Clocking, effort, and reports

Every CLOCK line is an event interval; reports only aggregate the intervals you actually recorded.

Clocking records time beneath a heading. Use C-c C-x C-i (org-clock-in) and C-c C-x C-o (org-clock-out). C-c C-x C-j jumps to the active clock; C-c C-x C-r inserts a clock report.

* DONE Diagnose database latency
:PROPERTIES:
:EFFORT: 1:30
:END:
:LOGBOOK:
CLOCK: [2026-09-01 Tue 09:10]--[2026-09-01 Tue 10:25] =>  1:15
:END:

Clock history lets you resume recent tasks. Idle-time resolution can ask what to do with time when Emacs detects inactivity; customize org-clock-idle-time only after you understand its prompts.

Dynamic clock tables

A clock table summarizes a scope you define:

#+BEGIN: clocktable :scope subtree :maxlevel 3 :block thisweek
#+END:

Place point on #+BEGIN and press C-c C-c to update it. Consultants can group by a client property; students by course; developers by project; writers by chapter.

Clock data as an event log

Each CLOCK line is an event interval, and reports aggregate those intervals by outline structure. If a task moves between projects, its historical clocks move with it. Decide whether that matches your reporting needs. If client billing needs immutable assignment, store a :CLIENT: property on the task and preserve snapshots in released reports.

Effort is an estimate, not a budget

EFFORT is a forecast, not an enforcement mechanism. Compare EFFORT with CLOCKSUM to calibrate future planning. Do not retroactively edit estimates to make past performance look accurate.

An incident report shows the pattern in practice: inactive timestamps in a Timeline preserve history without flooding the Agenda, while a real follow-up TODO with a deadline does appear.

* DONE Restore image service
:PROPERTIES:
:SERVICE: images
:SEVERITY: SEV2
:EFFORT: 2:00
:END:
:LOGBOOK:
CLOCK: [2026-09-01 Tue 14:07]--[2026-09-01 Tue 15:42] =>  1:35
:END:
** Timeline
- [2026-09-01 Tue 14:07] Alert received.
- [2026-09-01 Tue 14:18] Disk saturation confirmed.
** Follow-up
*** TODO Add saturation test
DEADLINE: <2026-09-08 Tue>

Honest reporting

Reports remain only as honest as the clocking behavior. If minute-level recording interrupts the work it measures, use coarse categories. A habit's consistency graph, likewise, visualizes scheduled history, not motivation or health; archive a habit once the measurement no longer changes behavior.

Summary. Clock in and out to record time beneath a heading, compare EFFORT estimates against real CLOCKSUM, and summarize scopes with dynamic clock tables. The reports stay only as honest as the clocking behavior behind them.