Tracking time

[ppt_specialist]

So, I have been working on part time hourly jobs for years and haven't had a problem. However, last week I started to work on a full time hourly project. The time tracker doesn't track the time properly. For example, yesterday I worked for 8.5 hours and the tracker just showed 7 hours. Similarly today, the tracker shows my current session is going on for 2.44 hours whereas the total time tracked shows as 2 hours. In effect every day I seem to lose about 1.5 to 2 hours of work, which is huge. Is this common? Why does this happen?

[836408d7]

From official response to a similar query:

Screenshots are taken when you are actively working on the computer where you are tracking time. The App doesn't track time for periods of inactivity when there are no keystrokes or mouse clicks. So you not working on the computer where you are tracking time can be a reason for missing segments. Additionally, adequate activity levels are necessary to qualify for the Hourly Protection. 

You may read this help article for more information about logging time in the Upwork Desktop App. If you still think that there may be some issues with logging time on your Upwork Desktop App, please follow the steps in the section "To report a problem with the app" so that a ticket is automatically sent to the team's queue.

TL;DR: Do work. Get paid.

[ppt_specialist]

Yes that was the issue. But not all work involves mouse/keyboard movement all the time. It's attending inbound calls and sometimes when the calls don't come for half hour or so, the tracker wasn't tracking due to no activity. I did not know abt this and need to get this sorted. Thanks for your reply.

[petra_r]

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Sumithra R wrote:
Yes that was the issue. But not all work involves mouse/keyboard movement all the time. It's attending inbound calls and sometimes when the calls don't come for half hour or so, the tracker wasn't tracking due to no activity. I did not know abt this and need to get this sorted. Thanks for your reply.

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ONLY time segments with keyboard and/or mouse activity are counted.

When you are on the phone you may want to take notes on the computer.

[prestonhunter]

re: "I did not know abt this and need to get this sorted."

You did not know before. But now you do know.

If you feel that you still want to get paid for the "missing" time segments, then you may log them manually (if your contract allows manual time), or you may request that the client pay you using the client-side Pay Bonus tool.

[836408d7]

Like Preston said, now you do. Not reading up on how the app works has cost you money. Lesson learned.

Petra made an excellent suggestion, take notes on your device whilst on the phone. Would probably make your life easier productivity wise, too.

[a_lipsey]

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Sumithra R wrote:
So, I have been working on part time hourly jobs for years and haven't had a problem. However, last week I started to work on a full time hourly project. The time tracker doesn't track the time properly. For example, yesterday I worked for 8.5 hours and the tracker just showed 7 hours. Similarly today, the tracker shows my current session is going on for 2.44 hours whereas the total time tracked shows as 2 hours. In effect every day I seem to lose about 1.5 to 2 hours of work, which is huge. Is this common? Why does this happen?

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Check the time zone you are in and the time zone of the time tracker. Upwork uses UTC, so once UTC starts a new day, your time actually gets tracked in the next day, even though it's still today for you.  Also, a little trick that many of us have noticed, if you start in the middle of a 10 minute increment, then that increment doesn't get counted.  (At least those are the anecdotal accounts.) Are you pausing and starting the time tracker right on 1:10pm and 1:30 pm or 1:11 pm, and 1:34 pm, etc? That could account for lost time billed.