Breaks, Expenses and Notes

The Timesheet iOS app helps you capture all aspects of your tasks with precision. This section covers how to log breaks, expenses, and notes — three essential tools for complete time tracking. Whether you need to account for pauses, document costs, or add important reminders, these features ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Key Benefits:

• Accurate productivity insights (breaks)
• Intelligent break reminders with health integration (Smart Breaks)
• Simplified reimbursement (expenses)
• Contextual records (notes)

All data syncs seamlessly across your devices for easy access.

Break Tracking

Accurately account for pauses in your workday.

Key Features

• Automatic tracking: Pause running timer for breaks
• Manual entry: Add breaks after task completion
• Inline creation: Add breaks directly in the task edit form
• Quick add from task list: Long-press a task and tap New Break
• Detailed logging:
  • Start/end times
  • Optional description

Adding Breaks

There are several ways to add breaks to a task:

Method	Description
Pause timer	Pause and resume the running timer to create a break automatically
Inline in task form	Add breaks directly in the Breaks section at the bottom of the task edit form
Task detail view	Navigate to a task's Breaks tab and tap the add button
Context menu	Long-press a task in the list and tap New Break

Inline Breaks

When creating or editing a task, the Breaks section at the bottom of the form lets you add and manage breaks without leaving the screen. Each break shows start time, end time, and calculated duration. New breaks default to the task's midpoint with your configured default break duration. Swipe left to remove a break. All breaks are saved atomically with the task.

Duration Calculations:

Type	Formula	Purpose
Absolute Duration	Total time (including breaks)	Client billing
Relative Duration	Total time - break time	Productivity analysis

Smart Break Reminders

Smart Break Reminders help you take healthier, more effective breaks by suggesting the right break at the right time. The system adapts to your work style and — with Apple Health integration (Pro) — responds to real-time signals like heart rate and activity levels.

Getting Started

1. Go to Settings > Smart Break Reminders
2. Turn on Enable Smart Breaks
3. Choose your Work Style (Sprinter, Balanced, or Deep Focus)
4. Start a timer — break suggestions will appear automatically

That's it. Smart Breaks works in the background while you work and sends you notifications when it's time for a break. You don't need to keep the app open.

How It Works

Smart Breaks has three modes. Free users get time-based reminders; Pro users unlock health-aware and adaptive modes:

Mode	Availability	What it does
Time-Based	All plans	Reminds you based on how long you've been working
HealthKit	Pro	Uses heart rate, activity, and sleep data from Apple Health for smarter suggestions
Pattern Learning	Pro	Learns your habits over time and adapts to your rhythm

You can enable multiple modes at once — they work together.

When You Get a Reminder

When it's time for a break, you'll receive a notification. Reminders start gentle and become more insistent if you keep working:

1. Suggestion — A gentle nudge that a break would help
2. Recommended — You've been working a while; a break is advised
3. Urgent — You've reached your maximum focus time

From the notification, you can:

• Start Break — Pause the timer and take the suggested break
• Snooze — Postpone the reminder by 10 minutes
• Skip — Dismiss the reminder

During a Break

When you take a break, the app shows:

• Activity suggestions — Stretching, hydration, breathing, walking, and more
• Live health metrics (Pro) — Heart rate, stress level, and step count in real time
• Description field — Optionally note what you did during the break

After a Break

When you resume the timer after a suggested pause, a quick feedback sheet appears asking:

• Star rating (1–5) — How helpful was the break?
• How do you feel? — Refreshed or about the same?

This feedback feeds into Pattern Learning (Pro) so the system can adapt to what works best for you — suggesting the right break type, duration, and timing over time.

You can skip the feedback at any time. If Edit View After Break is enabled in Settings, the break edit form opens after the feedback sheet.

info

The feedback sheet only appears for breaks triggered by Smart Break suggestions. Manual pauses without an active suggestion go straight to the normal resume flow.

Work Styles

Choose the style that best fits how you work:

Style	Description
Sprinter	Frequent short breaks for high-energy work sessions
Balanced	Regular intervals for typical work patterns (default)
Deep Focus	Longer focus periods for concentration-heavy work

Break History & Insights (Pro)

View your past breaks via Settings > Smart Break Reminders > History:

• Break type, time, and duration
• Your ratings
• Insights — How often you follow suggestions, which break types work best for you, and personalized tips

Apple Health Integration (Pro)

With HealthKit mode enabled, Smart Breaks uses data from Apple Health to give more accurate suggestions:

• Heart Rate — Notices when you're stressed
• Heart Rate Variability (HRV) — Detects mental fatigue
• Standing Hours — Nudges you to move when you've been sitting
• Sleep — Adjusts suggestions if you didn't sleep well

Breaks you take are also logged as Mindful Sessions in Apple Health.

Battery

HealthKit monitoring uses Apple's efficient background delivery system and has minimal impact on battery life.

Privacy

Health data is processed entirely on your device and never sent to any server.

Settings

For all configuration options (timing, notification style, quiet hours, weekend mode, and more), see the Settings page.

Expense Management

Track all work-related costs.

How to Add Expenses

1. During task timing (live)
2. After task completion
3. Via task details view
4. Long-press a task in the list and tap New Expense

Expense Features

• Amount: Track the cost with your configured currency
• Payment status: Refunded/Paid toggle
• Receipt attachment: Attach documents or photos (Plus/Pro)
• Project summaries: View all expenses

Pro Tip

Mark reimbursed expenses as "Refunded" to track outstanding amounts.

Task Notes

Document important details.

Adding Notes

Add notes via the task detail view, or long-press a task in the list and tap New Note for quick access.

Note Capabilities

• Timestamped entries
• Rich text descriptions
• File attachments (photos/documents)

Common Uses

• Work progress updates
• Client feedback
• Reference materials
• Quality checks