Frequently Asked Questions
General
What is the difference between Work Stack Manager and a regular time tracker?
Most time trackers ask you to start a timer for a task and stop it when you are done. This works well when your day is uninterrupted, but falls apart the moment something more urgent comes up. Work Stack Manager uses a stack instead, which means interruptions are handled naturally — you push the urgent task, deal with it, pop it, and you are straight back to what you were doing before. Your time is tracked accurately through all of it without any manual timer management.
Do I need to be online to use it?
Yes. Work Stack Manager is a web application and requires an internet connection. Your data is stored securely on the server so it is available from any device with a browser.
Can I use it on my phone?
Yes. The dashboard is designed to work on mobile browsers. For the best experience on mobile, use it in landscape orientation when viewing reports or session tables.
Is my data private?
Yes. Your stack, sessions, and reports are private to your account. No other user can see your data.
Stack Operations
What happens to my time tracking when I push a new task?
The task currently at the top of the stack has its session paused automatically. The new task you pushed starts a fresh session immediately. When you pop the new task, the previous task resumes tracking. You never lose time between tasks.
What if I push the same task name twice?
Each push starts a new session for that task name, even if an identically named task is already somewhere on the stack. The sessions are recorded separately and combined in reports, giving you an accurate total for that task across all its sessions.
I forgot to mark a task as billable before pushing. Can I fix it?
Not directly on the active task. The billable flag is set at push time. However, you can pop the task, push it again with the billable checkbox ticked, and then correct the session time in the Sessions tab to reflect the actual start time. It takes a minute but gives you an accurate record.
What does Clear Stack do exactly?
Clear Stack removes every task from the stack and closes all open sessions at the current time. Use it when you want to start completely fresh. It does not delete your session history — your past records are preserved and will still appear in reports. You will be asked to confirm before anything is cleared.
Can I reorder tasks on the stack?
No. The stack always operates in last-in, first-out order. The task at the top is always the most recently pushed unpopped task. This is intentional — the stack models the natural priority order of interrupted work.
Can I use the stack to plan my day in advance?
Yes. A useful technique is to push all of your priority tasks at the start of the day in reverse order, so the first task you want to work on ends up at the top. As you complete each one and pop it off, the next priority is automatically waiting at the top. See Scenario 7 in the Usage Scenarios document for a detailed example of this approach.
Time Tracking
What is a session?
A session is one continuous period of time that a task spent at the top of the stack. If you work on the same task three times in a day — pushing and popping it each time — it will have three sessions. Reports show the combined total across all sessions for each task.
What is a stale session?
A stale session is one that was never properly closed. This can happen if the app was not used to pop a task that was actually finished — for example if you closed your browser without popping, or if a session was left open overnight. Stale sessions are flagged in the Sessions tab so you can correct their end time.
I left a task running overnight by accident. How do I fix it?
First, pop the task to close the session. Active sessions cannot be edited while they are still open. Once popped, go to the Sessions tab, select the task, find the session that was just closed, and click Edit. Enter the correct end time for when you actually stopped working. The session duration will be recalculated automatically.
Why does the same task show multiple rows in my session history?
Each row in the Sessions tab represents one session — one continuous period at the top of the stack. A task that was pushed and popped three times will show three rows. This gives you a granular view of exactly when you worked on something. Reports automatically combine all sessions for the same task name into a single total.
Can I edit a session while the task is still active?
No. A session can only be edited after the task has been popped and the session is closed. If you need to correct the time for a currently active task, pop it first, then edit the session in the Sessions tab.
Reports
My report shows less time than I expected. Why?
The most common reasons are:
- A session was left open (stale) and is not being counted correctly. Check the Sessions tab for any stale flags.
- The period filter does not cover the dates you are looking for. Try switching to a Custom Range and setting the dates manually.
- A task was pushed under a slightly different name on some days, splitting its time across two report rows. Check for near-duplicate names in the report.
Can I see reports for a specific client only?
Not directly with a filter, but if you include the client name in every task name — for example Acme — proposal writing and Acme — client call — you can export the CSV and filter by the client name in your spreadsheet to get a per-client total.
What format is the CSV export?
The CSV includes one row per task with columns for task name, billable status, number of sessions, total time in hours and minutes, and average time per session. It can be opened directly in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets.
How far back do reports go?
Reports can cover any date range for which you have session data. Use the Custom Range option in the Reports tab to set specific start and end dates.
Sessions
Can I delete a session I did not mean to record?
Yes. Go to the Sessions tab, select the task, find the session, and click Delete. If it was the only session for that task, the task will be removed from your history entirely. Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone, so confirm carefully.
Can I edit a session that is currently active?
No. Sessions can only be edited after the task has been popped and the session closed. Pop the task first, then use the Edit button in the Sessions tab to make any corrections.
Can I edit the start time of a session?
Currently the Edit function allows you to correct the end time or duration of a session. If the start time is incorrect, the most practical fix is to delete the session and note the correct times manually, or contact your administrator.
The Sessions dropdown does not show a task I pushed recently. Why?
The Sessions tab refreshes its task list each time you click the tab. If you pushed a task and immediately switched to Sessions, try clicking away to another tab and back again to trigger a refresh. Note that currently active tasks — those still on the stack — will appear in the dropdown but their open sessions cannot be edited until they are popped.
Account & Preferences
How do I change my password?
Go to Account Settings and use the Change Password option. You will need to enter your current password to confirm the change.
I changed my timezone preference but times still look wrong. What should I do?
After changing your timezone, reload the page. The timezone setting affects how times are displayed throughout the app. If times still appear incorrect after reloading, confirm that the timezone you selected matches your actual local timezone.
Can I use Work Stack Manager across multiple devices?
Yes. Because your data is stored on the server, you can log in from any device and see the same stack and history. Be aware that the stack is shared — if you push a task from your phone, it will appear on your desktop too. This is by design, since your stack represents your actual current state of work regardless of which device you are using.
Alerts
The Inactivity Reminder fired but the tasks it listed are ones I am deliberately leaving on the stack. Can I stop it from alerting me about the same items repeatedly?
Yes. The alert automatically suppresses itself after firing so it will not repeat for the same set of inactive items on the next tick. It will only fire again if the set of qualifying items changes — for example if you push or pop something, which updates the stack and resets the suppression. If the alert is firing more often than you find useful, you can raise the threshold in Preferences → Task Alerts or set it to Off entirely. The alert is designed as a prompt, not a recurring alarm.
The Active Task Time Limit alert fired but I need more time on this task. What are my options?
You have three choices. First, click Snooze 5 min in the alert — this suppresses the alert for five minutes, giving you a short window to reach a natural stopping point before it can fire again. Second, simply dismiss the alert and keep working; the alert will not re-fire until you push or pop something, which resets the timer. Third, if the limit is consistently too short for the kind of work you do, go to Preferences → Task Alerts and raise the threshold to a value that better suits your working style. The alert does not stop you from working — it is informational only.
Previous: Usage Scenarios & Examples