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Nelek wrote: In the time I was working in industry automation I had to track down time slots to 15 minutes when I was working on more than one project on the same time (company policy), my max of simultaneous things was 11 active projects at once.
TBH, I would have quit. That's not a judgment or anything - different strokes for different folks.
I just couldn't imagine having to work that way.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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Most of those were the same customer.
I was there as resident. I started as robot programmer in a project. I had to take over the PLC project because my co worker went away. As the tracing system done for that project was good, I was asked to implement it in more machines in the factory bought from another vendors. Then I got my biggest project with them and in my time in that company. I was the field group chief, the project manager, the only robot programmer, the main PLC programmer, the trainer of the new guys and the consultant of the customer's engineers (regarding automation).
So I had 9 diferent machine projects, 1 consultant project, 1 on demand project (for all the things that came "on the fly"). All in the same place from the same customer, budifferent bills.
Was a bit annoying at the beginning, but I eventually got used to it and then it was way easier.
At the end I quit too, but not for that, the work clima got screwed and the rest of the conditions were not so good to compensate the loss.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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With a metronome?
I’ve given up trying to be calm. However, I am open to feeling slightly less agitated.
I’m begging you for the benefit of everyone, don’t be STUPID.
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I used to have a little popup program that would prompt me every 30 minutes about what I was busy with and then write it into a text (CSV) file. It had options to select a project from a list, but I ignored that. Eventually, I stopped using it as it irritated me too much when I was busy and it took the keyboard focus. I went back to paper notes for when I start, stop, etc. I can use our timesheet logging system live as well, but that is way too much effort, I'd rather update that afterwards occasionally and at month's end. (I tend to hyper-focus when I'm busy with a really interesting task and any interruptions play havoc with my mind  )
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I use Toggl track. It's inexpensive, and you can build projects with time or budgets. It has reminders to start billing if you want to use them, I don't since it hounds me too often when I'm not doing anything billable. Like anything else, you have to get in the habit of using it, but it allows editing and manual entries, as well as a reminder that you have a timer running for an unusual amount of time.
It allows multiple clients and multiple billing projects, at different rates, within a client. It helps with phone calls and other 'squirrels' that come along. I'll delete the 5 minute calls but you just never know when you take a call if it's going to be 5 minutes or 90 minutes.
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Manic Time (www.manictime.com)
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Most of the time I just mentally note when I started for the day, how long I took for lunch and use that to figure out when I should stop.
I normally only work on one project at a time, so everything goes to that one except for occasional exceptions (that I generally enter on the time sheet immediately to make sure I don't forget them).
When working on two projects at once I try to split my time by days or before/after lunch to keep things simple.
My current job's 15 minute intervals isn't quite as good as my last ones 30m ones at filtering out all the various small random items that come up into the rounds to zero category but it works most of the time.
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
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Toggl[^]
This is a fairly low effort and accurate way to do what you seek. You set up clients and projects linked to them, then start the timer and work away. Any time you get interrupted it's easy to stop the timer and start another and easy to choose the projects you are working on too when doing so. It remembers the most common latest tasks (your typed description of what you are doing) and autofills it after typing a couple keystrokes.
From experience with it over many years, this really sounds like a good solution to what you are looking for in terms of accuracy/integrity based on your comments to other's replies. I use the free version.
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It would be except timers make me feel pressured and so they interfere with my ability to work at my most effective capacity.
That's why I use a clock.
I wasn't so much looking for a solution as I was satisfying curiosity, but of course if I do see something I could work with I'm open to trying it. 
There's smoke in my iris
But I painted a sunny day on the insides of my eyelids
So I'm ready now (What you ready for?)
I'm ready for life in this city
And my wings have grown almost enough to lift me
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I keep a little 4x6 pad and jot down times. Later in the day transfer those notes to a simple database. (I am a programmer, right? UI in C#, database is SQLServer lite, did it myself years ago.)
I tried going all automated/commerial/iPhone app but found that simple jotted note on paper was much quicker and less interrupting overall. Since I need to take care of admin stuff (email and what not) anyway the few minutes overhead of entering the hand notes into the database is inconsequential.
