The Ultimate Guide to Time Tracking Monday com (2025 Update)

Tracking your work hours effectively is one of the biggest challenges teams face when managing tasks and projects. Whether you’re trying to stay on top of deadlines or maximise your billable hours, monday.com offers native time tracking features to help you. While the platform’s Time Tracking Column and Widget provide basic functionality, there are some serious limitations that can be tricky to navigate around especially when it comes to reporting. If you’re a monday.com user wondering how to set up time tracking in Monday.com that actually works – and what the limitations are you need to work around — you’re in the right place. Let’s break it down.

Understanding Monday.com’s Built-In Time Tracking Features

There are only 2 native time tracking monday com features – the Time Tracking Column and the Time Tracking Widget. While these features are easy to set up and use, they both come with significant limitations. And you need to be aware of these inherent limitations so you can work around them to build an efficient and accurate time tracking system. Let’s get into the details.

The Functionality of the Time Tracking Column

The Time Tracking Column is a simple stop/start timer that allows you to log the time spent on tasks (or projects, or in fact anything) within monday.com. You can add the Time Tracking Column to any Board and use it to log entries within any Item in Monday whether those Items represent tasks, projects, people, anything. This Column allows you to start, pause, and stop timers for each specific Item. You can also manually add entries to the Column or edit existing logged time entries. The Time Tracking Column will even tell you if the time you are trying to log manually overlaps another logged time entry for the same user.

Here’s how you can get started:

1. Add the Time Tracking Column: To include it, click the “+” icon on the top right of your board, then select “More Columns” and search for the Time Tracking Column. Once added, it will appear as part of your board’s layout. (You can also click the three dots that are revealed when you hover over any Column title and click “Add column to the right” then select “More Columns” etc…)
2. Start and Pause Time Tracking: Need to log time while working on a task or project? Just hit the play button in the column. If you’re taking a break or switching tasks, stopi the timer—your progress will be saved.
3. Edit Logged Time: Forgot to start the timer? No problem. You can manually adjust the timestamps and log time manually after the fact. Just click on any cell in the Time Tracking Column to view/edit or add sessions.
4. View History Logs: Each task maintains a detailed breakdown of all time tracked, including specific start and end timestamps for each session. This is great for reviewing how much time was spent on a task over multiple days.

For more details on how to set up and use the Time Tracking Column, check out the official monday.com support page.

Using the Time Tracking Widget for Insights

The Time Tracking Widget is a simple widget much like the Numbers Widget but specific to the Time Tracking Column. The Time Tracking Widget can be added to Dashboards, Docs or Chart/Blank Views within your Board.

The Time Tracking Widget allows you to consolidate and display tracked time data across all your boards into one centralized view. Think of it as a dashboard that lays out the bigger picture.

Here’s why it’s invaluable:

• Cross-Board Reporting: The widget gathers data from multiple boards, allowing you to see tracked time for various tasks, team members, or timeframes all in one place.
• Team Resource Management: You can evaluate how much time your team spends on specific projects, ensuring resources are allocated efficiently. For instance, are certain teammates overloaded? The widget helps you balance workloads.

To integrate the widget:

1. Create or open the Dashboard, Doc or Chart/Blank Board View where you want to add the Widget
2. Click on “Add Widget” and search for the Time Tracking Widget.
3. Customize its settings to filter by specific boards, date ranges, or people columns.

This widget is particularly helpful for managers looking to improve transparency and track overall team efficiency. You can read more about its features here.

Limitations of the Native Monday Time Tracking Features

While the native time tracking monday com offfers is convenient and easy to use, the features do come with a few drawbacks. Understanding these limitations can help you decide whether additional tools or integrations might be necessary:

• Limited Task Categorization: The Time Tracking Column doesn’t let you categorize time beyond individual tasks. Need to track different types of work, like admin tasks versus client projects? You’ll find it difficult to separate them cleanly.
• Reporting Flexibility: The Time Tracking Widget is the only native way (unless you get creative) of reporting time tracked with the Time Tracking Column and it only shows you the person/team, time worked and date range. No other info is displayed and you lose all context for that work in your reporting. For example, you can see that Bob Smith worked 34 hours last week, but you don’t know what Bob actually worked on – what project or task, whether that work was billable or unbillable, nothing!!
• Session-Specific Tracking: When tracking time, all sessions for a single task are bundled together in the Time Tracking Column. And while you can separate time tracked by date with the Time Tracking Widget, you lose access to all the other info from your Board. This is why being able to view accurate time tracking data in the Board itself is so vital and also why it’s such a pain in the ass that the Time Tracking Column clumps all logged time entries for any individual project/task together. Which is particularly challenging with recurring tasks or ongoing projects when the Time Tracking Column will likely contain time entries from multiple dates.

