The yaTimer - a very handy utility

If you are a freelance consultant, writer, or designer, this versatile software timer may be what you have been looking for. It makes keeping track of multitasking activities almost painless.

I have been searching for a better way to keep track of how much time I spend on various client projects and in a recent article,  I included a list of the must-have features I was looking for:

Independent software vendor Nir Dobovizki of NBD-Tech read my article and created a software timer he calls yaTimer that met every one of the requirements I listed.

He left a comment on my blog post, so I downloaded the counter and have been using it ever since.

It can be any size I want from a business-card-sized timer in the corner of my computer screen to a full-screen display visible from across the room.

Nir did an excellent job creating this timer and he is very responsive to suggestions and comments.

The only shortcomings in this first version of the yaTimer are my fault. When I wrote the list of must-have features, I didn't consider several necessary features that I really depend on, like counting down as well as up and being able to preset the count to any value I need.

Nir says not to worry, he is already working on this and the next version will have those features.

This timer is head and shoulders over any other timer for my kind of work. I usually have several irons in the fire and this timer lets me switch to a new task  or freeze everything with one click. This comes in very handy when I get a phone call or have to stop and greet the UPS lady.

This timer will pay for itself in less than a week if you are billing on an hourly basis and need to keep accurate records of what time is spent on what projects. It is available as a free download with a 45 day trial period.

I think Nir Dobovizki is the kind of software developer we need to encourage. He also has a blog in which he claims his inspiration for naming this product came from the pen of Scott Adams.

Visit Nir's Software Company and tell him I sent you.