I want to make a record of all my computer use as a way of tracking what topics are engaging my mind over the course of the day. So what I would ideally like is a record of which apps I was actively using and during what time periods, and for apps that involve documents the name of the documents I had open, and whether I was reading them or editing them. For Gmail, I would like a record of which individual emails I had open and for what time period, and whether I was writing them or only reading. And for browsing I’d like a record of what URL was in the active tab for what time period.
I don’t know if this is a tall order or not. Having the exact information I described would be much more useful than the easier, more general form of record that tells things like, gmail was open in a tab from 1-4 pm (but not how much of the time I was using that tab, and which emails I was looking at when). I am willing to go to a fair amount of effort to gather the detailed info, but of course I’m hoping there’s a way to do it that’s not too much of a nuisance.
All I currently need is a text record of the info I described. I don’t need an app that will crunch the data, display it as a graph, etc. I use a work Mac, a home Mac and and iPhone, all synced. I do all my browsing with Safari, and all my email with Gmail (using gmail by going to the Gmail site using Safari). I’m hoping there’s some kind of spyware that employers use that I can use to spy on myself!
I realize that to get the info I want I may need to look under the surface, so to speak, at files I don’t usually look at. If you are going to advise me to do that, please bear in mind that I am not a tech professional. I am pretty fluent at using my computers and smart phone, but have no experience with rooting around in system files – so if you tell me to do that, please spell out clearly exactly where I should look.
Thanks!
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RescueTime can give you some of these stats, including how much time you spend with specific apps and websites. However, it doesn’t work with iOS (I don’t think any such app does), and the level of detail doesn’t extend to document names etc.
One decently good tool for iPhone tracking is Moment which tracks pickups and can parse your battery life usage for a few more nuanced stats. Nothing is as great as RescueTime, but it can help you get better sense of time spent on your phone.