For these reasons, some users explore third-party applications that integrate tightly with monday.com or use advanced automations. If you’re looking for ways to get around these challenges entirely, this overview provides insights into complementing monday.com’s features.

By understanding these tools—and their constraints—you can leverage monday.com to better suit your team’s unique workflows.

Automating Time Tracking in Monday.com

One of the major challenges Monday users face with the native time tracking monday com offers is the fact that the Time Tracking Column is a manual stop/start system. And users (like yours truly) are always forgetting to start or stop the timer.

The other challenge, as mentioned, is the lack of accurate reporting due to the limitations of the Time Tracking Widget.

However, it is possible to set up automatic time tracking in Monday that will start and stop the Time Tracking Column for you. And it is also possible to set up a Timesheet Board that will log all of your time entries individually with full Board data for awesome analytics.

Below are the steps to set up your own automatic time tracking and Timesheet Board in Monday. I’ve done my best to explain the process but it is hard to summarise in writing. However, I am working on a series of super short videos that will guide users through how to set this up and will add links to the video to this article when I have finished recording them. (Working title for this series of videos “The Ultimate Time Tracking Monday Com System”…but I know I can do better. Any suggestions?)

Setting Up Automatic Time Tracking & a Time Sheets in Monday.com

Automation in monday.com sounds complex, but it’s surprisingly user-friendly, even if you’re not a tech wizard. Here’s the recipe for turning your time-tracking headache into an automated, seamless process:

1. Create Your Time Sheet Board: First, you’ll need a dedicated time sheet board. Think of this as your hub, where all time-tracking data will live. You can name it something straightforward like “Time Tracker” or “Project Hours.”
2. Link Your Master Task Board: Connect your primary task board to the time sheet board. Go to the automation center in monday.com and use the “Create an item and connect it to this board” automation recipe. This way, whenever a task status changes to “In Progress” on your task board, an automatic entry is created in your time sheet board.
3. Add a Time Tracking Column: On your time sheet board, add a Time Tracking Column. For maximum clarity, ensure that this column is linked to each task. The timer starts automatically when the task status is updated, so there’s no need to start it manually every time. Here’s how to add the Time Tracking Column.
4. Set Up Status Automations: Configure automations so that time tracking stops when a task status is marked as “Done.” This guarantees accurate time stamps without you lifting a finger. Curious how users accomplish this?

With these setup steps, your time sheet board becomes an autopilot system for tracking work hours. No more forgetting to log time, no more irregular entries; it’s all handled in the background.

Benefits of Automation for Time Tracking

Why go through the effort of automating time tracking? Because the payoff is immense, both for individuals managing their daily tasks and for teams collaborating on projects.

1. Accuracy Gets a Major Boost

Manual time tracking often falls prey to human error. Forgetfulness, miscalculations, or simple distractions can throw your data off. Automations tackle this by:

• Starting and stopping timers automatically.
• Minimizing time discrepancies between what’s logged and what’s real.
• Reducing dependency on manual updates or corrections.

2. Less Manual Work, More Real Work

Here’s the beauty of automation: it gives you back your time. By removing repetitive chores, you can focus on actionable work instead of fiddling with time logs. It’s like hiring a reliable assistant who handles the grunt work perfectly every time.

3. All Your Data in One Place

Centralizing time-tracking data means no switching between tools or exporting/importing data. With one click, you can:

• Review total hours worked on a project.
• Monitor where time is being spent across different tasks.
• Identify patterns in productivity—all without leaving monday.com.

4. Simplified Reporting

The automation setups allow you to pull reports with ease. Team managers can analyze productivity trends or calculate billable hours without worrying about inconsistencies or gaps in the data.

By integrating these methods, monday.com becomes more than a project management tool—it’s a productivity machine tailored to your workflows. Automation not only enhances time tracking but acts as a foundation for smarter decision-making across your entire operation. Why wait to reclaim your time? Set it up today and watch your efficiency skyrocket!

Third-Party Integrations for Advanced Time Tracking

If you’re using monday.com and find its built-in time tracking capabilities helpful but lacking in certain advanced features, third-party integrations can be your saving grace. Whether it’s precise time reporting, project-level analytics, or enhanced team management, tools like Everhour and TMetric expand monday.com’s functionality to give you a better grip on how time is used across tasks and projects. Let’s dive into how these integrations elevate your time tracking workflow.

