I don't think Activity Level is accurate and its a bit creepy

[the3dguru]

Work diary now shows an activity level based on how many mouse clicks and keypresses I make during a 10 minute period. I don't think that measures work at all. If I'm reading a web page with technical documentation, that shows as no activity. If I'm thinking about how to solve a difficult piece of code, thats no activity. Ironically, if I was playing a game on a second screen, that would show as high activity.

[NikolaS]

Hi Steven, 

Thank you for reaching out to us. I would like to let you know that when you use the Upwork Desktop App to log your time, it takes a snapshot six times per hour. Upwork then plugs your hourly activity and work-in-progress snapshots into the appropriate billing segments in your Work Diary. It also records the total number of mouse clicks, scroll actions, and keystrokes per segment. It does not record what you clicked on or typed.

Antivirus software, firewalls, and system overloads can sometimes prevent the app from tracking your activity properly. If you believe this has happened, you may need to whitelist the app in your antivirus software and firewall. You can also check your available RAM and CPU — if they are reaching their limits, you can try to free up resources by closing other programs.

You can find more information in this help article. 

[the3dguru]

Thanks for the reply Nikola, however it doesn't really address what I was saying. I'm aware of what the tracking does, and why, and how. It is working as intended. My point was that it does not accurately measure work done. If I sat for ten minutes, clicking the mouse over and over, it would say that I was active. If I spent ten minutes discussing a technical problem with a client through a video chat, it would say I wasn't.

[NikolaS]

Hi Steven, 

Thank you for following up and clarifying. I will be sure to share your feedback with our team for further review and consideration. 

[yitwail]

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Steven T wrote:

Thanks for the reply Nikola, however it doesn't really address what I was saying. 

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Steven, I'll take a crack at it. The way I deal with the tracker when reading documentation is periodically clicking words and scrolling the page. For zoom calls, I use manual time and notify the client that I will add manual time to the work diary. That's not optimal, but haven't had a client dispute zoom meeting time yet.

[the3dguru]

Thats a pretty good way to work around it. Although I don't think we should have to work around it at all. Managing a piece of software that counts mouse clicks is a distraction from the actual work. Still even with that, sometimes I just think for a while. When a problem is tricky I might go in another room to stop myself staring at the screen.

Upwork will count that is inactive when its probably the most useful part of what I do. The idea that work can be measured in clicks and keypresses is silly. I could have that timer running now and it would say that me writing this reply was 'active'.

[yitwail]

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Steven T wrote:

Managing a piece of software that counts mouse clicks is a distraction from the actual work. Still even with that, sometimes I just think for a while. When a problem is tricky I might go in another room to stop myself staring at the screen.

Upwork will count that is inactive when its probably the most useful part of what I do. 

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I can't look at your profile, but from your comments, it sounds like you're a developer of some kind. I'm a web developer myself, and most of the time when I'm working on a site, I'm either looking at it in a browser or some sort of developer tools/web inspector, typing in a text editor, uploading/downloading files, etc, so the work lends itself to the time tracker without having to artificially create activities. I'm also aware that for some types of work, the time tracker is not suitable, so there are freelancers who use manual time exclusively. I presume you're aware that the downside of manual time is the lack of payment protection, so for me, payment protection outweighs the occasional inconvenience caused by the time tracker, but assuming the client permits, you can use time tracker as much or as little as you prefer.

[2a05aa63]

what else do you want them to track? 

[the3dguru]

I didn't think I needed tracking. But if Upwork do want to count click and keys then they should present it that way. Its not a measure of how active a person is, its a measure of their mouse clicks and key presses. Do you measure your own work in key presses? Would you sell code by the character?

[2a05aa63 · Accepted solution]

It's not for you, but the client and disputes if the client doesn't pay and upwork pays out of their pocket. They need some kind of proof that you were working. I'd rather have key presses than video recordings.