IdleMac for freelancers
IdleMac for freelancers
Every minute you drift is a minute you can't bill. IdleMac sits in your menu bar and calls you out the moment you stop working — so your tracked hour is an actual hour.
The specific problems it solves
- You open Slack, then 40 minutes disappear
- Time trackers keep running while you're in the kitchen
- Client estimates slip because 'quick breaks' turn into long ones
Real use cases
Billable-hour honesty
Set IdleMac to 3 minutes. If you step away, your Mac yells. Stop your timer. Now your invoice reflects reality.
Client work sprints
Working on a tight deliverable? Set a short idle threshold so slippage is loud, not silent.
Research without rabbit holes
You open a tab to 'just check one thing.' IdleMac notices when you stop typing or moving and snaps you back.
A 4-step workflow
- 1Start your time tracker (Toggl, Harvest, Timing)
- 2IdleMac already running in the menu bar, 3-minute threshold
- 3If you drift — voice alert. Pause your tracker. Re-focus.
- 4End of day: your tracked time is genuinely worked time.
The hidden tax on freelance work isn't the billable minute you lose — it's the 20 unnoticed minutes after it.