Rescuetime: Quantifying Your Most Important Asset
I started using Rescuetime in March 2015 and have over 4400 hours logged in the software apart from one month in 2016. The software is running 24/7 on my computer. During this time I have been a freelance developer, with the computer as my sole means of income. Here are some highlights of how my behaviour has changed after learning how I was spending my time.
2015
Overview
Categories
Categories Breakdown
| Percentage | Time | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 24% | 445h 10m | Software Development |
| 15% | 281h 50m | Communication & Scheduling |
| 12% | 224h 56m | Entertainment |
| 11% | 202h 8m | Business |
| 9% | 170h 42m | Reference & Learning |
| 9% | 167h 17m | Social Networking |
| 6% | 108h 30m | Uncategorized |
| 4% | 82h 17m | Design & Composition |
| 4% | 76h 16m | Utilities |
| 2% | 44h 43m | News & Opinion |
Activities
Activities Breakdown
| Percentage | Time | Activity / Website |
|---|---|---|
| 8% | 151h 38m | Gmail |
| 8% | 145h 43m | facebook.com |
| 4% | 82h 17m | youtube.com |
| 3% | 55h 20m | sublime text |
| 3% | 52h 3m | specific localdev site |
| 3% | 50h 33m | VLC Media Player |
| 3% | 47h 7m | coda |
| 2% | 42h 45m | sublime text 2 |
| 2% | 41h 30m | netflix.com |
| 2% | 41h 15m | messages |
Nearly 300 hours on Facebook & Email in less than a year! After seeing the data, I was astonished, and started taking more control of how I used my time. I didn't use any of Rescuetime's advanced functionality, but I did start reviewing my use on a more consistent basis.
2016
Overview
Categories
Categories Breakdown
| Percentage | Time | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 28% | 541h 6m | Software Development |
| 19% | 372h 42m | Communication & Scheduling |
| 12% | 235h 45m | Business |
| 9% | 168h 34m | Design & Composition |
| 8% | 153h 27m | Reference & Learning |
| 6% | 110h 57m | Utilities |
| 5% | 101h 48m | Entertainment |
| 5% | 97h 52m | Uncategorized |
| 4% | 67h 59m | Social Networking |
| 2% | 34h 44m | News & Opinion |
Activities
Activities Breakdown
| Percentage | Time | Activity / Website |
|---|---|---|
| 7% | 143h 11m | |
| 6% | 109h 28m | sublime text |
| 5% | 93h 49m | messages |
| 5% | 90h 46m | slack |
| 4% | 75h 47m | coda |
| 3% | 50h 40m | facebook.com |
| 2% | 45h 29m | MS Excel |
| 2% | 40h 11m | Finder |
| 2% | 37h 31m | youtube.com |
| 2% | 35h 45m | Terminal |
Email was still high, but Facebook and Youtube use got cut back considerably, keeping in mind that this sample is approximately 2 months longer than the previous year.
2017 Overview
Top Categories
Categories Breakdown
| Percentage | Time | Activity / Website |
|---|---|---|
| 41% | 277h 11m | Software Development |
| 14% | 94h 5m | Communication & Scheduling |
| 10% | 68h 34 | Reference & Learning |
| 8% | 51h 27m | Business |
| 7% | 44h | Entertainment |
| 5% | 36h 43m | Utilities |
| 5% | 31h 23m | Uncategorized |
| 4% | 25h 55m | Design & Composition |
| 3% | 20h 12m | News & Opinion |
| 2% | 10h 47m | Social Networking |
Top Activities
Activities Breakdown
| Percentage | Time | Activity / Website |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 64h 39m | sublime text |
| 5% | 35h 5m | coda |
| 4% | 25h 54m | messages |
| 4% | 25h 2m | pycharm |
| 4% | 24h 42m | slack |
| 3% | 23h 17m | specific localdev site |
| 3% | 18h 23m | Gmail |
| 3% | 16h 45m | Google Documents |
| 2% | 15h 28m | youtube.com |
| 2% | 15h 13m | capture.otago.ac.nz |
Facebook is gone. And damn it feels good. If you're not tracking your time download Rescuetime, and see where your time is really going. If you're already tracking, please comment below, I'd love to hear how you're using the tool to better your life and the lives of those around you!
"You’re already a financial trader. You might not think of it in just this way, but if you work for a living, you’re trading your time for money. Frankly, it’s just about the worst trade you can make. Why? You can always get more money, but you can’t get more time.” - Tony Robbins
Great post, Facebook is an amazing thief of time. Glad to see you got that under control!
I deleted my account for approximately 6 months. I have it enabled again, but I am not an active participant (facebook.com/ads for 128 minutes this year, and facebook.com for 69 minutes). Once the cycle was broken I now have no desire to look at the news feed. The news feed's quality is really crap now too, so much clickbait memes, or spam "You won't believe what happened when..." and similar postings. In fact you could say I resent the news feed. The fact that my friends actually curate that low quality stuff is the most concerning part of it all. The cat memes are alright though!
Great post
hahah thats cool!!! wow I've never seen this TYPE of organisation :D