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Online stopwatches can be in the form of a separate web-based app or as a feature integrated into time-tracking software.
What Are Online Stopwatches Used For?
The amount of time that has passed between two or more occurrences can be measured using an online stopwatch.
Digital stopwatches are a manual time-tracking method usually found on websites or as a standalone app. Employees hit the Start button of the online stopwatch when they start work, click pause on their lunch break, and continue tracking their work hours until their shift ends and they press Stop.
Once they complete their shift, employees can check the online stopwatch and enter the number of hours into their daily timesheet for accurate time tracking. Some online stopwatches offer features such as activity reports or weekly reports that display the work hours for each day of the week.
Why Are Online Stopwatches Used?
Online stopwatches are used as a tool for time-tracking and to increase an individual’s time management skills.
Time management tools are most useful in situations where professionals need help prioritizing tasks and creating a productive workflow, for example, if they’re overwhelmed by a flood of emails in the morning or if they suffer from "information fatigue" due to improper prioritization and effort allocation.
When employees are working long hours and have a wide range of tasks and activities to complete, they can get distracted and lose track of time by micromanaging their tasks. This can result in a lack of productivity and consequently generate poor work results.
Online stopwatches help individuals to:
- Achieve work goals they’ve had trouble achieving in the past.
- Increase their productivity.
- Filter and eliminate distracting and unnecessary activities.
- Become more efficient at work activities overall.
In terms of functionality, online stopwatches can track time but are pretty barebones when it comes to more sophisticated features. They are great for someone who wants to dip their toes in the world of time tracking and learn the basics of timekeeping, but users typically switch to digital time-tracking software after a while because they offer a lot more features.
These features can vary from software to software but typically include reports, exportable timesheets, project analytics, profitability, and more, and offer a more robust time-tracking experience.
Some Popular Online Stopwatches
Online stopwatches are great timekeeping aids for tracking time and improving personal time-management skills. Some of the most popular online stopwatches are:
Timerdoro
Timerdoro is an online stopwatch created on the principles of the Pomodoro technique. The idea behind the Pomodoro method is to pair four 25-minute long work periods with a 5-minute break between each of them.
Apart from 25-minute intervals, Timerdoro also gives its users an option for tracking quick 2-minute-long tasks.
Big Timer
It's a timer, and it’s big. With Big Timer, users can choose to track time by counting up or down. Apart from allowing its users to track time accurately, this stopwatch has a full-screen option and an option to repeat the pre-set countdown indefinitely.
It also features a blog with articles such as: “How time zones work?” and “Is time traveling possible.”
Online Stopwatch
Online Stopwatch, besides allowing humans to accurately track time upwards, also has an additional countdown option like a regular stopwatch.
The user interface is pretty bare-bones, but it’s completely serviceable and allows for easy navigation through this online stopwatch.
Clearleft Timer
Clearleft Timer boasts a classic design that combines an old-timey look with modern stopwatch capabilities. Users can set the countdown timer and will hear a loud beep when the countdown reaches its end.
The only perceived downside of this timer is that its origin is owed to a marketing ploy and is still used for that purpose today.
Timer
This online stopwatch is designed to look like a regular stopwatch, giving users all the benefits of having a regular stopwatch without having to own one.
