Most of us think we know how we spend our time on a Mac. Then we check the numbers and find out the "quick look" at YouTube was 50 minutes, and the deep work block was mostly Slack. If you want to change how you work, the first step is seeing what actually happens. Here are three ways to do it.

Option 1: macOS Screen Time (built in, but limited)

Your Mac already has a basic tracker. Open System Settings → Screen Time and turn on "App & Website Activity". After a day or two you'll see total hours per app and per website.

It's a fine starting point, and it's free. But if you're trying to understand your workday, it falls short quickly:

It counts hours while an app is open — it doesn't know whether you were focused, distracted, or away from the desk making coffee.

Everything is one flat list. Your code editor and your favorite game carry the same weight.

There's no idea of "productive vs. distracting". You have to interpret every number yourself.

It was designed for limiting kids' iPad time, not for understanding knowledge work.

Option 2: Track it manually

Some people log their hours in a spreadsheet or a note. It works for about three days. Then a meeting runs long, you forget to log two afternoons, and the data quietly dies. Manual tracking fails for a simple reason: the moments when your time gets away from you are exactly the moments you forget to track.

Option 3: Use an automatic tracker

An automatic tracker records which app is in front while you work — no timers, no logging. This is what FocusNow does, and it adds the context that Screen Time is missing:

A timeline of your day: every app and window, in order, with durations — so you can see how the day actually unfolded.

Focus, Neutral or Distracting: every app is categorized, so instead of a flat list of hours you get a Focus Score — the share of your active time that wasn't lost to distracting apps.

Idle and away detection: time when you stepped away doesn't pollute your stats.

Hourly patterns: after a week you'll know your real peak focus hours — most people are wrong about theirs.

One honest note, since this data is personal: FocusNow reads only the app name, window title and page address — never your screen contents or keystrokes — and your data is encrypted. You can read the details in our privacy policy.

Getting started takes a minute

1. Download FocusNow for Mac (it's free) and sign in with Google or Microsoft.

2. Grant the accessibility permission so it can see which app is in front.

3. Work normally for a day, then open the dashboard.

That first evening look at your timeline is usually eye-opening. If you work from home, our guide for remote workers shows what to look for first.

Your Mac already knows where your time goes. Now you can too — get FocusNow free.