If you’ve ever wanted to measure the time you spend working on various tasks or projects then you should check out this free program.

Grindstone is a kind of to-do list with a twist. It will let you create a list of tasks and an (optional) estimated time of completion and/or a due date, as well as an hourly charge rate for calculations. But where it shines is the desktop-based tools designed to measure the exact amount of time spent on each task. The user has the ability to pause, resume or switch tasks via a small widget floating on the desktop, or to use an "egg timer" widget which can be used to keep track of chunks of time that you might to spend doing something.

The first thing I had to overcome before starting to use this program was my suspicion that it would show that I spend more time than I care to admit loafing around, procrastinating, and/or randomly surfing the internet. On the other hand I was hoping that the act of measuring itself will make me more productive or focused (and it may have worked).

I will say this: Grindstone works better than I thought it would, largely because of it’s nice implementation and a nice set of desktop-based tools. Continue reading »