Tech Branch Tsr Save

Low-overhead time recorder

Least invasive, csv based, linear time recorder that doesn't keep your data hostage.

Your csv files are stored in the ~/tsr directory

Demo with a few entries and visualisation

Motivation

In my daily work I often struggle with frequent context switches and stopping to write documentation. This tool helps me alleviate both of those problems.

tsr lets me easily mark the context switches, making them much more consious and observable. Having a written record helps me measure the real scale of the problem and pinpoint productivity sinks.

tsn allows me to write notes as I go. This at least gives me a skeleton documentation once a feature is done, minimising the effort needed to write a proper document later.

I tried a few other tools over the years, but the number of features they offer often distracted me from using it efficiently, making time tracking an effort on its own.

While tsr may not have an extensive list of features, it has proven to be effective for my needs, and I believe it may also benefit others in similar situations.

Details and usage

This tool uses a simple two-column csv format for storing records

datetime,tags delimited by space

Each record should mark a newly started activity, that way context switches are much more consious and observable.

The tag has a default value of 'next' to minimise the time required to operate the tool, you can edit the records manually later.

<launcher-hotkey> 'tsr' <enter>

Adding new activities with tags is also quite simple

<launcher-hotkey> tsr <tab> vpn connector <enter>
<launcher-hotkey> tsr <tab> client migration <enter>
<launcher-hotkey> tsr <tab> lunch <enter>
<launcher-hotkey> tsr <tab> incident interrupted 2431 <enter>
<launcher-hotkey> tsr <tab> work eod <enter>

This would result in creating a file record.csv with the following content:

2023-03-17 10:01:55.000000,vpn connector
2023-03-17 12:34:00.000000,client migration
2023-03-17 14:36:00.000000,lunch
2023-03-17 15:03:55.000000,incident interrupted 2431
2023-03-17 17:46:57.000000,work eod

Based on the output, you can create custom reports and do your visualisation wizardry

Available options

TSR - Record

Creates a new timestamped entry in the records.csv file.

TSN - Note

Creates a timestamped note in the notes.csv file.

Notes are attached to the record they correspond to in the tsv view.

TSL - Latest

Displays the latest entry and its duration.

TSV - View

Builds a self-contained offline HTML page that displays entries on a timeline.

Once built, you can use the html file on its own as it doesn't have any external dependencies.

Since this is statically built, the page will not self-update with new entries. You'll have to use tsv each time you want to see the up-to-date timeline view.

This does not start a webserver of any kind, it's a completely static HTML page.

TSE - Edit

Simply opens Finder in the records directory so you can edit or lookup files manually

Installation

This tool is available for both Alfred and Raycast.

Raycast

Installing the extension is as simple as pointing Raycast at the directory where the scripts are.

You can clone this repository or download it as a zip, then point Raycast Extensions at the raycast directory where you downloaded this repository.

Alfred

Installing the workflow is as simple as double clicking the Timestamp Record.alfredworkflow package in the alfred directory and hitting "Install" once in Alfred's installation window.