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I am on salary, so I only do it for myself. I started tracking time to help me learn how to estimate. I tried excel sheets, but that was a royal pia. I found Clockify https://app.clockify.me I just open it in a browser and enter what I am going to work on, and just have to go back and enter the next task. If you forget, you can adjust the time. You create and remove your own projects. Has a simple, but effective reporting. It is nice to run the report on Fri afternoon, so I can tell the boss how I spent their time that week.
I use the free version, not sure what the paid version offers. The free version does have something about billable/non billable. But again I am not sure what that does.
cheers
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I gave up long ago.
I either give a client a price for a particular tranche of work and that's the price I get or I guestimate the hours at the end of the day (starting at 8am, no interrupts and finishing at 4pm is 8 hrs). After the fact, I re-calibrate price for the next tranche.
Sometimes I win, sometimes I loose, but it makes for a much lower stress day - trick is to balance out in front.
Alternative is contract or employment - but then you get paid for your day regardless and everything you touch is theirs.
In my experience, consulting IT/Devops can charge a lot of money for solving problems but consulting coders never get rich coding unless you are building a popular product. If you are never going to get rich, why not just enjoy your day and work interesting projects with great clients who trust what you do and how you do it.
If a client doesn't like your process, then they are not worthy of your time.
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A lifetime ago I used Javelin. It was a spreadsheet that had an inherent understanding of date and time. A simple script let me select a project task then start, stop and pause a timer. At the end of the billing cycle for a client I ran another script that generated an invoice. This barely scratched the surface of what Javelin could do but it worked well for me.
Some time during the early 80's my drive ate one of the 5.25 inch floppies and I was not able to find a replacement. I switched to using recipe cards. That was okay except for the transcription needed at the end of the billing cycle.
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I don't do it by computer - except to create and print a table showing the day broken down into hours with space alongside to write down what I am working on. I keep this alongside me. If I miss filling it out during the day (normal) I find it more accurate to fill it in at the end of the day than to guess at the end of the week. This requires, of course, a table of job identifiers - in my case job numbers and names.
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greetings kind regards . i wish to post a somewhat off-topic question . it concerns snipers . you read that korrektly . today i viewed a film i.e. "Sniper: The White Raven" . in it the snipers attempt w/ some difficulty to locate each other utilizing their gun mounted telescopic sights . it occurred to me this may be a trivial task to perform as it seemed to me infrared sensors/cameras can be utilized to locate the snipers via their own body heat . however if this were in fact the case there would be no such thing as snipers in modern times . so i ask here to the many technically knowledgeable individuals as i find myself slightly fearful of posting to a sniper forum w/ the possibly far-right wingers which may respond . so to be clear and precise "is modern infrared sensor/camera technology sufficient to locate a human lying prone covered w/ camouflage of various kinds and types in various weather day and night conditions ?" thank you kindly
[update] Army's crazy new camouflage can defeat night vision, thermal | We Are The Mighty[^]
modified 18-May-23 19:26pm.
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I hate unstructured body text 
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Yes.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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I believe it is. You can see heat signatures through walls with even consumer level gear.
The best way to tell as always, is to test it. It's probably also the best bet for keeping you off of watchlists for asking the wrong questions on the wrong forums. 
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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I would say it depends... there is technology for that yes, but in that field, I suppose that there is so much research to make detection tech (i.e. infrared) better, as there is to make deception tech (i.e. field clothes) better. (Just as the link you posted).
At the end I think too, that it depends a lot on the skill of the implicated people. There will be people doing errors and there will be people using those errors.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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BernardIE5317 wrote: "is modern infrared sensor/camera technology sufficient to locate a human lying prone covered w/ camouflage of various kinds and types in various weather day and night conditions ?"
Yes but that doesn't mean it is unlimited. Rain really impacts those.
You might want to also consider the limited field of view. If you are zoomed into the corner of the building the person you are seeking might be climbing into a truck around front to escape and you will not see that at all.
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Thankfully, a kind soul on YouTube performed the research for me.
No, you cannot detect moles in the ground with infrared!
It may not have been military grade hardware.
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actually it may be possible as infrared can be utilized to "see" through walls via the warming of the walls by the heat source behind . isn't that how the Iraqi tanks were destroyed by the Warthogs as they hid under the sand .
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It should be Ignoble.
Still easy to hear what you mean.
We should fear all but we should learn how to research first.
"Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read." Frank Zappa 1980
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