How to Organize Your Work with Projects and Tags

If you've ever scrolled an entry list at month-end and thought "what was this one for?", you already know the problem this post is about. Time entries that don't have a structure stop being useful the moment you stop tracking them. The fix is two simple primitives: projects and tags. Get the difference between them right and the rest falls into place.

All of this is on the free Basic plan.

#The One Thing to Get Right

Projects are containers. Tags are labels that cross containers.

• A time entry belongs to exactly one project
• A time entry can have any number of tags

That distinction governs every other decision below.

#Projects, when

• One per client
• One per distinct contract or job
• One per major work category (e.g. "Internal")

#Tags, when

• Types of activity (meeting, deep work, admin)
• Phases (planning, execution, review)
• Priority or status (urgent, blocked, follow-up)
• Anything that should still mean something when you switch from one client to the next

#Setting Up Projects

#Creating

1. Open Projects
2. Tap +
3. Enter a name
4. Configure settings (rate, color, default billable)
5. Save

#Naming That Survives Six Months

• Specific: "Acme Corp Website Redesign", not "Web Project"
• Consistent: same pattern across every project
• Searchable: include the client name

A pattern that works:

[Client] - [Project Name]
 
Acme Corp - Website Redesign
Johnson LLC - Q4 Consulting
Internal - Business Development

#Hourly Rate, Color, Default Billable

Every project carries:

• An hourly rate that flows into earnings on every entry
• A color so the project is visually distinct in lists and charts
• A default billable flag so new entries default to the right answer

Set these once per project. After that they apply automatically. The detailed rate workflow is in How to Bill Clients with Custom Rates.

#Using Tags Without Tag-Explosion

#How Tags Get Created

You create a tag the first time you use it:

1. Open any task
2. Find the Tags field
3. Type a tag name
4. Save

After that, the tag is in the autocomplete list. Reuse it.

#Five to Ten Tags Is the Sweet Spot

Too few tags and they don't tell you anything. Too many and you stop using them consistently. Five to ten reusable tags per use case is roughly right.

Activity-based tags

• meeting
• development
• research
• admin
• communication

Phase-based tags

• planning
• execution
• review
• maintenance

Priority or status tags

• urgent
• blocked
• follow-up

Pick one taxonomy and stick to it. Mixing activity and phase tags on the same entries is fine; mixing twenty variations of "meeting" is not.

#Where Project × Tag Earns Its Keep

You're a consultant with three clients. Each is a project. You want to know how much time you spent in meetings across all three.

• Project: "Acme Corp"
• Tags: meeting, strategy

Now the report can:

• Filter by project to see all Acme work
• Filter by tag to see all meetings across all clients
• Cross-tabulate to see meeting time per client

That cross-cut is what tags exist for. Don't use a project for it.

#Archiving Completed Projects

Finished projects shouldn't clutter the active list.

1. Open the project
2. Find Archive
3. Confirm

What archiving does:

• Removes the project from active lists
• Keeps all historical entries intact
• Stays visible in reports and exports
• Can be restored at any time

#Common Mistakes

Over-tagging. Twenty tags on day one becomes inconsistent labeling by week three. Start with five to ten and add only when needed.

Under-organizing. One project called "Work" for everything. Defeats the point. Per-client billing needs per-client projects.

Inconsistent tag names. "Client Meeting", "Meeting with Client", "Client - Meeting": three different tags. Pick a format and stick to it. Tag names are not freeform notes.

Forgetting to tag. Tags only earn back their setup cost if you actually use them. Add tags when you start the timer, not "later".

#Practical Setup Conventions

Use projects for billing, tags for analysis. Projects align with invoices. Tags align with how you want to see your work. Keep these purposes separate and the system stays clean.

Have a "General" or "Misc" project. For one-off entries that don't fit anywhere yet. Review weekly. Move entries to real projects or accept they belong in General.

Color-code consistently.

• Green for billable client work
• Blue for internal projects
• Yellow for admin and learning

You'll read the daily list faster.

Maintenance, monthly.

• Archive completed projects
• Merge or delete unused tags
• Skim project names for inconsistencies

Fifteen minutes once a month is enough.

#A Starter Template

A reasonable starting point for a freelancer or small team:

Projects

1. [Main client] - [Current project]
2. [Secondary client] - [Their project]
3. Internal - Business Development
4. Internal - Administration
5. Personal - Learning

Tags

• meeting
• deep-work
• admin
• billable
• review

Start here. Adjust after the first month based on what the reports actually let you see (or don't).

#Summary

The model in two lines:

• Projects: containers, one per client or major work area. Carry rate, color, billable default.
• Tags: cross-cutting labels for activity, phase, priority. Reused across projects.

Keep both lists short. Name them consistently. Run a 15-minute monthly cleanup. The system pays for itself the first time you need to answer "how much time on meetings this quarter" without spending an hour reconstructing it.

#Where to Go Next

• Bill clients with custom rates for the project-level rate setup
• Automate the start with geofence, Wi-Fi or NFC so the right project starts itself
• Read the statistics report broken down by project and tag