Time tracking for humans: a 7-day experiment to reclaim focus

I used to treat time tracking like the office tattletale. “Who told you I took a 17-minute detour to watch a sourdough-scoring tutorial, Toggl?” But here’s the twist: a tiny, no-shame, seven-day experiment turned my Swiss-cheese schedule into something I actually trust. And it wasn’t painful. No accounting spreadsheets. No shame spiral. Just a gentle mirror that helped me spot three easy tweaks that still save me hours each week.

This is time-tracking for humans—messy, funny, forgetful humans—who want more focus and less “Where did my day go?”

The promise of a 7-day experiment (not a lifestyle)

Time tracking doesn’t have to be forever. Treat it like a week-long field study on your brain’s natural habitat. We’re just collecting enough data to make three tiny changes that stick—stuff like a daily 90-minute deep-work block, a better afternoon reset, or a new rule for meetings.

We’ll use two simple tools:

• Toggl Track: manual tracking for your bigger chunks of work
• RescueTime: passive tracking for everything your computer does while you “just check one thing”

Toggl Track: Time Tracking Software for Any Workflow toggl.com

The world's best time tracking software. Track employee time, send beautiful client reports, and calculate profitability. Free and paid plans to save you time.

RescueTime rescuetime.com

Boost productivity with RescueTime's automatic time tracking software and timesheet app for freelancers, small businesses, project management, and employees. Create goals, project tracking, time management, and engaging live guided focus sessions designed to help you manage your time effectively and achieve your goals. Start a free 14-day trial today for you or our your team!

Why this combo? Manual + passive is the peanut butter and jelly

• Manual tracking (Toggl) is for clarity: “I did 45 minutes on Project A.”
• Passive tracking (RescueTime) is for honesty: “And then I opened 27 tabs for ‘research’ and accidentally deep-cleaned my Google Drive.”

Together, they show:

• Where your time actually goes (not where you hope it went)
• The exact hours your brain does its best work
• The sneaky leaks: context switching, notification ping storms, “quick” inbox checks

If you want a deeper dive into protecting your best brain time, bookmark The 90-Minute Deep-Work Block. We’ll come back to it on Day 5.

Set it up in 15 minutes

1. Create accounts and install helpers

• Toggl Track: desktop app + browser extension (helps auto-detect apps/sites)
• RescueTime: desktop app (set it and forget it)

2. Create 5–7 Toggl projects (no more)

• Maker work (deep work)
• Manager work (meetings)
• Admin (email, Slack, calendar)
• Research/Reading
• Maintenance (docs, cleanup, prep)
• Breaks (yes, track them!)
• Optional: Personal learning

3. Make 8–12 tags for context

• Energy: High/Medium/Low
• Location: Home/Office/Cafe
• Mode: Solo/Pair
• Interruptions: 1/3/5+ pings
• Switch count: Few/Many

If your calendar is your everything, split your week by mode with Maker vs Manager: Time-Blocking Your Week. It pairs beautifully with this experiment.

The 7-day plan (with scripts, guardrails, and snacks)

Day 0: Declare your norms

• Tracking rule: Only track 15+ minute blocks in Toggl. No micro-slices.
• Forgetting rule: If you forget, reconstruct at the top of the next hour from your browser history/RescueTime.
• Ping rule: If you get interrupted, don’t stop the timer unless the interruption lasts longer than 10 minutes.
• Break rule: Track breaks. You’re a human, not a productivity fondue.

Day 1–2: Baseline, not behavior change

• Just track your day with Toggl. Don’t improve anything yet.
• RescueTime runs quietly in the background.
• End-of-day 5-minute note: What surprised you?

“Two hours vanished into ‘helping team’ actually means Slack-pinball and calendar Tetris” is not failure—it’s a map of where you’re needed and how often context switching is costing you. Cross-reference with Notification Tiers for a fast ping diet later.

Day 3: Add light structure

• Pre-label your day in Toggl with 2–4 likely blocks (Maker, Admin, Meetings). Think of it as pencil, not pen.
• When a block begins, hit start on the closest match. Adjust at the end of the block if needed.
• Add tags for energy and location.

Bonus: Use a physical timer to reduce “just one more click” inertia. This little cube-timer trick works shockingly well.

Day 4: Interruptions + mini postmortems

• When a block ends, jot 1 sentence: “What moved? What blocked?”
• Tag “Interruptions: 3” if you felt pulled around.
• Track any “quick email checks” as Admin, not as Maker. This matters.

Day 5: Read the tea leaves

Open Toggl and RescueTime. Look for:

• Your natural peak (often 9–12 or 8–10) vs your busiest meeting hours
• Context-switch count per hour (RescueTime’s “switches” is revealing)
• Rabbit holes (top distracting sites by time)
• After-lunch slump patterns (15 minutes here, 20 minutes there = a whole hour)

Now—choose exactly three tiny changes. Examples:

1. Protect a daily 90-minute deep-work block at your peak. Use the playbook from The 90-Minute Deep-Work Block.
2. Install Notification Tiers and move 80% of non-urgent pings to “Later.” Use Notification Tiers to set it up this afternoon.
3. Add a 2 PM Reset to re-boot your afternoon brain with The 2 PM Reset.

