Windows Screen Time Tracker

Do you know that, according to statistics, an average screen time on internet-connected devices among users in the US is 7 hours and 3 minutes. The numbers are terrifying yet still growing.

And despite the wonders of technology, it also brings many negative consequences into our lives—from thousands of money lost on unproductive activities at work and phone addiction to ruined health and relationships.

People spend more and more time looking at screens instead of focusing on what really matters. While it usually concerns phones, it can be problematic also when using computers.

If you’re looking for a screen time tracker that will help you take care of your digital well-being and improve the quality of life and work, check our short guide.

Why Is It Important to Track Screen Time?

Managing screen time is important for two main reason: productivity and well-being. In general, too much screen time can be dangerous and many modern studies compare it to drug or alcohol addiction.

In one of the papers, the authors present an extensive list of research on how badly too much screen time affects people.

Excessive screen time is linked to various physical health issues (obesity and cardiovascular problems) as well as mental health concerns (increased stress, anxiety, and depression). It also disrupts sleep, impairs brain development, and affects brain chemistry, impacting both adults and children.

When you track screen time, you prevent yourself from bearing the negative consequences of using digital devices. It’s important so you can set boundaries, improve your work habits, and achieve better results. That translates into higher job satisfaction and better work-life harmony.

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The Benefits of Monitoring Screen Time

While screen time limits are usually associated with children, they can have a positive impact also on adults and employees. Check all the good things that come from tracking screen time:

1) Understand your digital habits

It helps you understand how much time you spend on your devices and which apps or activities consume most of your time. This awareness can be the first step in making more conscious choices about screen usage.

2) Better time management

Monitoring screen usage can help you improve time management. When you log and categorize screen time, you can see how much time you spend on various tasks. This can help you allocate time more efficiently and stick to schedules.

3) Stay focused

By setting limits on certain distracting apps or overall screen time, you can improve your focus on tasks that require deep concentration. Some trackers even provide features to block distracting apps during work periods.

4) Goal setting and tracking

Many trackers allow you to set and monitor goals related to screen time. It’s a great motivation to help you stay motivated to maintain healthier habits. It also helps to stay on track and achieve your ultimate plans.

5) Better health

According to statistics, 32% of users believe they spend too much time on social media platforms. This leads to overuse of screens spending too much time on activities that don’t bring any value to your life. So there’s no better way to beat internet addiction than to limit screen time.

Not only will you improve your digital wellbeing, but also physical health. The more time you dedicate to mindfully activities, the more fulfilled and energized you feel. Scrolling your social media and surfing unnecessary websites only makes you a digital zombie.

6) Safety

However great the technology can be, it comes with dangers. There’s a lot of harmful content out there and it’s best to be careful. How can limiting screen time help you stay safe? How many times have you clicked a link, then another, then followed with another one and ended up on a weird site (there’s plenty of malicious links and software in the depths of the internet)?

Also, if you’re a parent and share your electronics with your family and kids, you can limit access to inappropriate sites to protect your closest ones. The right app can do it.

How to Choose the Right Screen Tracker?

It’s worth looking for features that allow you to fully use the app so you can make most of it. Here are some of the most important and useful components:

• User-friendly interface which makes the app easy to use. You should be able to easily operate within the app so you don’t waste time on learning how to use it.
• Automatic tracking is important because you won’t have to manually administer the tracking.
• For project management, you should be able to easily create tasks for smooth work management.
• Reports and analytics so you can observe usage trends and avoid distractions. Also, to work on your inefficiencies.
• Flexibility so it has all the features you need to adjust the tool to your needs.
• Integrations for connecting with third-party apps for better efficiency.
• Cross-platform functionality so you can access your data (especially for work) from different devices.
• Free plan if you’re low on budget or want to test the app prior to buying it. Also, some apps offer in-app purchases for more advanced features.

The Best Screen Time Tracker for Windows

You can find many specific apps for tracking screen time for Windows. There’s a huge number of solutions available on the market.

Here’s a list of different tools for you to choose those that best suit your needs.

1. TimeCamp

Best for: automatic time and activity tracking

TimeCamp is a time tracking software that offers a variety of features. It helps to track screen time on Windows by offering a comprehensive solution for monitoring productivity, managing time effectively, or keeping an eye on team activities.

Its user-friendly interface makes it easy to install and set up, allowing you to start tracking your screen time in minutes.

Here’s what makes TimeCamp a good time tracker:

• TimeCamp automatically tracks time spent on different activities, gathering data on your screen time usage, including app usage, websites visited, and even location tracking. This gives you a detailed overview of your work habits.
• Reports and analytics break down your screen usage, helping you see the complete picture of your work.
• You can track productive and non-productive activities.
• Integrations allow you to connect it with other apps to get even more data.
• TimeCamp’s timesheets turn tracked screen time into into billable hours, perfect for freelancers and businesses.
• For project management, you can easily create projects, tasks, and subtasks to track time and activities to them.
• If you need to, you can turn on the screenshot option for more analytics.
• It’s free forever with possible subscription to premium features.

