Time-Tracking in Notion: 2 Best Methods in 2023

[@yannic8402]

Very cool! I also implemented the first method in my workspace and I found a workaround to also use it with teams. Long story short, I filtered in the stop button for only tasks (in your case clients) where the Asignee contains "Me", so that everyone in the workspace can use it simultaniously.

[@mfreihaendig]

Ah fair point, totally forgot about that! 😅 thanks for sharing, I‘ll update the blog post and video 😇

[@jackpotmonroe]

@@mfreihaendig I'm also trying to adapt it to a team of two users. I added the property User to the Time Tracker database. But I gave up as I couldn't make Notion display separately the total time EACH USER spent with EACH CLIENT. I have a feeling it might be possible now with Formulas 2.0, but I still can't figure it out.

[@jirucchi01]

That's really smart! Had a big question mark above my head when you said that we can do that using Button, but now it makes sense. Really creative. Didn't think of using it that way. Will try it myself, thanks for sharing!!

[@mfreihaendig]

Haha yeah it’s not the most intuitive, but once you see it, it all falls into place ☺️ Let me know how it works out for you!

[@NandapelosAyres]

agree! I came to the video to learn one thing and as a bonus found a solution for other thing. Amazing

[@prepos9376]

we NEED a video tour on your entire workspace/system on Notion, please😭😭😭

[@mfreihaendig]

Ah I‘ll add that to the list! ☺️ though it‘s fairly chaotic 😅

[@MindfulGrinds]

What a great video. As a non-coder, I have been trying to figure out how to make Notion also do time-tracking because I currently use TMetric. While I like the features, I want to track project time client time, and so on. Also, I wouldn't say I like spending money on templates that often need substantial modification to meet anyone's specific needs. This is a great starting point for me!

[@mfreihaendig]

Oh amazing, I’m glad to hear that!

[@bentebrunia]

to get the total time spent shown in Hours + minutes I used this formula: format(floor(prop("Total Time Spent")/ 60)) + "hrs" + " " + format(floor(60 * (prop("Total Time Spent")/ 60 - floor(prop("Total Time Spent")/ 60)))) + "min"

[@mfreihaendig]

Awesome! With the new formulas, we don’t even need format anymore, it happens automatically ☺️

[@dinnerwithgeorge]

Thanks for the guide. This was a great help

[@mfreihaendig]

Happy to hear that! ☺️

[@jimpannell2035]

Just implemented this. Fab! Thanks Matthias. I really like your style of videos btw. Extremely cool and quite funny as well 😂

[@mfreihaendig]

Oh amazing, that makes me really happy to hear! 😇

[@mihen666]

Very cool! Thanks for the tutorial.

[@mfreihaendig]

Your welcome 😇

[@DarshanShah10]

This is so cool! Thanks for the tutorial :)

[@mfreihaendig]

Glad you like it! 😍

[@labulabuland]

🙋🏻‍♀️alone only, can't team 6:40 I still don't understand above.. omg 😢. I will check ur blogpost

[@mfreihaendig]

Hope that helps! 😅

[@birgitpestalozzi2722]

It sounds really cool. Now, I wanted to get the time tracking template. Entered my emailadress and then got a file called "Subscriber Special". There are awesome templates in there. But the one template I was looking for, the time tracker template, I can't find. What am I doing wrong?

[@mfreihaendig]

Just linked it properly, now it should show up - sorry for that! 😇

[@idromano]

Thank you!

[@mfreihaendig]

Anytime 😇

[@tropicaally]

hey, could you do a video showing formula examples that we can use in our templates with the latest formula update?

[@mfreihaendig]

I’ll add it to the list ☺️ although they should be fairly easily to adapt with the formula video on your side 💪🏻

[@m.ehtizan]

Hey Matthias, I just watched your video and I must say that it was really informative and well-made. I was wondering if I could help you edit your videos and also make highly engaging shorts for you, as well as make highly CTR thumbnails for you?

[@mfreihaendig]

Appreciate you reaching out! ☺️ no need at the moment but I‘ll keep your offer in mind - there will surely be opportunities in the future!

[@Hurrrrricaaaaane]

Great tutorial - thank you! Is it also possible to start/stop the timetracking directly in a table item? So for example you have a database of tasks than you want to start/stop the tracking directly related on a task?

[@mfreihaendig]

Unfortunately not right now - the button automations don’t provide granular enough controls for that. You’re stuck with the fairly generic commands for now, but I‘m sure they‘ll give us more control in the future!

[@O.RafaelDiniz]

Notion could had relsead this feature native. Thanks for the tutorial!

[@mfreihaendig]

Glad you liked it!

[@vegantechnomad]

Is there a way to make data viz in notion based on the data in the table?

[@mfreihaendig]

Well I’m glad you asked 😎 Notion Charts: The Easiest Way To Get Charts in Notion (For Free) kzbin.info/www/bejne/gnyZd3Ssn6-cn5I

[@andresfernandez2811]

Gotta go fast!