Integrating Everhour with Monday.com

Everhour is a powerhouse when it comes to advanced time tracking integrations with monday.com. If you’re managing budgets, tracking every minute spent on a project, or aiming for detailed analytics, Everhour’s seamless connection with monday.com could become your go-to tool.

Here’s what makes it shine:

• Built-In Budget Tracking: Everhour takes project-level budgeting to the next level by enabling you to set up project budgets, monitor them in real-time, and receive alerts when you’re nearing thresholds. This feature is invaluable for project managers working on tight financial constraints.
• Automated Timers Embedded in Monday.com: Once integrated, you can start, stop, and log time directly inside monday.com’s interface—no need to toggle between platforms. This ensures your team stays focused while every second is accounted for.
• Advanced Reporting: Need detailed reports that break down time usage by task, team member, or date range? Everhour makes it easy to generate meaningful insights, providing the granular data business leaders need for billing, payroll, or planning.

Setting up Everhour is straightforward. Check out their official integration guide or head to their integration landing page to get started. If you’re looking to deepen your understanding, their blog has useful tips on making the most of time tracking in monday.com.

Exploring TMetric and Other Seamless Integrations

TMetric is another excellent option for individuals and teams seeking to go beyond monday.com’s native capabilities. It’s especially useful for attendance tracking, smooth approval workflows, and making time logs as visually digestible as possible.

Why consider TMetric?

• Attendance Management: TMetric tracks not only task-specific time but also attendance. This means you can monitor your team’s work hours, breaks, and even overtime, all from a single dashboard.
• Easy Timesheet Approvals: Approving time logs for payroll or further analysis becomes a breeze with TMetric’s intuitive interface. You can review and validate your team’s weekly or monthly timesheets in just a few clicks.
• Visualized Logging Methods: TMetric’s detailed yet simple to navigate dashboards make it easy to visualize how time is being allocated. Whether you’re managing freelancers, remote teams, or in-house staff, clear visual data keeps everyone aligned.

If you’d like to explore TMetric more, their integration page has detailed instructions. They also offer a general integrations overview to show how the tool supports multi-platform workflows.

Aside from TMetric, solutions like Zapier and Integrately help connect monday.com with an array of other specialized time tracking systems, ensuring flexibility and scalability for your team.

Other popular free third party time tracking solutions

Other options I have tried and tested and consider to be good solutions include;

Timecamp free plan with Chrome extension and automatic time tracking

Timecamp offers a decent free plan, fully automatic time tracking (with the desktop app installed), a native Monday.com integration and a Chrome extension that can be used to track time from directly within Monday.

The automatic time tracking is detailed but so granular it can be a lot of work to categorise. The Chrome extension works well and is way more visual and easier to use than the Clockify extension but still means you lose all your Monday data in your timetracking reports and you lose all your time tracking data in your Monday reports.

Clockify free plan with Chrome extension and automatic time tracking

Clockify also offers a decent free plan, fully automatic time tracking (with the desktop app installed), a native Monday.com integration and a Chrome extension that can be used to track time from directly within Monday. Generally speaking I found it’s UI to be much easier on the eye and brain than Timecamp’s.

The Chrome extension works well and is again more visually appealing than the Timecamp extension but (a) you need to open an Item to track/view/edit time and (b) you still lose all your Monday data in your time tracking reports and you lose all your time tracking data in your Monday reports.

Everybody’s different and no one solution will be right for everyone. But here’s my recommendation;

At one time or another I have used Timecamp and their Chrome extension and Clockify and the Clockify Chrome extension to track time right from within Monday. Both are awesome tools in their own right and provide powerful reporting, automatic time tracking and a whole bunch of other awesome time tracking features.

But both tools result in siloed data – your time tracking data lacks all the info and context available in your Monday Boards and your Monday Boards lack time tracking data. Plus, constantly starting and stopping timers and adding projects and tags and other info is a constant drain on not only your time but also your focus.

This is why I developed my automatic time tracking system and Timesheets Board for Monday using only native functionality – so all my data was in one place (Monday) where I could get full value from it.

With this new approach I am spending almost zero time on the act of time tracking monday com tasks and projects, I have powerful analytics to analyse any aspect of my business or even personal productivity and I am no longer losing track of or forgetting to add billable time entries to my invoices.