Additionally, TimeCamp isn’t limited to just Windows. It’s a cross-platform solution, and you can access it on both Android and Apple devices.

2. DeskTime

Best for: advanced employee monitoring

DeskTime is an employee attendance tracker. It’s rich in features that make it easy to track employee time and attendance data, plan work, and organize projects. It also offers basic employee scheduling tools for shift-based work organization.

Additionally, DeskTime provides calendar management to keep track of vacation hours and manage leave and other free days. You can also create an employee absence schedule to calculate payroll quickly and better allocate work.

More Desktime features:

• Starts tracking work time automatically when you turn on your computer, eliminating the need to clock in and out manually.
• Monitors which applications and websites you use during work hours, categorizing them as productive, neutral, or unproductive based on job roles.
• Tracks the specific document names or projects you’re working on, providing detailed insights into how your time is spent on each task.
• Takes periodic screenshots of your screen to help managers or remote teams review work activity and productivity.
• Includes a built-in Pomodoro timer to encourage regular breaks, helping prevent burnout and improve productivity.

DeskTime is a good app for Windows if you’re looking for an employee monitoring tool to help them minimize unnecessary screen time.

3. RescueTime

Best for: improving personal time management

RescueTime is a productivity app that improves personal time management. It’s a simple combination of a time tracker and a website blocker. You can use it to get full control of your attention in an easy way.

With RescueTime, you can automatically track how much time you spend on apps, websites, and documents, and later see the information about your work in reports with valuable insights. The tool works in the background, collecting all the data while you’re working and then gives you insights into your work.

Additionally, you can block distracting websites, work in sessions, set daily limits on apps and sites, customize what gets blocked, or schedule focused time directly in your calendar.

4. Freedom

Best for: blocking digital distractions

Freedom is a website and app blocking tool that can help you stay focused during your work and set screen time limits so you can be more productive.

All you have to do is select your devices, choose sites and apps you want to block, set your schedule, and you’re ready to go. So if you start a session on your Windows, the distracting apps on your mobile devices can be blocked too .

You can customize usage limits or block particular app, or set focus sessions. Also, Freedom allows you to set focus sounds and music (including pomodoro sessions and exclusive tracks from Brain.fm).

And because Freedom works across all your devices, you can easily monitor your screen time anywhere you are.

5. ActivityWatch

Best for: keeping track of your productivity and understand how you work

ActivityWatch is a privacy-centric, open-source platform compatible with multiple operating systems, designed to quantify productivity during computer usage.

The software meticulously logs your digital activity, capturing comprehensive details about your computer usage patterns. All collected data is stored on your local machine.

Whether for personal productivity enhancement or organizational efficiency, ActivityWatch is adept at measuring time allocation across various tasks, curbing digital distractions, maintaining a record of digital engagement, or simply offering insights into your device usage habits.

It’s a great solution if you want to keep a scrutinized log of your digital life.

6. Cold Turkey

Best for: limiting your screen time so you can focus on work

 

Cold Turkey is a productivity tool designed to help you manage your screen time and minimize distractions on Windows.

After downloading and installing the software, you can set up customized blocking rules to restrict access to specific applications and websites. You can schedule these blocks to activate during particular hours.

Cold Turkey also offers activity reports so you can track your usage patterns and assess how much time you’re spending on different applications and sites.

Additionally, you can use two other tools—Writer (to block access to anything but the app during writing), and Micromanager (only lets you use whitelisted apps you need to do work, while blocking everything else).

7. Microsoft Family Safety

Best for: setting personal screen time limits

One of the best ways to manage your screen time on Windows is by using the official app by Microsoft. Family Safety is a parental control app and screen time management tool designed to help families create healthy digital habits across Windows, Xbox, and Android devices.

But It can also help you manage screen time for multiple users of your devices. Also, your employees or coworkers with whom you share your work.

Key features of Microsoft Family Safety include:

• Screen Time Management: You can set screen time limits for specific devices or apps, helping to ensure that users spend an appropriate amount of time on gaming, browsing, or other digital activities. Once the limit is reached, the person can request more time, which the parent can approve or deny.
• The app provides customizable content filters to block inappropriate websites, apps, and games based on age-appropriate ratings. This helps keep children safe from potentially harmful content while browsing the internet or using the Microsoft Store.
• Weekly activity reports provide insights into online activities, websites visited, apps and games used, and search queries.
• Microsoft Family Safety includes location-sharing features that allow users to share their location in real-time.
• Driving Safety (Available on Android phones and devices): The app provides a driving safety feature that tracks driving habits, such as speeding, hard braking, and phone usage while driving.

The tool is free to use with a Microsoft account, though some premium features, like location alerts and driving safety, require a Microsoft 365 Family subscription.

