Templates
Time log template
This time log template is a free printable page for writing down what you did, as you do it. Each line has a start, an end, your own words and the minutes. At night you add it up and see your unaccounted time.
Last updated
Reviewed by Mohammed Raqeeb
Download
The time log template.
The time log template is one US Letter page with room for many lines, and an add-it-up box at the bottom. It prints in black and white.
- Start and end: rough times are fine.
- What I did, in my own words: a few words, not a code.
- Category: sleep, work or study, people, meals, phone and screens, getting around, other.
- Minutes, then the add-it-up box for the day.
How to use it
How to use a time log.
A time log works when each line is written soon after the thing it describes. Keep the page where you work, and add a line whenever you switch tasks.
At night, add the minutes up by category. Subtract the total from 1,440 minutes to find what the log missed. Keep a log for a week and you have run a time audit.
Filled in
A time log, filled in from a real day.
The filled-in time log below comes from a real workday entry run through the Think in Numbers parser. The day logged 1,255 minutes and left 185 unaccounted.
| Start | End | What I did, in my own words | Category | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up at 6:45 | Sleep | 405 | ||
| Showered and made coffee, out the door by 7:30 | Personal Care | 45 | ||
| The train took 40 minutes | Travel & Commute | 40 | ||
| Emails from 8:15 to 9 | Work | 45 | ||
| then a planning meeting until 10:30 | Work | 90 | ||
| Worked on the quarterly report until lunch at 12:30 | Work | 120 | ||
| Ate at my desk for half an hour | Food & Meals | 30 | ||
| Two more meetings from 1 to 3 | Work | 120 | ||
| Back on the report from 3 to 5:30 | Work | 150 | ||
| then the train home | Travel & Commute | 40 | ||
| Cooked pasta around 7 and ate with my roommate | Food & Meals | 30 | ||
| Scrolled my phone on the couch for about an hour | Using Phone | 60 | ||
| Read for 20 minutes | Self-Growth | 20 | ||
| lights out at 11 | Sleep | 60 |
Add it up
- Work525 min
- Sleep465 min
- Travel & Commute80 min
- Food & Meals60 min
- Using Phone60 min
- Personal Care45 min
- Self-Growth20 min
- Accounted1,255 min
- Unaccounted185 min
Real output from the Think in Numbers parser (version v21), run on with the app’s starter categories. Stored as written, not edited.
Without paper
The time log that fills itself in.
Think in Numbers is the no-paper version of this time log. It is a smart journaling app with time tracking built in: you write or say what you did, and it reads your words and fills in the hours by category. The time you never mentioned is shown as unaccounted.
To plan hours rather than log them, use the hourly planner template. For the words as well as the hours, use the daily journal template.
Keep reading.
- TemplatesPrintable PDFs: a daily journal, an hourly planner and a time log.
- Time auditA week of writing down what you did, then adding it up.
- Hourly planner templateEvery hour from 6 AM to midnight: the plan beside what happened.
- Daily journal templateOne page: the day in your words, then where the hours went.
- Where did my week go? calculatorEnter a typical day and see your week accounted and unaccounted.
- Time journalingThe method: write or say your day in your own words, then see it as hours.
Questions
Questions people ask.
What is a time log?
A time log is a list of what you did and when, written as the day goes. Each line has a start, an end and a few words. Added up, it shows where the day went.
How do I fill in a time log?
Each time you finish something, write the start time, the end time and what you did in your own words. Add the category and the minutes. At night, add up the minutes by category.
How do I work out unaccounted time?
Add up the minutes you logged, then subtract the total from 1,440, the minutes in a day. What is left is the time the log does not cover.
Is this time log template free?
Yes. The time log is a free one-page PDF. Print as many copies as you need.
Is there a time log app?
Think in Numbers, a smart journaling app for iPhone and Android, keeps a time log from your words. You write or say what you did, and it fills in the hours by category for you.
Try it on my day.
Think in Numbers is a smart journaling app with time tracking built in. Write or say today in your own words, and see where the hours went. No timers.
For iPhone and Android. Try it on your own day before you pay.