Scheduling Tasks

What are Time Entries?

Time entries are how you schedule and log time on tasks in HourStack. They allow you to plan or time block your day, assign work, and track where time is being spent.

Time entries can’t exist without a task. Tasks can have an unlimited number of time entries to allow for multiple work sessions and collaboration on tasks.

Scheduled vs. Logged Time

There are two types of time in HourStack, scheduled and logged.

Scheduled time is the amount of time you estimate to work on a specific task.
Logged time is the amount of time you’ve actually spent on a specific task.

Creating a Time Entry

You can easily schedule and track time on all of your tasks from the Calendar page. Each time entry is represented by a block on your calendar.

From your calendar, you have a few options:

Create a time entry for a brand new task.
Create a time entry for a task you’ve already planned in HourStack.
Create a time entry for a task from an integrated app.
Create a series of time entries from a template you’ve previously created.

Creating a Time Entry from the Task Sidebar

To schedule a time entry for a brand new task, simply click on a date in your calendar, or click the New task button in the right sidebar. This will open the Task Sidebar on the right of the calendar.

In the task sidebar, you can specify task details, like a due date, description, project, labels, and more. Learn more about adding task details.

When you are ready to schedule or track time on a task, you’ll find the Time Entries section in the Task Sidebar.

In the time entry section, you can add details about the time spent on the task.

Assignee: the member who worked/will work on this task.
Description: what was/will be worked on during this time entry.
Scheduled on: the date and/or time you plan to work on this task.
Scheduled hours: the amount of time you plan to work on the task.
Logged hours: the amount of time actually spent on the task.

Scheduling Multiple Time Entries

Tasks can also be tracked over the course of multiple time entries. At the top of the time entries section, you’ll see the total number of time entries on that task, as well as the total logged and scheduled time for that task.

To create another time entry on a task, click the Add Time Entry button.

You can also schedule multiple time entries at once by clicking the Add multiple entries button to the right. From there, you can select the days and/or time on which you’d like to schedule, as well as the duration for each time entry.

Scheduling a Task from the Tasks Sidebar

To schedule an existing task in HourStack, open the Tasks sidebar on the right of your calendar.

Here, you can view all of the tasks you’ve created in HourStack. View all tasks assigned to you from the My Tasks tab, or switch tabs to see them grouped by Project, Member, Client, or Label. You can also search within each tab and sort tasks by either name or due date.

To schedule a task from the Tasks sidebar, simply drag and drop it onto a date in your calendar. This will create a new time entry for that task on the selected date. The time entry will default to the duration specified in your Calendar Options, which are accessed using the settings icon in the upper right of your calendar.