Overcoming Common Time Tracking Challenges

Time tracking is essential for managing workflows, ensuring accountability, and gaining insights into team productivity. But it’s not always smooth sailing—especially when processes are disorganized or reporting falls short. Whether you’re new to monday.com or an experienced user, learning how to address common time tracking challenges can elevate how you monitor and analyze time. Let’s go over some actionable approaches to tackle these obstacles head-on.

Improving Time Tracking Data Organization

Ever looked at a jumbled list of time entries and wondered, “Where do I even start?” Disorganized time-tracking data makes it impossible to draw meaningful conclusions or optimize workflows. Luckily, monday.com offers features that can help you categorize and track tasks like a pro.

1. Categorize Tasks with Clarity
   Organizing data starts with breaking down tasks into clear categories. Use group headers in your workspace to identify overarching projects, deadlines, or departments. For example:

• Group tasks by project phase (e.g., “Research,” “Execution,” “Review”).
• Separate billable hours from internal admin work. This makes it easier to pinpoint inefficiencies or allocate resources appropriately.

1. Leverage Sub-Item Tracking
   Sub-items in monday.com allow you to dissect complex tasks into smaller, manageable segments. For instance, if you’re managing a marketing campaign, break down “Content Creation” into sub-items like blogs, social media posts, and ad copy. Sub-item time tracking ensures each component is accounted for.
2. Create Custom Workflows
   A custom workflow is like a GPS for time tracking—the goal is to guide your team seamlessly from point A to point B without taking unnecessary detours. Build workflows by:

• Incorporating automated status updates (e.g., moving tasks to “In Progress” automatically starts the time tracker).
• Using color codes to quickly visualize task priorities.
• Linking related items or boards to minimize siloed data.
  Need deeper insights? Tools like time tracking best practices provide additional tips for structuring data effectively.

Remember, well-organized data doesn’t just help today—it also sets your team up for long-term success by reducing noise and confusion in your time tracking processes.

Generating Useful Reports for Performance Insights

What’s the point of tracking time if you can’t turn it into actionable information? The Timesheet Board I covered earlier in this article will finally allow you to generate accurate time tracking analytics, but the real magic happens when you know how to extract and interpret the insights. Here’s how.

1. Use Filters for Tailored Reports
   monday allow you to filter time tracking data by specific employees, tasks, or timeframes. Need to see how long a recent project took? Filter by department or project group to isolate the numbers you care about most. Reports segmented by these filters make weekly check-ins or client-facing updates a breeze. You can even set expected timeframes for your projects/tasks and compare those with the actual time it took to complete them.
2. Export Data for External Analysis
   Sometimes, native reporting tools have limitations. Exporting data to platforms like Excel or Google Sheets allows you to slice and dice time tracking stats further. Use pivot tables or create graphs to visualize trends like:

• Which projects consume the most time.
• Peak productivity hours across the team.
• Overdue versus on-time tasks. Tools like Scoro’s guide to reporting best practices go in-depth on how to make the most of exported data.

1. Setup Visual Dashboards
   Numbers are great, but a well-designed dashboard with charts and widgets tells a more compelling story. If you set up a Timesheet Board and automatic time tracking system in Monday as I described, you can easily create detailed and highly visual reports right in the Board itself using a Chart View or Blank View. Or, you can pull reports from multiple Boards into one comprehensive Dashboard.
2. Turn Insights into Action Plans
   No report should end up in a drawer. Use the data to:

• Identify bottlenecks: Are tedious, repetitive tasks eating up time? Automate them.
• Spot high performers: Leverage their efficiency as a model for others.
• Balance workloads: Redistribute tasks if someone’s tracker screams “overloaded.”

By transforming time tracking data into performance insights, organizations can make informed decisions to foster efficiency, accountability, and growth.

With these approaches, tackling the most common time tracking headaches becomes manageable and, dare we say, even rewarding. Whether it’s organizing your data better or pulling actionable insights from reports, monday.com equips you with the tools to stay on top.

Conclusion

Time tracking in monday.com is a game-changer for teams looking to improve productivity and maintain transparency, whether using the built-in tools or exploring advanced integrations. The platform’s Time Tracking Column and Widget provide a basic starting point for tracking and analyzing time directly within your boards but have some serious limitations. For those wanting accurate time tracking with powerful analytics, setting up automatic Time Tracking and a dedicated Timesheet Board provide the answer and all the features you could ever need.

Embrace monday.com’s time tracking features to centralize your work, ensure accuracy, and make informed decisions. Explore the tools and set up automations today to simplify your processes and focus on what truly matters—doing the work, not tracking it. Time is precious; use it wisely!