Comments on: Eating Your Own Cookie http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/06/21/eating-your-own-cookie/ A blog about our thoughts on entrepreneurship, teamwork, our services, the Web and anything we find interesting. Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:27:46 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Snakes on a Plane for Dummies http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/06/21/eating-your-own-cookie/comment-page-1/#comment-8573 Snakes on a Plane for Dummies Fri, 04 Aug 2006 16:41:47 +0000 http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/06/21/eating-your-own-cookie/#comment-8573 [...] My prediction is that this movie will really suck, which is of course what everyone is expecting. Now the thing is, what happens if the movie not only sucks, but is just plain boring and lame?  Do you think there will be a negative backlash from the blogging community, or will the hype just fizzle out, never to be talked about again?  I guess that is the beauty of hyping something months, or even years before it actually comes out.  Have I mentioned yet how great FreshBooks new timesheet service (aka Snakes on a Timetrack) is going to be? [...] [...] My prediction is that this movie will really suck, which is of course what everyone is expecting. Now the thing is, what happens if the movie not only sucks, but is just plain boring and lame?  Do you think there will be a negative backlash from the blogging community, or will the hype just fizzle out, never to be talked about again?  I guess that is the beauty of hyping something months, or even years before it actually comes out.  Have I mentioned yet how great FreshBooks new timesheet service (aka Snakes on a Timetrack) is going to be? [...]

]]> By: Michael McDerment Blog » Blog Archive » Use Your Application, Eat Your Cookie http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/06/21/eating-your-own-cookie/comment-page-1/#comment-3154 Michael McDerment Blog » Blog Archive » Use Your Application, Eat Your Cookie Wed, 12 Jul 2006 15:34:36 +0000 http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/06/21/eating-your-own-cookie/#comment-3154 [...] As posted on the FreshBooks blog: [...] [...] As posted on the FreshBooks blog: [...]

]]> By: Michael McDerment http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/06/21/eating-your-own-cookie/comment-page-1/#comment-695 Michael McDerment Wed, 21 Jun 2006 21:53:26 +0000 http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/06/21/eating-your-own-cookie/#comment-695 Lance - I totally agree - tracking time can be the "bane of existence for the people" who have to track it...that is the problem we are really trying to solve...we want it to be painless. With regards to intervals, it can mean either. Honestly it's a business specific decision. Kathy used to have to track it EVERY 6 minutes at PWC...for our purposes here at FreshBooks we are just tracking in 10 minute intervals (i.e. if I spend 40 minutes on something, I will indicate 40 minutes at ONE time), but again, it really depends on the process of the business in question. For what it is worth, our current design is not really that good for tracking EVERY 6 or ten minutes, but it's okay for the cumulative tracking. The new version of FreshBooks will work well (better?!) both ways. Lance – I totally agree – tracking time can be the “bane of existence for the people” who have to track it…that is the problem we are really trying to solve…we want it to be painless.

With regards to intervals, it can mean either. Honestly it’s a business specific decision. Kathy used to have to track it EVERY 6 minutes at PWC…for our purposes here at FreshBooks we are just tracking in 10 minute intervals (i.e. if I spend 40 minutes on something, I will indicate 40 minutes at ONE time), but again, it really depends on the process of the business in question.

For what it is worth, our current design is not really that good for tracking EVERY 6 or ten minutes, but it’s okay for the cumulative tracking. The new version of FreshBooks will work well (better?!) both ways.

]]> By: Lance E. Leonard http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/06/21/eating-your-own-cookie/comment-page-1/#comment-694 Lance E. Leonard Wed, 21 Jun 2006 20:42:21 +0000 http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/06/21/eating-your-own-cookie/#comment-694 Does "tracking their time in 10 minute intervals" mean that every ten minutes one has to enter their time? Or, does it mean that when one finishes a task, they enter their time as divisible by 10 minutes (1 hour 20 minutes)? I'm down with shortening the increment, but if I have to stop every ten minutes and enter my time, I'm probably not going to be entering my time. Time Accounting is one of the most important things for management to track, but one of the banes of existence for the people who have to enter it. Make it easier for both and you've got yourself a killer app. Does “tracking their time in 10 minute intervals” mean that every ten minutes one has to enter their time? Or, does it mean that when one finishes a task, they enter their time as divisible by 10 minutes (1 hour 20 minutes)? I’m down with shortening the increment, but if I have to stop every ten minutes and enter my time, I’m probably not going to be entering my time. Time Accounting is one of the most important things for management to track, but one of the banes of existence for the people who have to enter it. Make it easier for both and you’ve got yourself a killer app.

]]> By: Michael McDerment http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/06/21/eating-your-own-cookie/comment-page-1/#comment-683 Michael McDerment Wed, 21 Jun 2006 13:56:08 +0000 http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/06/21/eating-your-own-cookie/#comment-683 Tom - you're right...we have enough interruptions. That said, there are many busineses that do track time at ten minute intervals. I know Kathy used to track time in 6 minute intervals when she was at PriceWaterhouseCoopers ... lawyers often track time in 10 minute intervals. For us, we could easily do half hour intervals, but by making our intervals shorter than "necessary", it will increase the pain factor. If we can increase the pain factor, we'll be even more in turn with what is REALLY necessary to design a fast, easy and PAINLESS time tracking solution. And that is definitely what we are striving for. Tom – you’re right…we have enough interruptions. That said, there are many busineses that do track time at ten minute intervals. I know Kathy used to track time in 6 minute intervals when she was at PriceWaterhouseCoopers … lawyers often track time in 10 minute intervals.

For us, we could easily do half hour intervals, but by making our intervals shorter than “necessary”, it will increase the pain factor. If we can increase the pain factor, we’ll be even more in turn with what is REALLY necessary to design a fast, easy and PAINLESS time tracking solution. And that is definitely what we are striving for.

]]> By: Tom http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/06/21/eating-your-own-cookie/comment-page-1/#comment-682 Tom Wed, 21 Jun 2006 13:24:56 +0000 http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2006/06/21/eating-your-own-cookie/#comment-682 What is the benefit of tracking time in 10 minute intervals? On the surface, this appears to be a rather intrusive activity, one which would potentially interrupt any sort of creative or productive 'flow'. Don't we all have enough interruptions as it is? What is the benefit of tracking time in 10 minute intervals? On the surface, this appears to be a rather intrusive activity, one which would potentially interrupt any sort of creative or productive ‘flow’. Don’t we all have enough interruptions as it is?

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