You can start the live timer straight from a task or a saved time entry, so you don't have to pick the project and task in the timer bar yourself. Drum fills them in for you and opens the timer bar.
Time tracking must be turned on for your Drum account.
Find the start-timer button
The button is a small clock in a pale round pill with a plus badge. It looks like the additional timer button in the timer bar. Point at a task or entry and it appears. Hover over it to see Start timer and the task name.
Where | Where the button shows | Good to know |
Timesheet, List View | To the right of the task name, when you point at the row | Only on your own timesheet. Hidden on small screens. |
Timesheet, Calendar View | Top right of a saved entry block, when you point at it | The entry's description goes into the timer description. On very short entries there's no room on the block, so open the entry and use the button in the header beside Edit time on. |
Project task rows | To the right of the task name, when you point at the row | Internal Process tasks don't get the button. |
Dashboard task rows | To the right of the task name, when you point at the row | Same as project task rows. Internal Process tasks don't get the button. |
Start a timer
Point at the task row, dashboard task or calendar entry you're about to work on.
Select the start-timer button.
The timer bar opens with the project and task already filled in, and the timer starts counting. Add or check the description in What are you working on?
When you're done, select the save button in the timer bar to record the time.
Drum uses your first timer (Timer 1) if it's blank. If Timer 1 is already in use, it uses your second timer (Timer 2). Starting one timer pauses the other, just like it does when you use the timer bar.
If both timers are in use
If both timers already have something in them, nothing changes and you'll see Both timers are in use. Save or reset one first.
A timer counts as in use as soon as it has details typed in, even if you never started it. That way the button never wipes out something you've set up. To free one up, open the timer bar and either save that timer or reset it with Reset timer details.
If you don't see the button
The button only shows on tasks that accept time from you, so the usual rules apply. Check these:
You're on your own timesheet. The timer always belongs to the person signed in, so the button is hidden on other staff members' timesheets.
The task is still open and accepting time. Completed tasks follow the same rules as your timesheet.
If the task only allows time when you're assigned, you're assigned to it.
It's not an Internal Process task.
It's not a business overhead or leave row. Those don't have the button yet, so use the timer bar or add the time on your timesheet.
In List View, your screen is wide enough. The list button is hidden on small screens.
For more on why a task won't take time, see How to add time to a project task.
Using the timer on a phone or small screen
On screens narrower than 1024px (most phones and tablets in portrait), the timer lives in the mobile menu:
Open the menu. The timer buttons sit at the top, right under your account name.
The timer panel opens as a card straight under the timer buttons, with one field per line and a full-width save button.
A running timer only shows once you open the menu, so open it to check or save your time.
On mid-sized screens (from 1024px up to about 1340px wide), the panel sits over two lines: the controls, time and save button first, then the description, project and task fields. On wider screens the panel is attached to the bottom of the navigation bar.