ASK HN: Are Time Tracking Applications Worth It

In my previous role we used toggl to track how long it takes to complete a task and it just seemed like a distraction as it popped up on the screen every 10 minutes.

I'm thinking about using something similar again to get a better idea of how long it takes me to complete a task

What are people's experience with this type of software? Is it worth it or just an annoying distraction?

I would say the overhead of time tracking, as a deliberate productivity tool, is barely worth the trouble. For instance, I use Emacs org-mode, where you can schedule and clock tasks in sophisticated ways. It took a long time to setup and get used to the stuff. I thought it might scale in the future. Turns out that pen and paper is much more efficient and effective for me to get anything done on a daily basis. Now I use it more or less to get reminded for some important dates, and to satisfy the sunk cost fallacy. I would only use it as time tracker again, if forced by my employer.

- you can set up toggle in a way that isn't distracting - definitely disable the popups, have a keyboard shortcut for start/stop tracking, or use the auto tracking feature if you like it

- I've found time tracking with toggle to be extremely helpful at times when my discipline was lacking. For example, while working on university projects, the goal of spending at least 4 hours every day doing actual work, helped so much with getting things done on time.

- even then, my time tracking was focused on work - I would never recommend tracking every minute of your day. I've tried it for a very short period of time and completely hated it.

- at the moment I have enough discipline and structure in my work and personal life, so time tracking isn't necessary. At work, I log time against projects a few times a week, but that process isn't micromanaged and we don't use real-time time tracking. I wouldn't time track my personal projects because I enjoy the feeling of flexibility and don't need the additional discipline.

edit:

It just occurred to me that this is very similar to managing a budget. If you've never had a budget before and don't know where your money goes, it's really useful to track your finances closely at least for a while. But if you're doing fine financially and you're still obsessively counting every penny, you've probably gone too far and you're taking away from your quality of life. At that point just a general idea of how much is spent and on what will be enough.