What is RescueTime?
RescueTime is a web-based time-management tool that allows you to easily understand how you spend your time. One of the coolest things about RescueTime is that there is NO DATA ENTRY. You install a doohicky on your computer and we magically track all of your time usage. For more info, check out the product tour.
Cool idea, but I always have a lot of different applications and sites open at any given time. How does RescueTime handle that ?
RescueTime doesn't really care which applications you have open, but rather pays attention to which applicaiton or site is currently "in focus". In other words, we're measuring what's what you are paying attention to, not what you have open.
What about when I get up from my computer? How are you going to measure that?
Why would you ever want to do that? Seriously, though-- RescueTime has an idle timeout that will stop the data collection process if there hasn't been mouse or keyboard activity for a certain period of time. It's also interesting to note that we're working on being able to accept data from various calendaring applications, so that you can track your meeting time in RescueTime.
How accurate is RescueTime?
We like to say that RescueTime is about 95% accurate. Because of idle detection, RescueTime can sometimes over-report by a few seconds here and there. We're constantly working to improve accuracy.
I use multiple computers/platforms. What happens if I use RescueTime on multiple machines?
For the most part, that's just fine, unless you feel there is a danger that both computers could be in use at the same time. However, because RescueTime is paying attention to when your computer is idle (with a 2 minute "timeout"), lots of shifting back and forth might result in slightly muddled data. If you think this might be a problem, you could potentially set up multiple accounts (a work account and a home account).
Will RescueTime be available for the Mac? How about Linux?
The RescueTime data collector will be available for the Mac and PC. An enterprising Linux fan has reverse engineered our software for Linux. You can check it out here and feel free to discuss it in our forum.
Do RescueTime users have to install an application on their computer?
Yep. That's the only way we could allow users to track their time without having to manually enter it. We've found that manual time management logs don't work very well (especially if you're busy). The installable portion of RescueTime is extremely small and lightweight and is easy to uninstall should you choose to do so.
What about my privacy?
We take privacy pretty seriously, and it was one of our biggest concerns when we built RescueTime. Our first line of privacy defense is to provide a prominent pause feature that allows you to suspend tracking. Second of all, you can delete any particular data. Finally, we ensure that the only thing we track is the names of the apps and sites you use and the times that you use them. We also offer a "Whitelist" feature that allows you to only track the web sites that you want to. For more details, check out our privacy policy.
Why should I use RescueTime? I don't WANT to know how I spend my time.
That's fine with us! RescueTime was created for a small-but-passionate group of people who want to be more productive. With the increasing bombardment of office and technology distractions, we think this group will continue to grow.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to drop us a line
