SlifeLabs

Full Review

There are two parts to Slife- the web based part and the a downloadable desktop client. The latter is what really does the work, but it's hassle free. It just runs in the background and tracks where you spend your time. It measures what window you're focussing on, so even in tabbed browsing it'll measure the actual tab - not just the browser. The biggest benefit is that you don't have to track anything yourself when on the computer. And if you want to log time away from the computer (calls, meetings), it's easy to do.

The best way to use these things is to install the app and let it run for a few hours, so that's what I did. Slife Labs did a nice job with the user interface, and the site is sleek with a simple white background, and a sidebar showing all the features. There's a dashboard that shows how much time is tracked, as well as a nice pie chart showing how you spend your time is various user-defined activities.

The user-defined activities are a key part of the time tracking system. Depending on the account, you can either have five activities or unlimited. Personally, I find five a little constraining, but I also really like to customize different tasks. If you just want a small business software for billing, and five is a reasonable number for billable tasks, the lower-cost addition will work. On a related note Slife integrates with FreshBooks, so you can use Slife to do exact time tracking and then invoice it directly with FreshBooks.

Aside from time tracking, Slife can also be used to increase productivity. Users can set goals for different activities, so an example would be something like "spend less than 30 minutes on email". Slife keeps track of the time spent, and lets you know if you're reaching your goal or not.

What's missing from Slife is any sort of team support. One of the greatest things about RescueTime is the ability for managers and coworkers to track team productivity, set goals throughout the day, and make evaluations based on real, precise data. It's a high value functionality that can significantly increase profits, but Slife doesn't have it. Right now it's not a business software; it's meant purely for personal use.

Slife currently comes in three versions. The basic, free version only allows for one activity and is virtually useless. Plus allows for 5 activities, and costs $5/month. Premium has no cap on activities, and costs $10/month. Competitors include RescueTime, TimeSnapper, and TimeCamp.

The Bottom Line

I like Slife a lot. Slife has a gorgeous layout, measures activity pretty specifically, and is heavily customizable. But I like how RescueTime displays your trends and differentiates between ‘productive' and ‘unproductive' work. Moreover, the team option is only on RescueTime and I see that as a huge benefit. Both are priced similarly, so if team productivity is what you're looking for, I would recommend RescueTime. Otherwise, Slife is an great app to measure your productivity.

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