How do I track time on a task in Thinker?

Settings, then Account, then switch on Time tracking. Every task card gains a Start a burst button plus quick buttons for 25 and 5 minutes. Press Start, work, press stop and confirm the minutes. Nothing is logged until you confirm.

Does the timer follow me between my phone and my laptop?

Yes. A running or paused timer floats in the corner and follows you between devices, so you can start it at the desk and stop it on the sofa.

What does Thinker do with the time I log?

It shows what you tracked on today's Success Day and on each card. Once it has five or more tasks with both an estimate and real time logged, it works out your real pace and sizes your days by it: fewer, better-chosen items if you run slower than you guess. It never comments on a single task.

Can I turn time tracking off?

Yes, in the same place. Every timer control disappears and nothing you already logged is lost. It is optional on purpose: if a visible timer makes you tense rather than curious, leave it off.

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✅ Your work

Time on task, and your real pace

Switch on time tracking and every task card gets a timer and two quick buttons. Thinker learns how long things really take you, and sizes your days by that instead of by hopeful guesses.

Updated 9 Oct 2026

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Questions this answers

How do I track time on a task in Thinker?: Settings, then Account, then switch on Time tracking. Every task card gains a Start a burst button plus quick buttons for 25 and 5 minutes. Press Start, work, press stop and confirm the minutes. Nothing is logged until you confirm.
Does the timer follow me between my phone and my laptop?: Yes. A running or paused timer floats in the corner and follows you between devices, so you can start it at the desk and stop it on the sofa.
What does Thinker do with the time I log?: It shows what you tracked on today's Success Day and on each card. Once it has five or more tasks with both an estimate and real time logged, it works out your real pace and sizes your days by it: fewer, better-chosen items if you run slower than you guess. It never comments on a single task.
Can I turn time tracking off?: Yes, in the same place. Every timer control disappears and nothing you already logged is lost. It is optional on purpose: if a visible timer makes you tense rather than curious, leave it off.

Most people plan a day as if everything takes ten minutes, then finish at six wondering where it went. Time on task is the honest answer to that, and it is the quiet way Thinker learns how long things really take you.

Switching it on

1Open Settings from the menu, then the Account tab.
2Switch on Time tracking.
3That is it. Every task card now has a Start a burst button, plus quick buttons to log 25 or 5 minutes without a timer.

Open Settings

Using the timer

Press Start a burst on the task you are about to do. A small timer floats in the corner of every page while it runs.
Pause it when you are pulled away, resume when you are back. It follows you between devices.
Stop it and confirm the minutes. Nothing is logged until you confirm, so a timer you forgot about costs you nothing.
No timer? Press the 25m or 5m button after the fact and the time goes on the card. Edit total lets you set today's figure by hand.

Where the time shows

On the task card, as today's minutes against the estimate you gave it.
On your Success Day, as Time today, so you can see where the day actually went.
On rituals too, as today's minutes, since a ritual recurs and a lifetime total would mean nothing.

Your real pace

Once five or more of your tasks carry both a time estimate and real time logged, Thinker compares the two. If your real time runs well over or well under your guesses, it uses that when it builds your day and when it suggests a time on Auto-score: fewer, better-chosen items for a slow week, a little more for a fast one.

If a timer makes you tense

Switch it off. Every timer control disappears and everything you already logged is kept. Some people find a running clock focusing; others find it the opposite. Both are fine, and the plan still works without it.

More in Your work

Tasks, and how they get prioritised Merging duplicate tasks Projects Rituals Ticking a ritual off early, and skipping one Ideas, Parking and the F*ck It Bucket The Parking Lot, and parking something for a while

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