You can also play sounds or show screen alarms as a reminder that it is time to stop work, or take a short break before you start again - see Session Alarms & progress indicators.

The other main thing you can do is to play or show reminders to look away from the screen for a few seconds from time to time as is advised by eye doctors - this can help mitigate that tiredness of the eyes that can result from long periods of staring at a computer monitor - Eye Protection Reminders.

It has a straightforward layout and is extremely easy to use.

You have a choice of skins - this is one of the newer ones - you can also use any of your own photos, pictures etc as the background image for the program:

See the Skins page for more skins.

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Freeware / Shareware status: There are optional shareware features that enhance the program. Also if you use it with the Lissajous 3D screen saver for eye protection and end of session reminders - then the Lissajous 3D screen saver is shareware.

The basic program is free though, you can run it fine without using any shareware features - with a splash screen that shows up for a few seconds when it starts with Windows. You pay a small sum to remove the splash and to purchase the optional shareware features.

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Features

Activity timer automates the task of keeping track of how long you spend at the computer on various activities. You just leave it running in the task tray or minimised, and it can automatically keep track of how much time you spend using the mouse or computer on any tasks, projects or activities. It can automatically keep track when you change project, or you can quickly change task yourself by hand.

• Treat as idle time whenever mouse or keyboard are idle for more than a set period of time
• Auto ends the session if idle for even longer - when you leave the computer running and go away for five minutes say. Auto restarts as soon as you start to use the keyboard or mouse again.
• You can set the time of day when each day rolls over to the next
• You can set it to start whenever you start the computer
• You can set it to run as a tray icon (in the area next to the system clock), so that you can show it any time with a right click on the icon
• You can set it to pop up whenever you move the mouse into a selected corner of the screen as a quick way to show the times at any time or to change project
• Year 2038 compliant - the current build of Activity Timer will work fine until the end of this century. See What is the Year 2038 problem?
• Show table (csv type) with details of the hours worked for every day worked, to open in a database program.
• Show a summary report of all the time spent on every project, and make a combined database showing the total time spent on all the projects for each day worked.
• You can show a pie chart, bar chart or list with the total times for each project for the day, week, year, or entire project. (shareware)
• You can set it to run minimized. When minimized you can see the time so far in the current session when you hover the mouse over its icon. You can also change the project or set it to working or not working with a quick right click on the icon.
• You can show it's miminised icon as a pie chart for the amount of time in session so far - with complete circle set to whatever you like, preset to one hour
• Flash icon or screen when time is up, or play tune
• Eye protection reminders to take one or two minute eye breaks several times an hour as recommended by eye doctors. You can play a short tune for the break, or flash the icon or screen as a reminder. It's a reminder to blink to moisten the eyes, and to relax the eyes by looking into the distance, e.g. out of a window.
• Easy to add new projects - just enter its name into the box and press the New Project button and it is done
• Basic features are free with splash screen. Low price and more features if you pay to remove the splash.
• Straight forward layout. Easy to use. Small download size.
• You can translate all the text in the user interface into your own language.

More features - recently added:

• Automatically switch projects when you open a document with a particular title or start a particular process (shareware)
• Automatically pause when you open a document with a particular title or start a particular process (shareware)
• Automatically disable all alarms when you open a document with a particular title or start a particular process e.g. when media player is running.
• Show the total hours worked for each project between any dates - or the hours worked in each week during the time period. Week for the purposes of the time period can start at any day of the week. (shareware)
• Show costs for the work done based on an hourly rate. You can also show a break down of the total hours for the entire period for each project, and the totals for each week. (shareware)
• Option to treat short breaks or changes of project of say less than one minute as time worked on current project
• Show details of when you worked on every project during the day. Also change which project any time period was recorded for - or change a recorded rest period to an active period or vice versa (modifying is shareware)
• Similarly show and modify details for earlier days. (modifying is shareware)
• Treat screensaver always as idle time when running even if there is mouse or keyboard activity - e.g. useful for password locked screen savers.
• Random skin feature (shareware)
• Click and drag number changes - click on any number in the user interface (the number itself, not the spin button next to it) and with the mouse button held down, drag up or down (out of the text field) to change the number

Attention to detail helps to make this program especially user friendly.

If you downloaded this program some years ago you may know it also as Work Log. It's full name now is "Work log and activity timer" but for short, usually just "Activity Timer".

Press release

To read more about Activity Timer, go on to Project Timer

To get the program, download and install Activity Timer.

Download Activity Timer

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