I love new software, apps, and in general anything to make my life easier.  Seldom do I find one that I really love and after a couple weeks of use know that I would hate to live without.  I recently found one that did just that, everything it said and more and after a short two weeks, I know that it’s one piece of software I always want running in the background.  Chrometa is a magic little timer that runs in the background on your computer and tracks every second of your time.  No more lost time as frequently happens to me.  I check my mail, go to a website, then another and another and before I know it way too much unproductive time has passed.  With Chrometa and being able to actually see it in black and white has made me more aware of how I spend my time on the computer.  I do medical transcription and there are days it seems to take me way too long to complete a recording.  With Chrometa I can actually see that it didn’t take me longer to actually type it, but I spent too much time on one of the social sites.  Not all of this time is wasted, but certainly some of it could be better spent.

The software, though intended originally for legal professionals and consultants, is a pure necessity for anyone who works on their computer.  And if you have more than one business or more than one job, this is the perfect, no brains needed, software that will automatically keep track of your time, making it simpler for you to bill your clients and just evaluate what time you are really spending on any given project.  It is absolutely the easiest software to install.  No set up is needed.  Install it and it’s ready to go with no complicated settings.  With the ability to categorize and tags for programs, you will always know how much time you spent on any project.  If you work on any project where you bill by the hour, this is a necessity because you can trash the timers, stopwatches, notepads, etc.  You will never miss a minute of billable time again.  This has to be hands down the absolute best way to track your time.  It keeps track of your active time and also your away time.  With timestamps recorded you can see a minute-by-minute (or second by second) listing of all of your time.  There are so many other options too.  You can export the info to Excel, block applications or url, and more.

In summary, this one little piece of software has opened my eyes and made me more aware of exactly how much time I am spending and where I am spending it.  In doing this, it has made me more productive by opening my eyes to my time, which I have always had a tough time keeping track of due to lack of focus, and I tend to stay focused on a given task.

You don’t have to take my word for it.  You can download Chrometa, try it free for 30 days, and decide for yourself if it’s not that one little piece of magic that can make your life easier, more productive, and you’ll never lose a valuable minute of billable time again.   At the end of 30 days, I think you’ll find that it’s well worth the money.  And there are even some ways to get the software for free.   You can download Chrometa at http://www.chrometa.com