Break

I’ve used a few different project management programs, my current favorite is Basecamp. However, Basecamp wants to treat everything as a project and gets in your way if you want to track time spent on tasks that are not bound to a specific project.

Today, for example, I need to track some time spent on a one-off task for a client. It’s pretty close-ended, I’ll do the work, send the hours spent to accounting and I’m done. Creating a Basecamp project for this would be overkill.

As a software nerd, the thought of just using a stop watch seems sacrilegious so I opted to search for an appropriate piece of software that would allow me to time unbounded tasks.

Enter SlimTimer. SlimTimer is a web application which allows you to quickly create time bounded tasks. Sign-up is quick and (as near as I can tell) free.

Once you create an account, you can begin creating tasks in a tiny (think Slim) pop-up window. When tasks are activated, a timer starts. Close the window, the timer stops. So far this seems to do exactly what I need.

If that was all the application could do then all I did was find a web 2.0 stop watch. The really cool thing is the reporting. SlimTimer allows you to generate invoices, timesheets or more generic reports showing the time spent on a series of tasks.

You can then take these reports, and print them or export them to CSV, handy if you need to send this to someone else.

If you need a quick way to time tasks, give SlimTimer a test drive.

Technorati Tags: productivity, project management, web2.0

I recently was looking for a way to get files off of my home PC from my office when I came across Hamachi. Hamachi is a “zero-config” VPN which when installed, allows you to link computers across the internet in a secure, virtual local area network.

I installed the client on my home PC and office PCs. Their claim of zero config is spot on. I merely had to give the PCs my account name and they found each other on the internet.

Once connected, I could do everything to my home machine that I could do on my house local area network. Browse shares, access my Subversion server, even use the Windows remote desktop to operate my home machine from my office.

VPNs used to be the realm of IT departments and businesses looking for a way to connect their road warriors. It was difficult to install and slow. Hamachi has leveled the playing field making it available for consumers.