Overtime Tracker vs project management tools.
One of the most common questions is: why create a new service when there are already many tools like Jira, Monday, Trello, and similar ones?
The thing is, these tools are project management systems. They do a great job covering most global planning needs, but they are almost useless for personal use.
Comparison with Jira / YouTrack / Wrike / ClickUp
The gold standard in IT companies and beyond.
Goals and purpose
These systems are designed to manage team workflows:
- Sprints
- Backlogs
- Roles
- Statuses and reports
In any project with more than a couple of people involved, chaos quickly starts without these tools.
Why they don’t work for one person
When viewed from the perspective of a single person’s workflow, these systems are overly complex and overloaded for staying focused on a single workday.
Entities, statuses, ticket handoffs, team-wide time estimation and tracking — but no simple, convenient way to focus on an individual’s personal productivity.
Compared to Overtime Tracker
We deliberately didn’t build deep project-management concepts into the service.
Only tasks for a single workday, plans, and actual time spent.
Comparison with Notion / Monday.com
Popular tools with a high degree of flexibility for building your own system.
- Tasks
- Notes
- Databases
- And many other customization options
Why they don’t work well for one person
Even though these tools are flexible, they try to cover everything at once.
You can build custom dashboards and workflows from scratch, BUT…
it takes a lot of time and attention.
Compared to Overtime Tracker
We intentionally focused the service on a single goal.
You don’t need to configure it, invent your own workflows, or assemble a system yourself.
Instead, you add the necessary information in just a few clicks and start working, while timers and reports are generated for you in real time.
Comparison with Trello / Excel / other simple tracking tools
Some of the simplest and fastest approaches.
We’ve already discussed planning with manual notes (pen and paper).
The situation here is similar:
They’re convenient for task lists, but either don’t provide a complete picture of the day or require too much attention.
Compared to Overtime Tracker
Overtime Tracker helps answer key questions:
- What actually happened during the workday
- What time was spent on
- How much time was spent according to the plan
- What to change to be more productive tomorrow
Conclusion
All the tools mentioned above are built for project management and team collaboration, but they don’t help a single person understand what actually happened during their workday.
Every service has its strengths and strong use cases.
Overtime Tracker doesn’t try to replace any of them. Instead, it expands your options by simplifying personal task planning.