Don’t get discouraged by the fact that it’s an app originally dedicated to families or to use on a child’s device. It was designed in such a way so you can use it for work. Especially if you want a unified solution for your Windows to be compatible with other devices.

8. SentryPC

Best for: advanced screen time monitoring

SentryPC is a parental control app and employee monitoring software  designed to track and manage computer usage. It provides a range of features to help monitor and control how computers are used, making it a useful tool for parents, employers, and anyone looking to manage computer activity.

Key features of SentryPC include:

• SentryPC records detailed logs of computer activity, including websites visited, applications used, and keystrokes typed.
• The software allows you to block or filter access to specific websites or categories of websites, helping to prevent exposure to inappropriate content.
• SentryPC enables users to set time limits for computer usage, helping to manage and control the amount of time spent on the device.
• The software can take periodic screenshots and send alerts based on specific activities or triggers, providing additional insights into computer use.
• Detailed reports and analytics offer a comprehensive view of computer activity.

9. Hubstaff

Best for: monitoring remote workforce and productivity tracking

Hubstaff is an employee monitoring solution and time tracking software that lets teams monitor PC usage with the desktop app available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS. It displays a window in which you have access to your tasks and projects. There, you can create new entries and manage those already existing.

The app synchronizes with the cloud and shows reports on your work based on the activity registered by the app, productivity data, and the location of every employee.

Hubstaff time tracker collects all data on your activities and how much time you spent on them — apps, URLs, optional screenshots with activity rates. Everything happens in real-time.

The software is especially useful in remote team administration.

10. Windows Event Viewer

Best for: monitoring Windows logs and all computer activities

Windows Event Viewer is a dedicated system app for Windows users that allows you to track computer usage. You can find it on every Windows computer, either by clicking on the Windows key and searching it in apps or accessing it in local files (in Administrative Tools).

With the tool, you can check your user activity on a daily basis as it shows Windows logs, application usage, file names, and time spent on all programs.

It’s an activity tracking system best for users who need an extremely detailed application monitoring solution with access to rich data on activity.

Windows Event Viewer is a good power troubleshooter that lets you find out the power states of your computer, errors, bugs, network issues, and all the data on Windows computer state.

Best Practices for Using Screen Time Tracker

Using a tool for monitoring your Windows usage can be a great way to track and optimize your productivity, especially if you spend significant time on your computer for work or leisure. Here are some best practices:

1. Choose the Right Tool

Select a screen time tracker that aligns with your needs and offers the features you need, such as detailed activity breakdowns, app usage tracking, and website monitoring.

2. Set Clear Goals

Before using a screen time tracker, identify what you want to achieve. Do you want to reduce time spent on social media, monitor work hours, or analyze productivity patterns? Clear goals help you make sense of the data you collect.

3. Customize Tracking Settings

Most screen time trackers allow you to customize what they monitor. Choose the apps, websites, and activities relevant to your goals. For example, you might want to exclude essential tools like word processors from distraction lists while including websites like YouTube or social media.

4. Establish Daily or Weekly Limits

Use your screen time tracker to set limits on non-productive activities. This might include setting a daily cap on social media use or limiting time spent watching videos. Some tools can block or issue reminders when limits are reached.

5. Regularly Review Your Activity Reports

Most screen time trackers generate detailed reports that can help identify productivity patterns or time-wasting habits. Set aside time, for example, at the end of each week, to review these reports. Look for trends, such as the times of day when you’re most productive or activities that consume more time than expected.

6. Implement Focused Work Sessions

Use the data gathered by the tracker to implement focused work sessions. Tools like the Pomodoro Technique can help boost productivity. Some trackers include features that align with these techniques, block apps, allowing you to set focused work periods and break intervals.

7. Set Up Alerts and Reminders

Many screen time trackers allow you to set alerts that pop up when you’ve spent too much time on certain activities. Configure these alerts to help maintain a balance between productive and unproductive tasks.

8. Incorporate Breaks into Your Schedule

Regular breaks are crucial for avoiding burnout and maintaining productivity. Track not just your work time, but also how often you step away from the screen to rest. That’ll help you maintain a healthy balance

9. Integrate with Other Productivity Tools

Some screen time trackers can be integrated with project management tools, calendars, or to-do apps. Leveraging these integrations can help create a holistic view of your time management and task completion.

10. Respect Privacy

If using screen time tracking in a work environment or for family safety, be transparent with others about what is being tracked and why. Respect privacy concerns and use tracking ethically, particularly in professional settings.

Optimize Your Windows Experience with Screen Time Trackers

While too much screen time can harm your wellbeing, let’s not demonize the technology. Because when used smartly, it can bring many benefits.

However, managing screen time is a good way to regain control over your life and create a healthy work-life balance.

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Kate Borucka Kate is a freelance translator, copywriter, and a content writer specializing in time tracking software, time management, and productivity. When not researching new software, she's reading books, or spending time outdoors.

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