Time tracking: timers, entries & Pomodoro

The tracking cockpit

Timers don't run inside a project but in the tracking cockpit. You reach it from every page without leaving what you are doing.

Start & save timers

A timer measures one work session. Only when you save it does it become a time entry.

1. 1

   Pick a project and start

   Open time tracking and find your project under “Track a project” in “Favorites”, “Recently used” or “All projects”. Start the timer and add a memo about what you are working on.

   Tip Use “Mark favorite” on projects you track often; you decide the order of your favorites.

2. 2

   Adjust if needed

   The pencil on the timer opens “Adjust Time Tracker”. There you change the project, move the start or the whole session (“Shift Relatively”) and set the rounding. For a forgotten break, a phase in the saved entry is better than a shorter time, because the break stays recorded as a break.

3. 3

   Save

   “Save timer” turns the session into a time entry, applies rounding and removes the timer. If the time overlaps other entries or exceeds the daily limit, the timer stays on hold until you decide.

• “Cancel timer” discards the session after a confirmation (“Discard timer?”). No entry is created and the measured time is gone.
• “Start a timer without a project” records time with just a time category, for example for lunch or leisure. Such time is neither rounded nor paid. “Assign a project” turns it into project time later.
• The cockpit holds up to ten timers, including idle, project-less and shared ones. Whether a new timer stops the others is set in Settings → Work → Time Tracker (“Automatically stop other timers when starting a new one”).
• Each project can have only one timer. That also applies when the project is part of a shared timer.
• Drag timer cards to change their order; this works with the keyboard too.

Breaks & time categories

Every timer and entry has a time category. You name categories yourself, but each belongs to one of five fixed time classes. The class decides what counts as work.

• “Pause” on a running timer switches to your rest-break category, “Resume” switches back. The break is recorded as a phase in the entry, so you don't have to estimate and subtract it later.
• “Switch Time category” on the timer moves to another category at any time, such as a short break. The time recorded so far keeps its category.
• New timers start with the project's default Time category or, if the project has none, with your general default category.
• In Settings → Work → Time categories, “Add category” creates your own categories. Self-Engine starts you off with Deep Work, Work, Short break, Break and Leisure. Once a category is in use its class is fixed; to delete it, pick a category of the same class under “Replace with”.

Add time after the fact

Forgot to start the timer? Simply add the time afterwards.

1. 1

   Open the form

   In the project, click “Add Time entry” (or N). In the calendar, drag a time range and choose “Tracked” instead of “Planned”.

2. 2

   Enter time and category

   Choose the project or “Without project”, then the start time, end time and time category. A memo is optional.

3. 3

   Check the preview and save

   Under “Rounding”, “Will be saved as” shows which time will be booked. Save; if there is an overlap, Self-Engine asks you what to do.

Shared time

If you work for several projects at once, say in a meeting for two clients, split the time instead of booking it twice.

1. 1

   Add projects

   On the running timer, open “Time split” and choose “Add project”. All involved projects then appear under “Worked at the same time for”.

2. 2

   Set the shares

   Adjust the percentages; every project needs more than zero. “Make Lead project” decides whose rules are used for rounding. “Remove from timer” takes a project out again.

3. 3

   Save

   “Save timer” creates one entry per project with its share. Together they add up to exactly the rounded duration of the session; each Hourly project values its share at its own rate.

• A project you add applies to all the time measured so far, not just from now on. If only one project remains, it becomes a regular timer again.
• You can share saved entries afterwards too: open the entry and add more projects under “Shared time”. “Dissolve from Shared time” turns it back into a single entry.
• Changing the interval of shared time changes it for every project. Once one of the entries is paid, the interval and shares are locked.

Pomodoro

Pomodoro splits a session into work phases and breaks. All phases end up in a single entry per project, not in many small ones.

• Turn it on at the timer with “Enable Pomodoro”. “Pomodoro options” offers “Finish & save timer”, “Settings”, “Start a new cycle” and “Disable Pomodoro”.
• The next phase starts automatically. If you turned that off, the phase runs into overtime until you choose “Start short break”, “Start Long Break” or “Back to Work”.
• “Pause” also stops the countdown. After “Resume”, the rest of the phase continues.
• The progress shows how many work phases you have completed in the current cycle.
• At the end of a phase you hear a sound and get a notification if you allowed it in the browser. Don't rely on them when Self-Engine is fully closed.

In Settings → Work → Pomodoro you set the phase durations, the number of work phases before the long break, sounds, colors and a test notification. Also:

• “Auto-Start Phases” (on): work and breaks switch without a click.
• “Auto-Submit Timer After the Long Break” (on): the timer is saved after the long break.
• “Show 'Continue Working?' After Long Break” (off): asks after the long break whether you want to carry on.
• To change the durations for a single timer, use “Pomodoro options” → “Settings” and “Apply”. “Reset to Global Pomodoro Settings” undoes it.

Rounding

Rounding decides which time is finally booked and paid. Set it in Settings → Work → Time Tracker → “Rounding”: “Rounding interval”, “Rounding mode” (up, down or nearest) or “Round in time fragments” with a “Time Fragment Interval”.

• The most specific rule wins: rounding on the timer beats project rounding (“Time Rounding”), which beats your settings.
• On the timer, “Adjust Time Tracker” → “Rounding” shows the “Active Time” and the “Booked Time”. When adding an entry, “Apply project rounding” shows what will be saved.
• Rounding applies when you save and when you deliberately change times. Changing the settings leaves existing entries as they are. Time without a project is never rounded.
• Shared time is rounded once using the lead project's rule and then split; the lead project gets the rounding remainder.

Overlaps & daily limit

When new time overlaps existing entries, Self-Engine never silently overwrites anything. Instead “Time overlaps” appears with a timeline and the affected entries. Depending on the situation you can choose:

• In Settings → Work → Time Tracker → “Overlaps” you decide whether only entries of the same project are checked (the default) or, with “Check overlaps across all projects”, all of them. “Allow overlapping time entries” permits double-booked time. Time without a project is always checked against all entries.
• If a timer has to wait for your decision, it stays on hold with its time frozen until you decide or discard it. You can't restart it in the meantime.
• “Book at most 24 hours per day” is on by default: across all projects, a calendar day cannot receive more than 24 hours of booked work. If a timer would exceed that, it waits until you shorten or discard it; nothing is cut off behind your back.
• In the overlap dialog, pick an option with 1, 2 or 3 and confirm with Enter. “Back to form” lets you change the time first.

Tips for everyday use

Good time tracking shows you where your time really goes and makes your billing reliable. These habits help:

• Start the timer as soon as you begin, not once you are “properly into it”. T then S does it without the mouse.
• Write specific memos: “Built the login form” helps you more later than “coding”.
• A short interruption that belongs to the work? Use “Switch Time category” to move to a short break; it still counts as working time.
• A longer break? Press “Pause” and then “Resume”. If you forgot, add the break as a phase in the saved entry.
• When you switch projects, save the timer and start the next one. If new timers should stop the others automatically, set that in the Time Tracker settings.
• Glance at the cockpit at the end of the day: is a timer still running that is actually done?
• Use “Review” in the project for your work patterns and the “Time classes” card on the dashboard for your balance of focus and breaks.
• Forgot a timer? Add the time with “Add Time entry”. Roughly right beats not tracked at all.