Every few years I try to reevaluate the software I’m using for tracking projects, invoices, time, etc.
I’m currently using:
Trello for project management
InvoiceNinja for billing
I used to use Billings Pro’s built in time tracker but that program has become a bit outdated … but I never found a good replacement for it and have ironically switched to an old fashioned spreadsheet.
What’s everyone else using?
I’m using Swift-to-do for time tracking and task reminders, but it doesn’t track it by the day - just the time per task.
So I’m exploring other options too, will watch this discussion with interest.
So I’ve tried quite a few different products over the years.trello is great. But don’t manage time vey well and I know you can get plugins but that typically leads to more subscriptions and products that aren’t that we’ll connected.
Asana is good, although again, no time tracking but the project planning is good. Although expensive.
I was using teamwork for a while, it ticked most of our boxes although it can be expensive when you have bigger teams etc.
In a bid to save money we’ve started using dozillo.com
It’s not bad. Missing some team features like commenting etc on tasks but apparently that’s coming in the near future. But it’s definitely more cost effective and it’s time tracking is built right into tasks and projects, meaning you can keep a good eye on costs and hopefully avoid going over budget on tasks etc
Various kinds software meant to help organize processes and procedures seem to make sense since they’re meant to bring order and efficiency to sometimes chaotic processes.
I keep hearing and reading about people who have good luck with various software packages that do these things. Despite several attempts spanning several different jobs with totally different people, I’ve never found anything yet that is flexible and simple enough to match up with the needs of whatever group I’ve been working with.
Instead, I’ve found they force people into unnatural workflow patterns, inhibit spontaneity and flexibility, don’t quite fit the way the workgroup works, and end up taking more time to use than they save.
There obviously needs to be ways of keeping track of and organizing important things, but I’ve found that it’s a matter of carefully identifying those things that really do need to be tracked and organized, then coming up with procedures that just do those basic things in the easiest ways possible. I’ve also found that once I reduce these things down to the essential basics, that they can usually be done with simple shared Google calendars and spreadsheets.