Time tracking is beneficial for context switching, and it can help you to stay on a task of your choice without breaking a focus. I was running all kind of timers and apps, trying to find out what works best for me. You might find yourself in a different situation, but I think that running a timer, especially, when trying to focus on the most important thing you are trying to accomplish has benefits for everyone. I am a huge proponent of personal time tracking. Because starting a timer gets me in the “work mode” it’s the ideal barrier for context switching. Running a timer was a critical tool that helped me to maintain high productivity output while working from home, without overworking myself.

If you want to learn more, I can recommend this episode of Focussed podcast. Both hosts are using Toggl and Timery, but I find myself running the Vitamin-R app on my Mac. I rarely look into the data, except the current week bar chart. I don’t use any sync solution, it just works locally. I prefer Pomodoro-like applications because I have problems remembering to stop a timer and countdown gives me an extra motivational kick.