Was the same for me. As I’m a text person I started to write minimal time tracking in a text file with an absolute minimum format: date stamps and time stamps at any point. A parser for that is trivial: Advance a clock at the stamps. use consistent prefixes and you can sort by text. Add a running sum. Done. I have one window with the text file open at all time. It also contains the todo list right below the now point. No UI tool can beat that.
I usually fail out on step 2, time tracking. Apps don’t seem to help at all, they are mostly annoyance and a drag on my limited willpower supply.
Was the same for me. As I’m a text person I started to write minimal time tracking in a text file with an absolute minimum format: date stamps and time stamps at any point. A parser for that is trivial: Advance a clock at the stamps. use consistent prefixes and you can sort by text. Add a running sum. Done. I have one window with the text file open at all time. It also contains the todo list right below the now point. No UI tool can beat that.
ADDED: Old comment about this: http://lesswrong.com/lw/iug/timelogging_programs_andor_spreadsheets/