Work Journal

Simple, Professional Time Tracking for Knowledge Workers

Today Tab

Transform How You Track Your Workday

Work Journal helps you document your workday, track time accurately, and maintain a searchable record of everything you accomplish—without the bloat of enterprise software.

Core Features

Daily Journaling

  • Quick-entry logging with timestamps
  • Flag achievements for easy review tracking
  • Link entries to ticket numbers
  • Real-time work duration and estimated end time

Time Tracking

  • Automatic hour calculations
  • Lunch break tracking
  • Off-hours work sessions
  • Pay period time cards (monthly or bi-weekly)

Smart Reports

  • Time cards for billing/payroll
  • Achievement summaries for performance reviews
  • Meeting notes with structured templates
  • Full searchable work history

Automated Delivery

  • Email daily summaries automatically
  • Export to professional HTML reports
  • Share time cards and achievements
  • CC support for transparency

Why You’ll Love It

✅ Standalone Application - Single .exe file, no installation required
✅ No Cloud Required - Your data stays on your computer
✅ 5-Second Entries - Don’t interrupt your flow
✅ Intelligent Automation - Auto-start, auto-calculate, auto-send
✅ Review-Ready - Search achievements by date for performance reviews
✅ Bill Accurately - Detailed time cards with lunch/break tracking
✅ Meeting Memory - Never lose track of decisions and action items
✅ Portable - Run from USB or network share

Perfect For

  • IT professionals tracking tickets and troubleshooting
  • Consultants who bill by the hour
  • Remote workers maintaining accountability
  • Anyone who needs work documentation for reviews or audits

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How It Works

  1. Start Your Day - Click “Start Day” (or let it auto-start)
  2. Log As You Go - Quick entries throughout the day
  3. Mark Wins - Flag achievements with one click
  4. End Your Day - Auto-calculates hours, optionally emails summary

Technical Details

  • Format: Standalone Windows executable (.exe)
  • Installation: None required - just run
  • Storage: Local CSV files in application directory
  • Requirements: Windows 10 or later
  • Email: Any SMTP server (optional)
  • Portability: Run from any location (desktop, USB, network drive)

Get Started

  1. Download WorkJournal.zip
  2. Extract to folder to store data
  3. Double-click to run
  4. Enter your name and company (first launch only)
  5. Start tracking

No installation. No setup wizard. Just run and go.

Licensing

Work Journal is provided as-is for personal or professional use.

CHNS is not responsible for support of this product, use at your own risk.

Release Notes

v1.1 - Feb 13, 2026

Additions

  • Lunch Timer: Now when starting lunch, it pops up a countdown timer showing how much lunch you have left
  • Break Timer: Track your break time with the new “Start Break” button. Countdown timer with estimated end time adjustment if you go over
  • Standup tab: Similar to the Meetings tab, here you can document what you plan to work on that day. Also tracks the location you are working that day and adds a journal entry when saved
  • When you save a new meeting for the first time, it now adds a journal entry with the Meeting Name and Start Time
  • On the Meetings tab, added a meeting “Type” dropdown to filter just those types of meetings
  • “Default From Date” for the Achievements tab (“Month to date”, “Quarter to date”, “Year to date”)
  • “Default From Date” for the Meetings tab (“Month to date”, “Quarter to date”, “Year to date”)
  • EnsureDefaults method: this method populates the UserSettings.xml file with any default settings if they are missing on launch. This makes upgrading an existing UserSettings.xml file possible

Fixes

  • Changed the order of the tabs so Meetings comes before Time Card
  • On Time Card tab, swapped the “Load Time Card” and “Current Pay Period” buttons
  • On Meetings tab, swapped the “Load Meetings” and “New Meeting” buttons
  • When clicking “End Day”, Backup would fail due to a variable out of scope
  • Replaced all “| Out-Null” with “[void]” and “> $null” to increase performance and follow best practices
  • Added Type Declarations to All Functions to follow best practices
  • Changed all assignments from “$PSScriptRoot” to “$script:ScriptRoot”
  • Renamed all variables with unapproved verbs to follow best practices
  • Renamed two variables to avoid conflicts with automatic variables
  • Removed three “$result” variables that weren’t used
  • Rearranged the Settings tab
  • Renamed “Pay Period” settings to “Time Card”
  • Changed expected lunch duration to minutes instead of time
  • Removed End Lunch button from Today tab

v1.0 - Feb 5, 2026

Core Journaling

  • Submit journal entries with timestamps (Ctrl+Enter shortcut)
  • Mark entries as achievements with checkbox
  • Ticket number tracking with configurable URL templates
  • Real-time entry statistics (total entries, achievements, work duration, estimated end time)

Time Tracking

  • Start/End Day buttons with automatic timestamping
  • Lunch break tracking (Start Lunch / End Lunch)
  • Off-hours work tracking with separate session logging
  • Automatic start time detection (optional)
  • Work duration calculation (excludes lunch time)
  • Estimated end time based on expected hours

Journal Tab

  • View all entries for any selected date
  • Entry count and achievement statistics
  • Export journal to HTML
  • Email journal entries with custom recipients

Achievements Tab

  • Filter achievements by date range
  • Search achievements by text or ticket number
  • Statistics: Total, This Week, This Month
  • Export achievements to HTML
  • Email achievements report

Time Card Tab

  • Daily breakdown table (date, times, hours, notes)
  • Separate regular hours and off-hours tracking
  • Pay period support (Monthly or Bi-Weekly)
  • “Current Pay Period” quick-load button
  • Export time card to HTML
  • Email time card report
  • In-progress day indicator

Meetings Tab

  • Create/edit meeting notes with structured format
  • Meeting metadata: Title, Date/Time, Attendees, Type
  • Four content sections: Agenda, Notes, Action Items, Decisions
  • Markdown storage with YAML frontmatter
  • Filter meetings by date range
  • Search meetings by title, attendees, or content
  • Preview cards with quick access
  • Export meetings to HTML
  • Email meetings report
  • “Save & Email” option

Email Features

  • End-of-day summary emails with work statistics
  • Off-hours session summary emails (automatic)
  • Custom recipient selection per email (To/CC override)
  • Default email settings with optional override
  • HTML-formatted emails with user/company headers
  • Clickable ticket links in emails

Settings & Configuration

  • User name and company name
  • Work start time and expected duration
  • Expected lunch duration
  • Automatic start time (optional)
  • Email configuration (To, CC, From, SMTP Server)
  • Summary email toggle
  • Backup retention (keep last N backups)
  • Ticket system URL template
  • Pay period type (Monthly day or Bi-Weekly cycle)
  • Customizable meeting types (comma-separated)

Data Management

  • CSV storage with monthly files
  • Automatic daily backups on end-of-day
  • Configurable backup pruning
  • Markdown storage for meetings
  • Entry caching for performance (2-second cache)

User Experience

  • Multi-tab interface (Today, Journal, Achievements, Time Card, Meetings, Settings)
  • User info prompt on first launch
  • Real-time statistics updates (30-second refresh)
  • Search functionality with clear buttons
  • Date range pickers with intelligent defaults
  • Export to HTML with optional file open
  • STA mode enforcement for WPF compatibility