Time tracking. An activity that brings me about as much joy as the annual tax return. But it has to be done because you want to know how much time you spend on a client. And they want to know what you did during that time. Fair deal. So let’s find a way to make time tracking simple yet precise.
Because: not only does the client want to know how you use your time – it’s also interesting for me to see how I spend my days. But again: I hate endless forms and tables where I have to painstakingly enter my presence times, have no copy-paste function, and have to fiddle with endless dropdown menus for project numbers and service types (take that, Abacus!).
ZEI° by Timeular: Time Tracking in a Jiffy
When I first saw the ZEI° octahedron from Timeular, the concept immediately appealed to me. Such a beautiful thing on the desk that you can simply turn and twist as you like – that’s pretty cool. The principle is immediately clear. I have an octahedron in front of me, whose eight sides each represent one of my projects or activities. Depending on how I place the ZEI°, the time is tracked to a different project. When I change work, I simply quickly turn the ZEI° to another side. The position of the octahedron is transmitted via Bluetooth to the tracking software on my computer or smartphone.
Now I’ve had this thing on my desk for quite some time and use it daily. In short: it works!
However, with a few important remarks.
Eight Sides? Not Enough! Or is it?
For those working on various projects for different clients, the eight sides can quickly become insufficient. At first glance, this may seem like a major limitation. But on second thought, this limitation is worth its weight in gold: it forces me to plan my work and engage with my time. I’ve gotten into the habit of arranging my weekly schedule every Monday. I’ve been doing this for a long time. Since I’ve had the ZEI°, I think even more carefully about which 8 important projects I literally have on the table this week. Because let’s be honest: I can’t juggle more than 8 things simultaneously to my satisfaction anyway. And of course, it can also be fewer projects.
So I choose my maximum of eight projects and label the sides of my ZEI° accordingly. The package includes a black pen with which you can write on the white surface. The ink can be easily wiped off (and sometimes stays on my fingers). I only track client time on the ZEI°.
There are many opportunities to label the ZEI°. The weekly planning on Monday, the weekly stand-up in front of a Kanban board. Yes, even daily planning would be possible, but it’s a bit too much effort because, of course, I still have to tell the associated software which side of the octahedron represents which project. While this is done quite quickly, it still takes a moment.
Connection Lost
For the ZEI° to work, the octahedron must be in contact with the tracking software. This happens via Bluetooth. The software runs either on a computer or a mobile device. Unfortunately, the ZEI° can only be paired with one device so far, and the tracking is not synchronized anywhere via the cloud. I can – if I want to – work with multiple ZEI°s. For example, in the home office. However, the tracked times are only found on the one paired device.
This is impractical for me because I spend about half of my working time away from my desk. I solve this by taking my ZEI° to different places in the publishing house – along with my smartphone, which does the tracking. But this is not a permanent solution.
If I don’t have my ZEI° with me, I can of course manually make an entry in the app. Unfortunately, it has happened to me several times that I forgot my ZEI° on the desk while it was tracking. In those cases, I had to delete and correct the tracking afterwards.
A better solution is needed here: pairing with multiple devices or even better, directly to the cloud via Wi-Fi. Let’s wait for version 2.0.
The Software? Top-notch!
A word about the accompanying tracking software. The ZEI° itself is a device without a user interface. All the data comes together in the software and can be processed there. I can conveniently view my time tracking in the calendar display and adjust it afterwards if needed. I can add notes and thus keep a comprehensive journal of my work. All this in a really well-designed interface that also supports me in the easy configuration of the ZEI°.
Now, in our publishing house, we use Abacus for time tracking. And it is – besides having a horrible interface – completely resistant to any form of imports. ZEI° can’t be blamed for this, I have to say that in fairness. But for me, it leads to double time tracking – I have to manually transfer the ZEI° trackings to Abacus at the end of the month. That’s annoying, but still easier than getting frustrated with the Abacus window every day.
Conclusion
The ZEI° from Timeular is simply a cool device. It gives time tracking its meaning back! I really enjoy using it, and it helps me to sharpen my project focus and plan better. I still find the required connection to a device with installed software somewhat cumbersome. I need to find a better handling for that. The accompanying software is brilliant – unfortunately, our in-house time tracking isn’t. But I’ll take that on myself. Because for me, it’s a better world when I can simply place such a stylish octahedron on my desk!
Further information: Timeular homepage
Disclaimer: Everything purchased myself, tested voluntarily, no paid advertising!
