How I Spent My Week Trying to Remember What I Did

I’ve always considered myself a relatively organized person. I like lists, schedules, and the satisfaction of crossing things off a to-do list. But when it comes to timekeeping, I’m a hot mess. It’s like trying to herd cats, but instead of cats, it's fleeting moments of my life that I'm supposed to quantify and bill for.

Let’s start with the timer. In theory, it’s a brilliant concept. Start the timer when you begin a task, stop it when you’re done, and voila! Accurate timekeeping. In practice, it’s more like a ticking time bomb of anxiety. I find myself staring at the timer, debating whether to start it now or wait until I’m really in the task. And then there’s the eternal question: did I stop the timer? Or did I just minimize it?

Guesstimates are another favorite pastime of mine. I’ll spend an entire morning drafting a complex contract, only to realize at the end of the day that I have no idea how long it actually took. So, I resort to the art of educated guessing. Was it two hours? Three? Let’s just say two and a half and hope for the best.

But perhaps the most baffling aspect of timekeeping is the ability to completely forget what I did last week. It’s like my brain has a built-in delete function for work-related memories. “What did I spend three hours on Tuesday?” I’ll ask myself, staring blankly at my computer screen. It’s like trying to solve a complex legal puzzle without any of the pieces.

I’ve tried various timekeeping apps, but they all seem to have their own set of quirks. Some are too complicated, others are too simplistic. And don’t even get me started on the dreaded “time entry” screen. It’s like a black hole that sucks in my productivity.

So, here’s to all the lawyers out there struggling with timekeeping. We’re in this together. Workdiary.ai is an attempt to fix exactly that.

Come join the pilot!