How to log time automatically in Jira?

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If you’ve ever found yourself wondering, “Where did my day go?” - you’re not alone. Logging time manually in Jira can be tedious and error-prone, especially if you juggle multiple projects or tasks throughout the day. It’s easy to forget when exactly you started working on something, or to postpone time logging until the end of the week - only to find your memory a little fuzzy.

That’s where automation can help you. With Time Assistant, you can track your work automatically as you go. No more guessing, no more double-checking notes - just precise, real-time time tracking built directly into Jira.

How to enable automatic timers in Jira and log time?

1. Head to the Atlassian Marketplace ->  Time Assistant - Time Tracking and Workload Dashboard and install the app. 

1. All Time Assistant features will be accessible right away. You can access automatic timers from 3 different levels:
   
   
   • Work item level - Activate a timer directly within any Jira work item. You don’t need to go anywhere to start automatic time tracking. It’s right there, in your work item, and can be fully operated from this level. 

• Time Assistant’s dashboard gadgets - Activate a timer whenever you pick up a task from a gadget. Use the dashboard as your time tracking command center to view all the relevant tasks and manage their timers. 

• Favorite issues list - Activate a timer for frequently recurring tasks from your favorites, keeping the most important work items close at hand, and easily tracking time spent on them. 

How to use active timers to automatically log your time?

Starting your timer

No matter from which level you’re using your timers, all you need to do to start tracking your time is to click on the ▶ icon next to your work item. It will immediately start the counter. 

You can have multiple timers running at the same time. They will stay active even if you close your Jira, so you don’t have to worry about keeping the tab open.

Monitoring your timer

You can check on your timers whenever you want. Current values will be displayed right next to your work item.

These values are not yet logged, only counted and stored by Time Assistant, to help you keep track of your current time tracking status. 

For more clarity, you can view all your unlogged timers on the app dashboard, right under the time summary.

Stopping the timer and logging your time

To stop your timer, click on the ◼️ icon next to the work item. A time logging modal will appear, displaying the counted time, and giving you a chance to modify the value before accepting.

Once you click Log time, the time will be logged, and the timer for this specific work item will stop being active.

If you stop the timer, but don’t finalize logging the time, the app will remember the value. You can go back to logging the time by clicking the button:

 

Canceling your timers

To cancel your timer without logging any time, click on the ✖ symbol next to the work item.

You can also cancel all timers at once, by clicking Cancel all timers at the top of the list.

 

Snapshot your day

There are countless ways in which you can use active timers. One common approach is creating a snapshot of your day. 

Instead of logging each timer right away, you can keep them active and unlogged until the end of the day. This method lets you see a full picture of how your time was spent before finalizing it. You can review all your tasks at once, make any necessary adjustments, and then log your time with confidence that it accurately reflects your work.

Some developers already follow a similar practice using notebooks or personal notes - especially those who work across multiple Jira instances for different clients. With Time Assistant, you can keep that same flexibility, but directly within Jira, making your day’s overview easier to manage and more reliable.

Start automating your time tracking today

Don’t let time tracking slow you down. With Time Assistant, every second of your work can be captured automatically and accurately.

Try Time Assistant on Atlassian Marketplace and see how effortless time logging in Jira can be.