Time + Project Management Software? Anyone use them?

[Touch The Universe]

I am checking out https://www.rescuetime.com/ and it's not as accurate as I would like. If doesn't log in time watching videos on some sites etc. I was also kinda hoping for program that installs on the computer and not an online tracking kinda deal. In short does any use such software to manage and see how long you spend on various tasks like music production, surfing the web, entertainment etc. Would like to hear of some good software or better online trackers, or maybe something different entirely but similar to productivity software that you find useful cheers.

[Touch The Universe]

Updated to include Project Management Software. This stuff looks interesting and today is the first time looking up such a thing. With 100's of songs (projects), and me usually taking notes about each project etc, a good way to organize them and set reminders and time tracking them with percent complete progress charts seems like it could really help organize things and maybe I'd actually finish some tracks. So far just looked up wrike which seems, good, even stanford university uses it, but is there something more customized for music projects that anyone is aware of? Cheers

https://www.wrike.com/va?utm_expid=7573 ... m%2Fresend

[Nightpolymath]

I've moved away from traditional project management over the years and now use iMindMap and Droptask on the Mac. I find it easier to deal with visuals rather than milestones on a linear time scale. They have a demo version you can try out. It's not the usual fare, but you may find it to your liking. Thought I'd throw it out there for consideration. Here is the link.

http://www.thinkbuzan.com

[Touch The Universe]

Very cool Nightpoymath Cheers and thanks for the share! Edit* Just completed there mini mindmapping course because I wasn't quite sure what it was all about, this seems to be a cool way to organize thoughts and even plan on weeks and months. I can see myself using this alongside with the rescue time app. Its a shame the free version of recue app does't have a calendar or other in depth planner kinda thing though it is possible to export the data from that site to 3rd party apps and create scatter plots etc.

[Nightpolymath]

That's the beauty of mind mapping. I've generated a lot of maps as A3 charts that have all the bits and pieces of what I am working on. Makes it a lot more fun that looking at a bland MS Project.

Have you looked at Klok 2? It has a calendar view.

http://www.getklok.com/features.html

Initially wanted to get it but the interface doesn't inspire me (Adobe Air). But it does the job if all you're wanting to do is track time.

[Touch The Universe]

That's the thing, while all these apps are really cool on there own, it would be much better to do them all in one app if possible. Track time inside of a project management app within a calendar-ish kinda setting. I basically want to work on a project and alot a certain amount of time per task in completing a song, ie 8 hours for drumtrack, bass, melody, fx, arrangement each etc, and have the program understand which section of the track I'm working on at the moment to give an indication of the tracks progress. Otherwise with rescuetime it would just log 40 hours inside of my daw and show no sign of the tracks progress to completion. This could also be useful if I were to break the track up in segments like noted earlier I could see how long each task took to complete in the track and over a time working on a few tracks I could correlate problems areas of where I could work on and work on ways to reduce this time by creating more templates for it etc. Like if I'm spending 20 plus hours of arrangement in most songs etc, while it only takes a few to complete the drum track. Even if I could assign an arbitrary number of 40 hours per task to mark its progress as complete that would be cool but as yet not found a way to do this. Along with the notes for each track ready off hand etc.

Will check out the link you gave and appreciate your input. Cheers

[Touch The Universe]

That's the beauty of mind mapping. I've generated a lot of maps as A3 charts that have all the bits and pieces of what I am working on. Makes it a lot more fun that looking at a bland MS Project.

Have you looked at Klok 2? It has a calendar view.

http://www.getklok.com/features.html

Initially wanted to get it but the interface doesn't inspire me (Adobe Air). But it does the job if all you're wanting to do is track time.

Yes, this program seems awesome, and in ways better than resquetime. Will have to explore it more to see what its capable of but the notes and the subtasks for project can be mapped. Does this thing only log what you tell it to, or does it do it automatically for any tasks on the computer?

[Nightpolymath]

That's the beauty of mind mapping. I've generated a lot of maps as A3 charts that have all the bits and pieces of what I am working on. Makes it a lot more fun that looking at a bland MS Project.

Have you looked at Klok 2? It has a calendar view.

http://www.getklok.com/features.html

Initially wanted to get it but the interface doesn't inspire me (Adobe Air). But it does the job if all you're wanting to do is track time.

Yes, this program seems awesome, and in ways better than resquetime. Will have to explore it more to see what its capable of but the notes and the subtasks for project can be mapped. Does this thing only log what you tell it to, or does it do it automatically for any tasks on the computer?

I think it logs open windows and applications automatically (and starts automatically when the user logs in). But you can manually log time for specific projects. Personally I evaluated it once a while back but don't use it at all but know people who swear by it.

http://www.getklok.com/manual.html

[Touch The Universe]

I hope it tracks online activity too. Will check out the manual to see if it does so. Looks really useful so far. Cheers and thanks for link

[Touch The Universe]

dp

[Tricky-Loops]

...I basically want to work on a project and alot a certain amount of time per task in completing a song, ie 8 hours for drumtrack, bass, melody, fx, arrangement each etc, and have the program understand which section of the track I'm working on at the moment to give an indication of the tracks progress. Otherwise with rescuetime it would just log 40 hours inside of my daw and show no sign of the tracks progress to completion. This could also be useful if I were to break the track up in segments like noted earlier I could see how long each task took to complete in the track and over a time working on a few tracks I could correlate problems areas of where I could work on and work on ways to reduce this time by creating more templates for it etc. Like if I'm spending 20 plus hours of arrangement in most songs etc, while it only takes a few to complete the drum track. Even if I could assign an arbitrary number of 40 hours per task to mark its progress as complete that would be cool but as yet not found a way to do this. Along with the notes for each track ready off hand etc.

Why do you want to produce songs like goods in a factory? What's the problem if you need 4 hours for one drum track and 16 hours for an other?

If you have an order for a project or your record company is holding a gun at you, you could make a deadline, and then simply think about how to use your time effectively...

[Touch The Universe]

Why does it matter to you? Generally I notice how long certain parts take me to finish. Keeping track of this in percentage terms gives me a rough idea of the progress level of any of the tracks I'm working on, which is about 100 btw. So when I'm browsing the tracks in an app I can see about how much work each needs to be done. But this is only part of the story. I want a better way to organize the track notes with the songs as well. I could explain further but I don't see the need to explain myself or have the desire to make you understand my own subjective working process. Also, just creating music is only part of the story for being a musician, there are also other areas to keep track of (business, websites, promoting, distributing, marketing, etc) and finding a balance between them is part of these programs. When I'm making a track I do it because its fun, not a chore and I go by my hears and not a timesheet but that doesn't mean this process can't be handled more intelligently . Cheers

[Nightpolymath]

Here is another one I use every now and then, but primarily for non-work related stuff.

http://www.zengobi.com/products/curio/i ... sShelf.jpg

They have a version 9 which came out recently. It's called Zengobi Curio. Mac only though. Neat thing is you can combine mind maps in it as well.

[xoxos]

one way to save time is to write your topics "anyone use _____?" that will save you typing "them" and the extra "? " as many times as you need to use the construction!

the whole veering away from talking like an infomercial will assist you in your efforts to remain focused and productive.

[jancivil]

When push comes to shove as to my use of time, it likely means I'm trying to get paid and there is no problem, a deadline is a deadline. I have spent 24 solid hours on a project with only piss breaks and sticking something in the toaster and making instant coffee... just for me, when I wanted to hear something and I was getting close.

I LOVE to waste time, otherwise. Project Management Software is the opposite of what I want in my life. Also see 'Productive member of society'. I'd go postal.