[@mfreihaendig]

Always! 😎

[@henrycheney9602]

this is exactly what I was looking for, and really well explained. I'm new to Make and I had an error come up when I tried to load my Toggl, it was '[402] Workspace needs to have the Tasks feature enabled' any ideas on what I can do to fix as I can't seem to find any answers online currently! Much appreciated

[@mfreihaendig]

Yes, that’s the error if you’re on the free plan of Toggl - unfortunately, they only allow you to use the task separation on the first paid plan so you’d have to upgrade to use this

[@henrycheney9602]

@@mfreihaendig hey man, thanks for letting me know that was what caused it, will have to consider the upgrade

[@pixelsyndikat]

Thanks for that awesome tutorial, very happy with the results! I have a question regarding the conversion from Minutes to the hourly display that you added to your blog post --> is it possible to edit the formula so it only counts the minutes with the tag "billed" or "not yet billed"? My notion formula knowledge isn't big enough yet to know wether or how this would work? Any tipps appreciated! B-)

[@mfreihaendig]

Sure thing! You need to add a separate property to the time entries database and use a formula with this structure: If(prop(„Billed?“, prop(„Tracked Minutes“),0) That assumes that you have a checkbox for billed, if it’s a tag than you could adapt it accordingly Then, modify the roll-up to pull in the helper property instead ☺️💪🏻

[@StoreMarkiito]

Thank you so much for your effort and value, I have a question if I use calendar in Notion and each day I have a template that I fill details on it so it means each day new Table with new ID, is it possible that toggl and make could update them automatically ?

[@mfreihaendig]

Are you creating a new, separate database for each day? 🤔

[@StoreMarkiito]

@@mfreihaendig Thank you SIr for your response 🙏, No not separate but I have a DEFAULT template that I use in calendar on each day the same template but each day with new details that I fill on it, and I need to add inside of this ' DEFAULT ' template the time tracking with toggl and Make, like the automation that you explained I want to use them on each day, is that possible or not ?

[@freemind2809]

Really helpfull! What kind odf screencast tool your are using?

[@mfreihaendig]

I use Cleanshot - great tool for a Mac 😇

[@helenelarmoire]

Hi, it doesn't work. Exactly in the parameters of the button, i can't see "Now" "Today". I find a solution with a column "Creation date" (when I click on I have my Start Time) and a button STOP in another column. I've kept the column End Time. I continue your video. Thank you.

[@mfreihaendig]

Hm that’s weird, it shows on my end 🤔 what’s the exact setup your using?

[@helenelarmoire]

@@mfreihaendig hi, I'm not sure to understand what "setup" means in this context. I've just followed your video. New database with tasks and I had already had a project base.

[@ItalianIndie]

Thank you. I tried the second method but it doesn't work. When I start tracking, the task in Toggle has no name. Then I can't see how the tracking should stop in Toggl

[@mfreihaendig]

Are you on the paid plan with toggle? That’s required for the method to work as mentioned in the video 💪🏻

[@jleungf]

Great tutorial! I got stuck with the 2nd method when I added the Toggl Track, and the "Project ID" did not show up in my drop-down. I got an error that "value must not be empty". When I toggle on "Map", I didn't see any project ID. I tried using database ID, but it didn't work as I got a few errors when I tried to run Toggle Track. Any idea how to resolve this?

[@mfreihaendig]

Do you have a paid toggle account? 🤔

[@jleungf]

​@@mfreihaendig No. I am using a test account. Is a paid Toggl account need to set this up?

[@pasemes]

Advanced filter configuration made @3:30 on the template is not working for me. When I open a specific Client it shows time trackers of all other clients. Can anyone help?

[@mfreihaendig]

Hm have updated the database template on the page? After setting up the filter?

[@pasemes]

​@@mfreihaendigThanks for the imediate response! Yes, I've updated the template on the page. Indeed, this happens even when I create a new Client, the time trackers table shows all rows registered at the moment. I also returned to the template and checked whether the filter is there (and it is there). Also, I noticed that the time trackers table on a Client page does not have any filter (I can create one and it works, but it does not come with the one I had set up on the template).

[@pasemes]

I have found the problem. I did not have saved the filter for all pages after setting it up. Thanks again for the content and for the help.

[@That.Channel593]

I can't figure out how to add this to a company that I already have

[@mfreihaendig]

What exactly are you struggling with? ☺️

[@Ardillazanahoria]

Grazie!!!!!

[@mfreihaendig]

Your welcome 😇

[@marouaneelbelhadji4464]

Great video that's what i am looking for, just quick question if i want to PAUSE for e.g 30 min and continue the task later without restart counting, is that possible?

