Start/Stop Timer

Start and Stop Time Tracking Timer

Summary: Learn how to use growlio's time tracking timer to accurately record the time you spend on projects and tasks throughout your workday.

Overview

Accurate time tracking is essential for understanding how your team spends their time, billing clients correctly, and improving project estimates. growlio's built-in timer makes it easy to track time as you work, ensuring you capture every billable hour without manual calculations.

The timer runs in the background while you work, automatically calculating duration and allowing you to switch between different projects and tasks throughout your day.

Prerequisites

• Active growlio account with time tracking enabled (available on paid plans)
• At least one project or task to track time against
• Team member access to the projects you want to track time on

How to Start and Stop the Timer

Step 1: Navigate to Time Tracking

Click on "Time Tracking" in the main navigation sidebar. This opens the time tracking interface where you can see all your time entries and access the timer controls.

Step 2: Click Add Entry or Start Timer

Look for the "Add Entry" button in the top-right corner of the Time Tracking page. Click it to open the time entry modal where you can configure what you're tracking.

Step 3: Select Your Project

In the time entry modal, use the "Project" dropdown to select which project you're working on. This ensures your time is attributed to the correct project for billing and reporting purposes.

Step 4: Choose a Task (Optional)

If you're working on a specific task, select it from the "Task" dropdown. Linking time entries to tasks helps with detailed project tracking and task completion estimates.

Tip: Creating a task before starting the timer helps you stay focused and makes it easier to track time accurately.

Step 5: Select a Category

Choose an appropriate category for your work (Development, Design, Meeting, Research, etc.). Categories help you analyze how time is distributed across different types of work.

Step 6: Add Notes (Optional)

Enter a brief description of what you're working on in the "Notes" field. These notes help you remember what you accomplished and provide context for billing and reporting.

Step 7: Mark as Billable or Non-Billable

Toggle the "Billable" switch to indicate whether this time should be billed to the client. Billable time will be included in invoice generation and client reports.

Step 8: Start the Timer

Click the "Start Timer" button to begin tracking. The timer will start counting and will continue running even if you navigate to other parts of growlio or minimize your browser.

Tip: A timer indicator will appear in your interface showing that you have an active timer running, so you won't forget about it.

Step 9: Monitor Your Running Timer

While the timer is running, you can see the elapsed time in the time tracking interface. The timer continues running in the background as you work, and you can switch between different areas of growlio without stopping it.

Step 10: Stop the Timer When Done

When you finish your work session, return to the time tracking page and click the "Stop" button on your active timer. The time entry will be saved automatically with the total duration calculated.

Tips & Best Practices

• Start the timer as soon as you begin working on a task to capture all your time accurately
• Add descriptive notes while the timer is running so you don't forget what you accomplished
• Stop the timer during breaks, meetings unrelated to the project, or when switching to personal tasks
• Review your timer entries at the end of each day to ensure accuracy
• Use consistent categories across your team for better reporting and analysis
• If you forget to start the timer, you can create manual time entries after the fact
• Don't run multiple timers simultaneously - stop one before starting another
• Set up timer reminders in your account settings to get notifications about running timers
• Use the billable toggle carefully to ensure accurate client invoicing

Troubleshooting

Issue: I started a timer but can't see it running anywhere.

Solution: Check the Time Tracking page for your active timer. It should appear at the top of your time entries list with a "running" status and a visible stop button. If you still can't find it, refresh your browser to ensure the interface is up to date.

Issue: My timer stopped unexpectedly and I lost time.

Solution: growlio saves timer data continuously, so you shouldn't lose time even if your browser closes. Check your time entries list for a stopped entry with the accumulated time. You can edit the entry to adjust the duration if needed.

Issue: I forgot to stop my timer overnight and it ran for 12 hours.

Solution: You can edit the time entry after stopping the timer. Click on the entry, adjust the end time to when you actually stopped working, and save your changes. The duration will be recalculated automatically.

Issue: The timer won't start when I click the Start Timer button.

Solution: Ensure you've selected at least a project before starting the timer. The Start button may be disabled if required fields aren't filled. Also check that you don't already have another timer running - you can only run one timer at a time.

Issue: My time entries aren't showing up in project reports.

Solution: Verify that your time entries are marked as "Approved" status. Draft or stopped entries may not appear in some reports. Also confirm that you've selected the correct project when filtering reports.

Related Articles

• Create Manual Time Entries
• Edit and Adjust Time Entries
• Generate Time Reports
• Track Billable vs Non-Billable Time
• Set Up Time Entry Categories
• Export Time Data for Invoicing