track time across an entire system: Timely, RescueTime, etc. but they have not arrived. However, within ClickUp itself, automatic time tracking could work.
Solution: Open a task and the timer starts. It doesn't matter where the user goes, what they do (which apps, browsers, etc.), time will be tracking against that task. ClickUp will periodically ask if the user is still working on that task (providing a quick means of switching to one of the top 5 MRU tasks, if need be).
Feature: Implement an option (in Settings) that automatically starts and stops tracking time when a task is opened and closed, respectively. It's assumed this would require a certain way of working (always tracking against some project). The upshot would encourage focused work, accurately track employee time and overcome tracking forgetfulness.
Please vote!-)
Brad.
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Vasil Enchev
Hey everyone, many of you suggest implementing automatic time tracking that starts and stops when you change the status to ACTIVE, DONE, or COMPLETED type.
Would enabling or disabling time tracking on a user-level basis solve about 90% of the issues? We want to make it user-friendly, and each user should have the option to decide whether they want to enable it. IMO this in combination with idle detection to pause/stop the timer would be a great solution.
Obviously this will work only if you are assigned to the task.
I guess another level of precision would be to select on which spaces/lists this happens.
Alternatively, if we do a standard automation that would need more setting up. Let me know what you prefer in the comments.
Molly Whelan
Vasil Enchev I'd like the option to be able to set something up in automations since, for us, it would only be applicable in a certain space where we need to track time vs all spaces/lists. That way we have control over it as well.
Fábio Oliveira Salviano
The change of status should not be a trigger for recording time and each person here will have a preference and usage rule. I think I could make the start/stop button the time record more accessible, larger, drawing more attention.
Shahen Halebian
I would automatically start it at some other action. Typically, you're working in a task doing other things besides changing the status. And, when you're working in a task, you may not need to change the status at all. It would be better if you can add a custom field checkbox or something like that and just click the box to start time tracking. Changing the status really narrows down how to start time tracking and isn't relevant to many working situations. I could be working in a task and change the status to Active and then come back the next day to work in it and change the status to done, is time going to be tracked overnight? That would be bad.
K
Kamil Baránek
For short tasks the auto start/stop on status works fine. But for long-running work it breaks down. I regularly keep a single programming task open for two days straight, and I only need to track the time I'm actually working on it, not the whole time the task sits open. A manual ON/OFF timer, or a proper integration with a dedicated time tracker like Toggl or Timely, is far more accurate for this. Please keep manual start/stop as a first-class option, not just the auto mode.
Shahen Halebian
Kamil Baránek Same, I work the same way as Kamil and this status changing trigger would not make sense.
Maggie Steele-Tzakos
I agree. I would only want this feature on certain tasks that will be completed quickly, not all tasks.
Vasil Enchev
Hey everyone, many of you suggest implementing automatic time tracking that starts and stops when you change the status to ACTIVE, DONE, or COMPLETED type.
Would enabling or disabling time tracking on a user-level basis solve about 90% of the issues? We want to make it user-friendly, and each user should have the option to decide whether they want to enable it. IMO this in combination with idle detection to pause/stop the timer would be a great solution.
Obviously this will work only if you are assigned to the task.
I guess another level of precision would be to select on which spaces/lists this happens.
Alternatively, if we do a standard automation that would need more setting up. Let me know what you prefer in the comments.
Manuel Santa Clara
Vasil Enchev
Hello and thanks for your reply.
I can speak only for myself - what would be really helpful for us would be to setup a status on the kanban where any task going on there would start automatically counting time. And when moved out the timer would stop.
With that said having the user declare his time spent also solves some issues but rules would have to be defined at a space organization level such as automatic timer stoppage after a certain hour of the day per example.
Enrico Tovaglieri
Vasil Enchev Sounds good!
Nathaniel Cassidy
Vasil Enchev for us having auto time tracking linked to task status wouldn't work. It would need to be something more like having the task open, or in your tray and then when closed or removed from tray time tracking stops.
Alongside that and to encourage use of the planner, a popup notification to start time tracking for anything added to the planner schedule would be good.
Jackson James
Vasil Enchev what about a hybrid solution?
- ClickApp that is enabled at the space level (selecting which statuses cause the timers to start/stop).
AS WELL AS…
- User-level setting that gives users the choice of activating it for themselves IN the spaces for which it has been enabled.
Nathan George
Vasil Enchev a ClickApp for stopping the timer automatically when Completed and a feature to auto-stop the timer if it detects idling (no mouse movement) is great.
