Best tools for tracking personal time: what I tried, and why I built my own
František Hlinka · Solo developer of Nanominute
· 4 min read
If you want to track your personal time but do not know which tool to use, here is a guide from someone who has done it every day for over a year. I tried two approaches seriously: a spreadsheet and Toggl Track with Timery and Shortcuts. Neither was built for logging a whole life, so I built my own. Here is how all three compare, honestly, with the free options included.
There are other tools out there that I have not used, so I won’t review them. This is what I actually tried.
What should a personal time tracker do?
A personal time tracker should make switching activity almost effortless, because you will do it dozens of times a day. If it takes more than a few seconds, you will stop. Work trackers add projects, clients and invoices that you do not need for tracking sleep, friends and hobbies.
My checklist:
- One-tap switching, ideally from the lock screen or a widget.
- One continuous timeline where activities do not overlap, so a day adds up to 24 hours.
- Sensible handling of midnight, so a night of sleep does not distort two days of stats.
- Offline use, because the moment you have no signal is still a moment of your day.
- Categories for a life, not billable projects.
- Insights by day, week and month, so the data turns into decisions.
Can you track your personal time with a spreadsheet?
Yes, and it is the best free way to start. A spreadsheet needs no account or subscription, you own the data, and you can build the exact categories you want. The downside is that a sheet has no timer of its own: you type start and end times by hand, or add a script (my template has Switch and Stop buttons, but they only work in a desktop browser), and logging from your phone is clumsy.
I wrote a free Google Sheets template and a step-by-step tutorial for exactly this. A spreadsheet is a great way to run a one-week personal time audit before you commit to anything.
Can you use Toggl Track for personal time tracking?
Yes, but it is designed for work. Toggl Track has a free plan and solid apps, and I used it for over a year. To get one-tap switching I added the Timery app and an Apple Shortcut, and I needed a midnight workaround, because Toggl counts an entry that crosses midnight on the day it started.
It worked, but it meant three pieces, a Timery subscription for full use, and a Shortcut that sometimes failed. The full story is in my Toggl Track setup and its limits.
Why did I build Nanominute?
I built Nanominute because nothing I tried did everything on my checklist in one app. I’m the solo developer, so I’m biased. I built it for my own pain point, I use it every day, and I’m sharing it with other people. There are no ads, and I never sell your time tracking data.
It is a manual tracker on purpose. You start a timer for what you are doing and switch with a tap. It does not watch you, and the small decision of “what am I doing next?” is a big part of why tracking makes you more intentional. It takes a few days to get used to, but the habit is strong once you have it.
What it is not: it is not for billing clients or managing a team, and it is not free forever (because it’s made by a solo developer, not a large company selling your data). You can try it free for 2 weeks which I genuinely think should be enough to know whether it’s for you. Then it costs $49.99 a year (US price).
How do the options compare?
| Spreadsheet | Toggl Track + Timery + Shortcuts | Nanominute | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Toggl has a free plan; Timery needs a subscription for full use | 2-week free trial, then $49.99 a year (US) |
| Live timer | Only with a script, desktop browser only; otherwise you type times | Yes | Yes |
| Offline | Only with Google’s offline mode set up | Limited in my experience | Yes, syncs later |
| Midnight | Handled by formulas in my template | Counted on start day unless you add a Shortcut | Entry stays one entry, daily stats split it |
| Built for | Anything you design | Work and billing | Personal time, your whole day |
| Setup effort | Medium | High | Low |
Which one should you choose?
Choose a spreadsheet if you want a free, one-week experiment. Choose Toggl Track if you need projects and client reports. Choose Nanominute if you want to track your whole day, with the least friction. A side-by-side with Toggl is in Nanominute vs Toggl Track.
Whichever you pick, start small. A week of imperfect data beats a perfect system you quit after three days.
Try it yourself
Track your personal time with Nanominute
A time tracker for your whole life, not just work. Start a timer, switch with a tap, and see where your days go. Try it free for 2 weeks on iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows and Linux.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best way to track your personal time?
The best way is the one you will actually keep using. A free spreadsheet is a good start for a one-week experiment. For daily, whole-day tracking, a timer app with one-tap switching has less friction than typing times into a sheet.
Can I track my personal time for free?
Yes. A spreadsheet is free, and Toggl Track has a free plan. Nanominute is free to start: it has a 2-week free trial and then costs $49.99 a year (US price).
Should personal time tracking be automatic?
Automatic trackers record activity for you, but they cannot know what you are doing away from the screen. Manual tracking takes a few days to get used to, but starting a timer forces the useful decision of what you are doing next.
What categories should I use for personal time tracking?
Start with about ten broad ones: sleep, work, commute, routines, eating, exercise, friends and family, hobbies, chilling and chores. Split a category only where you want to learn more.
