Adding a new job / Organizing different clients for freelancers.

Rosey123

I'm a freelance appraiser and I just used working hours to track hours on a project. That project has ended and I want to start another one today. Is there a way to start a new project on Working Hours? All the tasks and tags I set up are for the previous one. If not, I am curious to know how freelancers set up their different clients. Do you use tags? Any insight will be appreciated! Thank you.

timo

You could completely reset your database and start from scratch.
However, I would probably create one "task" for each project and use project-independent tags (like "phone call", "emails" etc). If a project is finished you can then archive/hide the task in the task list.

You could also do the opposite (tags for projects/clients and tasks for "phone call", "mails" etc). Depends on your preference. The main difference is that each work unit has exactly one task but a variable amount of tags

fishmi

And this is precisely the crux of this otherwise great app.
I would like to use the app as described in the last sentence, but it is simply too cumbersome and time-consuming if the tags (and description/details) have to be entered again when starting a new task, even though this task already exists with exactly the same tags and description. It is not possible to simply restart an existing combination of task-tags-description-details. However, this is always necessary in my practice.

In practice, a task always belongs to the following hierarchy:
Customer - Project - Subproject - Task category - Task specific - Details
By task category, I mean categories that are repeated in every project, for example correspondence, website maintenance, etc.

If I always had to map this hierarchy completely in one task description, it would become confusing and the number of tasks would be too large.
That's why it would be ideal for me if I could use tags for the task category, the specific task in the description and the details in the appropriate Details input field.
If I want to continue exactly this task with the same details the next day, for example, I have to enter everything again. And that is obviously not user-friendly (for me).

I don't think that this hierarchical classification is particularly unusual, because some other time trackers have exactly this hierarchy. But these other trackers have many other disadvantages and I would much rather use the system with the tags and the description.
My only requirement would be that tasks that have already been recorded can be restarted directly via a "Recent" menu, including tags, description and details. The number of entries in the Recent menu must of course be limited.
And it should also be possible to start tasks that have already been recorded from the overview of all recorded tasks.

timo

fishmi but it is simply too cumbersome and time-consuming if the tags (and description/details) have to be entered again when starting a new task

Maybe I am misunderstanding your use-case but you can set up a list of tags for each task - those tags will automatically be added if you start a certain task

fishmi It is not possible to simply restart an existing combination of task-tags-description-details. However, this is always necessary in my practice

You can always right-click an existing work unit and select "continue work" - then a new timer with the same task & tags will be started

fishmi

I have just discovered that this function already exists in the overview with "Continue work".
Please bear with me, I haven't been using the program that long.
So then my wish is limited to a "Recent" menu from which existing entries can be continued directly.

fishmi

Thanks for your prompt reply.
Please largely ignore my long post. In principle, I can cover many of my requirements with the available options.
There are days when I have to work on different tasks from different projects and from different customers.
That's why my tasks in the main menu consist of the customer and the associated project and not the specific task. If I were to add the latter as well, I would have too many menu entries.
This means that I specify the task using tags and the description.
The tags represent the task category, which makes sense because the categories are cross-project.
The description is important because the customer wants to know exactly what I have done in the invoice.
(If I only created the description as a task and customer/project and category as tags, I wouldn't have gained anything and it would be difficult to assign a task from the menu because the tags are not displayed there and the context would be lost)

Basically, the app offers me everything I need.
The only thing is that I have to keep working on the tasks I've already started throughout the day and throughout the week. And a quick selection via the menu would of course be very helpful here.

timo

fishmi The only thing is that I have to keep working on the tasks I've already started throughout the day and throughout the week. And a quick selection via the menu would of course be very helpful here

Not sure if that's what you are looking for but you can sort the tasks by "most recently used first" and also can enable a quick selection panel in the settings of the Windows app

fishmi

Thanks for the great and fast support and also for all the tips, that definitely helps.
As I'm on the road with a Mac, I don't have this option. As I also have a Windows PC here, I'll have a look at it when I get the chance.
In any case, I can now continue to work with the app with peace of mind and no longer have to keep searching.
If you're interested, I've always used Manic Time on my PC, an app that can do a lot more, of course, but in my opinion offers the best usability when it comes to recording times. However, the client in the tray is a disaster and for Mac the program is only available in a server version (I also runs here on my Mac in the background).