Professional PHP Development Blog

After trying out MyIntervals for a while, I think I am going back to Basecamp for my project management solution.

Why?

I really liked the time tracking/time management that MyIntervals offered, but there are several areas where I feel it didn’t meet my needs as well as Basecamp did.

While MyIntervals might be a terrific solution for some web developers, it has some features I didn’t need that only added to the complexity, and it was a lot weaker in terms of communication between me and my clients, an area that Basecamp is particularly strong in.

I’m going to really miss some of the time management functionality that MyIntervals provided, but there are a few add-ons to Basecamp that I believe will help close the gap in that area between the two solutions. In particular, Project Recon is one that I will definitely be trying out. I might also try some of the other solutions listed here in the near future, as they have several interesting ones listed there.

Project management software! If you aren’t using it now, you’re likely not being as productive as you otherwise might be.

I have, in the past, used Basecamp to manage my projects (in conjunction with Blinksale). Recently, however, I have been wanting something a little different, so after eying it for a few weeks, I finally set up a trial account with MyIntervals this morning (both software packages offer a free trial).

Pros? Cons?

Well, they each have their strengths, I suppose.

Basecamp is stronger on the communication side of things (with “Writeboards”, Messages, and even chat software integrated). They also pride themselves on the simplicity of their software, and in my experience, clients rarely have any trouble learning how it works. It doesn’t have any invoicing functionality, but I have made up for that deficiency by integrating it with Blinksale.

MyIntervals, on the other hand, is stronger on time management. It has detailed time tracking and reporting interfaces, as well as invoicing functionality, and has a good many more features then Basecamp has.

It’s just been one day, but so far, I am really liking MyIntervals, and their emphasis on time management/tracking, so I will most likely be staying with them.

Although this is not necessarily related to PHP development, the subject of time management and productivity is one that affects everyone. In my experience, those of us who work fulltime online (doing site development, internet marketing, or related work) often make poor use of our time.

The nature of the work is that it often exposes us to many distractions, ranging from email (always log out of email when you’re working!) to chat (same here…) to an interesting link you happen to stumble upon.

Although I have read many productivity and time management books through the years, many of which were helpful, there are a few things that are unique to fulltime web professionals, a group that none of the books I read specifically targeted.

However, late yesterday afternoon, I got an email with a link to a half-hour video put out by Eben at Guru MasterMind titled Becoming a Productive Modern Guru, which had some very helpful advice.

If you have read or studied the subject in the past, you will likely hear some familiar techniques, but if you take the time to watch it, you will hopefully pick up some new “tools” to improve your productivity.