Open a blank spreadsheet and pretend you’re a minimalist architect. Your first column? Date. Next? Task. Then Start Time and End Time. That’s your foundation—four columns, no fuss. You don’t need a degree in data science to make this work.
Here’s the secret sauce: use Excel’s built-in formulas. In the “Duration” column, type =C2-B2 (assuming C is End, B is Start). That little trick calculates your hours automatically. Boom—you just outsourced math to a robot. Add a SUM formula at the bottom to tally your week.
Don’t Forget the “Category” Column
This is where it gets fun. Add a column for category, like “Client Work,” “Admin,” or “Procrastinating (oops).” Use Excel’s drop-down menu feature (Data > Data Validation) to create a list. Now you can click a button instead of typing the same thing fifty times. It’s like a choose-your-own-adventure book, but for time tracking.
