Owning your time and estimating better - Toggl Track
Tags: developer, productivity, management, focus
Published: 2023-08-14 14:12:43

---
title: Owning your time and estimating better - Toggl Track
published: true
description: estimating better with Toggl Track
tags: developer, productivity, management, focus
# cover_image: https://direct_url_to_image.jpg
# Use a ratio of 100:42 for best results.
# published_at: 2023-08-13 12:13 +0000
---
A ***common phenomenon*** many engineers experience is the feeling that despite starting their day early, it ends without tangible progress or a clear sense of what was achieved.

***"It's already 6 PM and I haven't accomplished anything!"***.

Apart from the discomfort this brings, repeated experiences of this situation ***negatively impact performance and productivity***.

One of the most crucial skills engineers need, and one that distinguishes junior engineers from their more seasoned counterparts, is ***the ability to estimate tasks***. [a somehow very challenging one](https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2007/10/26/evidence-based-scheduling/).

My go-to method for handling estimations, is ***breaking tasks into smaller sub-tasks*** and allocating ***focused time blocks*** on my calendar (Code X, Code Y, DevOps Z, Product, Code Review). I then estimate the total time needed for each sub-task.

***For instance***, task X comprises x1 to x7, where x1 to x3 require a day each, and x4 to x7 take a week combined.

However, this becomes more challenging when there's no ***evidence*** of how much time a task should take due to lack of experience or historical data.

The uncertainty of time spent on smaller tasks contributes to the ***initial issue of time slipping away unnoticed***, eroding our control over our schedules. 

***We are not really owning our time.***

A few years ago, I adopted [Toggl Track](https://track.toggl.com/timer) along with the [Pomodoro technique](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique), significantly boosting my productivity.

Toggl Track functions as a timer. You ***start*** it when a new 'focus' block begins and ***stop*** it when it ends. 

![Timer](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/t88uuku967k07f5jrh46.png)

The Pomodoro technique, which involves breaking work into 'focus' and 'break' intervals (1h focus, 10m break), empowers you ***to manage and own your time*** effectively.

At the end of each week, you receive a comprehensive ***report*** detailing your time allocation patterns, facilitating gradual improvement.

![Weekly review](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/mivz9imx4b5hrbz58zh4.png)

A successful day may involve completing ***5 full intervals of one hour*** each (measured by Toggl), while a less productive day might include only two to three intervals.

Another valuable feature of Toggl is its ***integrations with platforms like: GitHub, Jira, Calendar, and Chrome***. These integrations seamlessly provide context about your ongoing tasks (e.g., Code Review: 45 minutes, Planning: 30 minutes, etc.).

![Google Calendar integration](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/mzep4upmhqe9xgrjtcjz.png)

![GitHub Integration](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/42s3rupi570hbhf853gc.png)

Start owning your time!

***We're actively seeking talented developers to join our team. PM***