Open Serendipity

I am new to working by the hour.  It is really odd.  I think that once I am no longer feeling “new” and suffering from periodic imposter syndrome, I might actually like it.  Right now it is just confusing.  But like it or not, that is how I am paid, so I must keep track of my hours and put them into a timesheet, and not just in one block, either, but according to which of 4-6 projects I have been working on.

The nameless timesheet tool is awkward and unloved by one and all.  We have to use it for now, but no one uses it for actual tracking, just for the official record.  I wanted something simple to use.  I googled about and tried a few things and settled on TimeBoxed.  It is really just a timer, and I noticed quickly that it stops when I shut the laptop and prompts me when I open it up again with: Resume timer?  Nice.

Also nice, it said you can extend it with Apple Script, and comes with a bunch of little example scripts that do one thing or another.  So I started with the Basic Dialog script and modified it to prompt me to choose from a set of half a dozen tasks and optionally add a short comment.  When a timer ends, this script runs and then puts my answers along with the duration of the timer and the date into a monthly logfile, a csv.  I can open that as a spreadsheet and add up the times by day and/or by task.  It is only as complete as I make it, but it is good enough to help me accurately track my time.

This was all fun and easy, only my second time writing Apple Script and the first time was so long ago I cannot even remember what it was.  Even better, I submitted my tiny script to the makers of TimeBoxed and was delighted when they responded with a nice thank-you note and a free license!  The product only costs 9.90€ to purchase, but as my financial fortunes that seem to come and go have been mostly gone lately, I was very happy to not spend money on this fun little tool.

I wanted to make my script better, and still hope to eventually, but I also wanted to keep using TimeBoxed and I only had one day left in the two week demo, so I had to “turn it in” as it is now.

Filed under:
Life by marla