[@mfreihaendig]

Why do you not want to create a separate timer? 🤔 In that case, you can simply add one more layer. Add a task layer after projects and then attach the timers to the task. That way, you can track several sessions per task easily. You could also add a pause button and then use formulas to deduct the paused amount but that would be a bit more complex

[@marouaneelbelhadji4464]

@@mfreihaendig i see, i will try that thanks for reply and helpful information

[@MVS_DJGillyGill]

i tried to implement the formula on method one but it comes out a bid different. is this still a viable method? it seems the notion made changes to formulas (2.0): dateBetween(prop("End"), prop("Start"), "minutes") : this is the formula I am talking about ..any help would be appreciated ...if i paste that in it gets converted to : dateBetween(End, Start, "minutes"). with an error: End is not defined. [12,15] Start is not defined. [17,22]

[@mfreihaendig]

No the formula template still works - dateBetween(END DATE, START DATE, „minutes“) - you just need to have the corresponding properties correctly named 💪🏻

[@MVS_DJGillyGill]

ohh okay thank you@@mfreihaendig

[@litdav]

please lower the volume of the sound effects by at least 50%

[@mfreihaendig]

Bit too much? Thanks, appreciate it - are you listening on headphones or with speakers?

[@litdav]

@@mfreihaendig headphones :)

[@LuzonSol]

why i cant find the first notion template

[@mfreihaendig]

It’s part of the 21+ Notion templates you get when you sign up for my newsletter (which you can unsubscribe from asap afterwards if you don’t want to get new templates) 💪🏻 Linked in the description or via matthiasfrank.de/special/

[@labulabuland]

🔖9:47 cara 2

[@mfreihaendig]

🔥🔥

[@flowwithmelody]

Thanks Matthias for those informations! Quick question, I can't create my button as at 5.10 of your video, you are adding a Tracker status and select ' Running'. But mine is empty, there's nothing I can select here! Any help? Thank you

[@mfreihaendig]

Have you created these statuses prior as options in the select property? You need to do that step first and then it should show up as an option for the filter in the button 💪🏻

[@flowwithmelody]

@@mfreihaendig i didn’t, I need to have a look on how to do that. I thought I knew Notion but learning so much through your channel, it’s a whole new level, thank you for your very quick response!

[@mfreihaendig]

@@flowwithmelody thanks, really appreciate your kind words! ☺️

[@Damanjit]

Did not found the template link

[@mfreihaendig]

There’s a form at the bottom of the blog post 😇

[@piloadami_]

Thanks for the video and template. Does anyone knows how can I connect the client table to a projects table? Ideally when adding a new client name, I would like that data/task/name to be pulled from my projects client's database so they're all interconnected. The idea is that when I look over a project I can have a column linked to the database. I can then click on that link which takes me to the database system. Even better, is there a way to have the start/stop button within the project table which then connects to the database? many thanks

[@mfreihaendig]

Sure thing! You wanna use a relation to connect the entries and then rollups to get information from one database into the other If you don’t know how they work, I recommend you check out the third and fourth chapter in this Notion tutorial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n6e0kGxjnNNkn6s

[@piloadami_]

​@@mfreihaendigthanks for shining a light on it. So I added a relation from the projects database to the client timesheeet I now have a new column in the projects database which I can link to the clients on the timesheet database. Now how can I access the time tracker inside the clients page trough the project database? I was hoping to access it via the new column created but because that's a relation it's just a link, not an access to the clients template page with the timer function. does that makes sense? :)

[@mfreihaendig]

@@piloadami_ you can use a roll-up or formulas to pull the link to the tracker to the project based on the assigned clients 💪🏻

[@xevenau]

what if the task takes days to complete and you are using method 1? There's no way around that is there?

[@mfreihaendig]

That would require a different setup indeed - in that case, you don’t track your actual work hours though, right? Here, I would simply use buttons on the task level that fill the start and end time when clicked on this page 💪🏻

[@xevenau]

thats a great idea thanks!@@mfreihaendig

[@nooreldiensoltan1419]

This video is what I want. I've already done mine, but I was just looking to organize the databases in a separate table like you did. Thank you so much🙏 . Do you have any idea how I can add another two buttons to stop the timer while working and continue it later? It's as if something interrupted me. How can I pause the timer and continue it without putting these data in the time tracker? (START, PAUSE, CONTINUE, STOP)"

[@mfreihaendig]

Glad you like it! 😍 for the start stop one, you would need to build another level down - sort of a „sub-tracker“ database. Pausing the timer would create a sub-tracker item with a start pause and end pause time. Based on that, you calculate the total Time paused, roll it up and deduct it from the time tracked on the tracker level 💪🏻

[@davidcarao6421]

hi Mathias, a question, if i have two or more Track Status at Running, how i can filter for that I Stop only one the Track Status

[@mfreihaendig]

You can’t right now - with multiple timers, you’d need to use the second method until Notion offers more granular controls over button filters

[@davidcarao6421]

@@mfreihaendig ok Mathias, thank you for you answer. I going to wait this update.

[@davidcarao6421]

@@mfreihaendig Hi Mathias, what other method i can use for this??