Jeri Anderson
Nathaniel Cassidy, same here for our use-case as well. I would like to see ClickUp have the ability to handle this the way our current help desk software does: when a ticket (task) is opened, automatically start tracking time. In that software, the time tracks indefinitely until the "record" button is pressed, as long as the ticket window is open. A mild pitfall, however, is that if the ticket window is closed without pressing "record," then the time is lost without warning.
Maybe to avoid that pitfall, perhaps the time could be automatically recorded when the task is clicked on and away from, but then mark that time on the timesheets as "Automatically Tracked - Pending."
Another thought: what if there was a user-level optional pop-up when clicking away from automatically tracked tasks that pops-up as a reminder to finalize or edit the automatically tracked time? This would then change the above note on timesheets to "Automatically Tracked - Final," or something like that. I'm thinking this would need to be an individual setting, though, as I'm sure a fair amount of users would find it annoying, but I could see it being helpful in my own personal workflow.
Shahen Halebian
Vasil Enchev I would automatically start it at some other action. Typically, you're working in a task doing other things besides changing the status. And, when you're working in a task, you may not need to change the status at all. It would be better if you can add a custom field checkbox or something like that and just click the box to start time tracking. Changing the status really narrows down how to start time tracking and isn't relevant to many working situations. I could be working in a task and change the status to Active and then come back the next day to work in it and change the status to done, is time going to be tracked overnight? That would be bad.
Katie Wrede
Vasil Enchev
As a Virtual Assistant and Online Business Manager, what I really need is functionality similar to this Chrome extension (https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/clickup-automatic-time-tr/ebfcpcpoceehlcjajnoljfgdgkonokbj) built natively into ClickUp, with one key addition: a customizable popup notification that checks in when idle time is detected.
Currently, the extension starts the timer as soon as I open a task with time tracking enabled, and stops it when I close the task. That core behavior is exactly what I need. Sometimes I'll step away and forget I had it open and it would be nice to have an automatic shut off or popup that happens after a preset time that I determine.
The reason this matters so much — beyond just status changes — is that I rarely finish a task in one sitting. I need a reliable way to track my time while actively working on something without having to remember to manually start and stop the timer. Native support for this would solve 90% of the problem and eliminate the need for external tools like Timely or Reclaim.
My priority order:
- Auto-start/stop the timer based on opening and closing a task
- Idle detection with a customizable popup asking if I'm still working
- Auto-stop when a task status changes to Completed or Done (nice to have, but lowest priority)
User-level control over this setting, as you mentioned, would be ideal.
Thea Stevenson
I came here to suggest this feature!! My job is very chaotic and I will be working on one task and interrupted numerous times, often switching between tasks or boards or creating new tasks or adding comments to existing tasks. It would be so great if it automatically tracked how much time by opening/closing the task because when I manually start the timer and am pulled away from that task, I can't remember to stop the timer. So then the tracked time for that task is no longer accurate.
B
Bugra Oktay
updated the status to
future
Thank you for the feedback you provided.
Even though we have many time tracking improvements coming soon, automatic time tracking isn't in the near future plans.
In the meanwhile, I'd recommend creating automations and/or utilizing ClickUp AI for time logging.
Jamie Meyer
It would be fantastic if the likes of Timely would integrate directly with Clickup or have a similar Time Tracking functionality.
v
vincent _csmt
Oh my God I'm glad theres more people who are facing the same problem, ClickUp's motto being "All your needs in one app." but I literally have to switch between apps to track my time which is honestly so annoying since I have to learn a whole new app I just didn't need to.
adm clickup
Here’s my scenario:
I set up an automation in ClickUp using a webhook with the following triggers:
When the status is changed to "DOING," the timer starts automatically.
When the status is changed to "PAUSED," the timer stops automatically.
This automation was created via Make.
The problem:
The automation works, but only with my account. In other words, when someone else on my team triggers the automation, the timer starts running only for me (since I created the automation in Make with my account).
What I need:
I need each team member to be able to trigger the timer with this automation, and it should work in real time for the person who changed the status—not just for me.
Could you please guide me step-by-step on how to enable this functionality?
Claude-Eugénie
adm clickup in your automation do get the user id of the task’s assignee ? ( in make)
Webhook> get task> router > filter on status.
Route 1> if in progress > start timer > comment “ hi assignee I have started the timer!”
Route 2> if pause or achieved> stop timer> comment “ assignee, you did great today!”
It should normally work for every list using the webhook
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