Other favorites:

• Do a 5-minute morning plan with The 5-Minute Forecast.
• Create a weekly sweep using The Weekly Review That Doesn’t Make You Cry.

Data is a mirror, not a judge. Look to learn, not to scold.

Max, reformed procrastinator

Scripts, settings, and tiny guardrails

My three go-to scripts for this experiment

• Calendar note for teammates “Testing a 7-day time-tracking and focus experiment. Expect a daily 90-minute deep-work block with delayed replies. Urgent? Text or mark as VIP.”

• Slack status during Maker time “Deep work till 11:30. I’ll reply after. For fire emergencies: ping me once.”

• Out-of-office Lite (weekdays only) “Thanks! I’m in a focus block and check messages at :30 past the hour till 4 PM. If urgent before then, please add ‘URGENT’ to the subject.”

If you want more boundary inspiration, peek at Maker vs Manager: Time-Blocking Your Week.

Toggl quick settings to flip now

• Pomodoro reminder: off (we’re not judging intensity)
• Idle detection: on (it’ll suggest trimming when you wander)
• Reminders: one gentle nudge at 9:05 AM and 1:05 PM

RescueTime filters

• Mark your top 5 distracting sites as “Very Distracting”
• Mark your go-to work tools as “Very Productive”
• Turn on the “Focus Session” feature for 25–45 minute sprints when you really need a cone of silence

Reading your results like a detective (not a critic)

Ask these three questions:

1. When did the easiest progress happen?

• That’s your peak. Guard it with the zeal of a raccoon protecting a shiny rock.
• Tip: Pair your peak with deep work and Focus Sound Showdown to build a reliable soundtrack.

2. What triggers derail you fastest?

• Is it Slack? Email? Random browser tabs?
• Apply a single gate: only check on :30 past the hour, or only after finishing your current block.

3. What block types are missing entirely?

• No “Maintenance”? That’s why Friday feels like a clutter hangover.
• Add a 30-minute weekly tidy: snippets, templates, naming files. Try The Text Expander Starter Pack for small automation wins.

Make 3 tiny changes that actually stick

• Change 1: Protect one 90-minute block at your peak Block it daily with a repeating calendar event and treat it like a meeting with yourself. Use a physical timer to kickstart.

• Change 2: Build a 2 PM reboot Hydrate, pick your Big 1, move for 2 minutes, reset your desk. Follow The 2 PM Reset.

• Change 3: Tame pings with VIP-only notifications Tier your notifications today with Notification Tiers. Your future self will send a fruit basket.

Optional bonus change: Add a 10-minute Shutdown Routine so tomorrow’s start is a running leap instead of a cold start.

Troubleshooting: When it goes hilariously sideways

• “I keep forgetting to start the timer.” Make it physical. Put a cube timer on your keyboard. Start the timer before you open your laptop. Old-school, but it works.

• “I’m tracking too many categories.” That’s the perfectionist talking. Collapse everything into 3–5 buckets. Think: Maker, Admin, Meetings, Breaks, Other.

• “Meetings ate my week.” Batch them. Add a “no-fly zone” over your peak focus hours. If you need help, my calendar sanity guide is here: Meeting Madness.

• “My graph shamed me for YouTube.” First, you’re fine. Second, assign a planned, guilt-free 15-minute “scroll window” after lunch. Weirdly, scheduled distraction distracts less.

A lightweight dashboard to keep (or pause) after the week

Keep this minimal setup:

• Toggl projects: Maker, Meetings, Admin, Breaks, Maintenance
• Two daily timers: one deep-work block, one admin sweep
• One weekly 20-minute review: scan totals, pick one tweak, and move on

Tie it to your weekly ritual with The Weekly Review That Doesn’t Make You Cry or the simple 45-Minute Sunday Reset.

What surprised me (and might surprise you)

• My “quick checks” cost me 45–90 minutes daily. Moving them to :30 past the hour freed a massive chunk of focus time.
• My best thinking happens earlier than I thought—8:45–10:30. Protecting that window turned into an “I actually shipped stuff” streak.
• A 10-minute ramp-out saves me 20 minutes the next morning. I leave breadcrumbs, shut tabs, stage the exact file I need to open. Future-me cries grateful tears.

If you want a structure for those breadcrumbs, try Second Brain, Zero Jargon. Just three tags: do, know, grow.

Want to get nerdy? Optional add-ons

• Keyboard shortcuts = less context switching. Try a daily 10-minute practice burst inspired by your own mini “Shortcut School.” Start with copy/paste, window snapping, and tab jumps. Pair with The Best To-Do List Apps if you want quick wins inside your task manager.
• Use a cheap foot pedal (yes, really) to toggle pause/play in your music or to start a timer. It’s like a productivity turbo button.
• Capture “aha” moments mid-shower with The Shower Capture System. My best ideas apparently require steam.

Your 7-day challenge

• Day 1–2: Track baseline. No changing habits.
• Day 3–4: Add tags and mini postmortems.
• Day 5: Pick three tiny changes.
• Day 6: Implement them.
• Day 7: Do a 20-minute review with a cup of something delightful.

If you want accountability, share your “three tiny changes” with me on Instagram stories and tag us at @mysimple.life.official. We’ll cheer for your wins (and your honest flops).