Learn how to add manual time to your work diary, when to use it, and how time zones and diary lock times affect your logged hours.
In this article
- What is manual time and why would I need to add it to my work diary?
- How do I add manual time?
- How do time zones and work diary lock times work?
What is manual time and why would I need to add it to my work diary?
Sometimes, your work isn’t trackable with the Upwork Desktop App's Time Tracker — like phone calls, paper sketches, file transfers, or anything that happens offline. That’s where manual time comes in.
If you and your client agree that logging hours manually makes sense, you can use this feature to track and bill that time. Just make sure your client has manual time enabled on the contract first — they can turn it on or off anytime, so it's always a good idea to check in with them before adding hours.
Heads-up! Manual time isn't covered by Hourly Protection. So before you log it, be sure your client’s on board and you trust them to pay you.
How do I add manual time?
From your computer:
- Go to your work diary
- Select the contract from the dropdown menu
- Choose the day you want to log time for, then click Add manual time
- Enter the time range, write a quick description of the work, and hit Save
From the desktop app:
- Open the Upwork Desktop App and select your contract
- Click Add manual time
- Choose the date and time, write a short work summary, and click Save
Important to remember:
- You can only add manual time for open billing periods and for time slots where you haven’t already tracked time
- Once the work diary locks, you can't edit it
- Manual time can't be added to paused contracts
How do time zones and work diary lock times work?
Here’s the key thing to know: the work diary runs on UTC time by default, even if you're working in a different time zone.
- You can switch the view to your own time zone to make tracking easier
- But the lock time always follows UTC — it happens at 12:00 am Monday UTC, no matter where you are in the world
Example 1:
You log time on Sunday, Dec 1, from 9:00 to 10:00 pm your time, but in UTC that’s already Monday, Dec 2, 1:00 to 2:00 am — so it counts for the new week.
Example 2:
You log time on Monday, Dec 2, from 12:00 to 1:00 am your time, but in UTC that’s still Sunday, Dec 1, 10:00 to 11:00 pm — so it counts for the previous week.