Do you ever wonder where your team’s time goes? Or why projects take longer than expected? You’re not alone. Most teams struggle with time management because they don’t track how long tasks actually take.

Jira has built-in timetracker jira that can solve this problem. It helps you see exactly how your team spends time and makes future planning much easier.

What Does Jira Time Tracking Do?

Think of time tracking in Jira like a stopwatch for your projects. It records:

This information helps everyone understand what’s really happening with your projects.

Why Should You Care About Time Tracking?

You might think tracking time is a waste of time. Here’s why it’s actually worth it:

You’ll plan better projects When you know how long things really take, you can make promises you can keep.

Your team will be happier No more impossible deadlines or people working too many hours while others sit idle.

You’ll spot problems early See which tasks always take longer than expected and fix the process.

You’ll have proof of your work Show clients or managers exactly what your team accomplished.

You’ll make smarter decisions Use real data instead of guessing when planning new projects.

How to Start Time Tracking in Jira

First, turn it on

Then, use it on tasks

Set up estimates When you create new tasks, guess how long they’ll take. Don’t worry about being perfect — you’ll get better with practice.

Simple Rules for Success

Log time right away Don’t wait until Friday to remember what you did on Monday. Track time as you work or at the end of each day.

Be honest about estimates It’s better to over-estimate and finish early than to under-estimate and stress everyone out.

Look at your data Check reports every week to see patterns. Are certain types of tasks always taking longer?

Don’t use it to spy on people Time tracking should help your team, not make them nervous about being watched.

Keep it simple Start with basic tracking. You can add fancy features later.

What Reports Should You Use?

Jira creates several helpful reports: 

Time Tracking Report Compare what you thought tasks would take versus what they actually took.

Workload Report See who’s busy and who has extra time.

Burndown Chart Watch your sprint progress and see if you’ll finish on time.

These reports help you understand your team’s work patterns and make better plans.

Common Problems (And How to Fix Them)

“My team won’t track time” Start small. Ask people to try it for just one week on one project. Show them how the data helps with planning.

“People forget to log time” Make it part of your daily routine. Add a reminder to your team meetings or set up notifications.

“Our estimates are always wrong” That’s normal at first. Look at past data to improve your guessing. Most teams get much better after a few months.

“There’s too much data” Focus on one simple report at first. Don’t try to analyze everything at once.

Extra Tools You Can Add

Jira’s basic time tracking works well, but you can add more features:

Tempo — Great for detailed reporting and billing clients Toggl — Easy time tracking that connects to Jira Harvest — Good for teams that bill by the hour

These tools can automatically track time or create fancy reports.

Making It Work for Your Team

For Small Teams Keep it simple. Just log time and look at one report per week.

For Big Projects Make time logging required before tasks can be marked “done.”

For Client Work Use time tracking to create accurate bills and show clients what you did.

For Remote Teams Time tracking helps everyone stay on the same page about project progress.

What’s Next for Time Tracking?

New AI tools are making time tracking easier:

This means less work for your team and better data for planning.

Getting Started This Week

Ready to try time tracking? Here’s your simple plan:

Day 1: Turn on time tracking in Jira Day 2: Ask your team to start logging time on their current tasks Day 3–5: Keep logging time daily End of Week: Look at your first Jira time tracking report

Don’t worry about being perfect. The goal is to start collecting data so you can improve your planning.

Why This Matters

Jira Software Time tracking isn’t about micromanaging your team. It’s about understanding how work really happens so you can:

Teams that track time consistently are better at estimating, planning, and delivering successful projects.

Start with just 5 minutes per day logging time. After a few weeks, you’ll wonder how you ever managed projects without this data.

The best part? Once tracking time becomes a habit, it barely takes any effort but gives you powerful insights into how to improve your team’s work.