The stopwatch

The stopwatch shows what you’re timing and lets you stop or switch it without Grindstone’s window. This topic covers Grindstone Stopwatch on Windows, when it appears, and its settings. On a Mac, the stopwatch is Grindstone’s item in the menu bar; see On the Mac.

Grindstone Stopwatch

On Windows, the stopwatch is a slim bar named Grindstone Stopwatch that stays on top of your other windows. It’s there only while a workspace is open, and by default it appears when you’ve been working in other apps for a little while (see When it appears).

From left to right, it shows:

• The Grindstone logo when nothing is being timed, or a moving timing indicator while you time.
• The readout and the label while you time, or Not timing when you aren’t.
• A bell, when there’s an alert you haven’t seen (see Alerts).
• Switch, to pick something else to time.
• Stop Timing, while you time.
• Open Grindstone, to bring Grindstone’s window forward.

When the readout looks like a number or a time, the stopwatch draws it in digital-clock digits. When the readout or label has no value, it shows a faded icon; point at the icon to see None. When the formula can’t be worked out, it shows a caution icon; point at it to see why.

When it appears

Show the stopwatch in Settings decides when the stopwatch is on screen:

• Never: the stopwatch doesn’t appear.
• When Grindstone is in the background (the default): the stopwatch appears once another app has been in front of Grindstone for Seconds in the background, and goes away when you bring Grindstone’s window to the front. Minimizing Grindstone’s window shows it right away.
• Always: the stopwatch stays on screen, even while you’re working in Grindstone.

One exception: when you come back from being away and haven’t told Grindstone what happened, the stopwatch appears right away to ask, unless Show the stopwatch is Never or Grindstone’s window is already in front (see Welcome Back on the stopwatch).

Choosing the readout and label

Click the readout or the label to choose another from the ones in your workspace. Your choice is the same one the app bar uses. To add or change readouts and labels, choose Timing Formulas in the main menu; see Timing readout and label.

Switching from the stopwatch

Switch opens the same picker as Ctrl+K in Grindstone’s window: search, choose the view to switch from, then Start, Change or Create Work Item. See Timing your work.

Create Work Item brings Grindstone’s window forward so you can fill in the new work item. When you’re done, Grindstone puts things back as they were: if its window was hidden or minimized, it goes back; if another app was in front, that app comes back to the front.

Alerts

When a status or a view raises an alert while Grindstone’s window isn’t in front, Grindstone shows it as a Windows notification, and the stopwatch shows a softly flashing bell. Point at the bell to read the alert. Click it to open Grindstone; for an alert from a view, Grindstone opens that view.

The bell goes away when you click it or bring Grindstone’s window to the front. For when statuses and views alert, see Statuses and alerts and Views.

Welcome Back on the stopwatch

When you come back from being away and Grindstone has a question about it, the stopwatch shows a waving hand and Welcome back! Tell Grindstone what happened. Unless you’ve turned off animations in Windows, it gives itself a little shake every few seconds to catch your eye.

Click it to bring Grindstone’s window forward, where Welcome Back is waiting. See When you step away.

Moving and sizing

The first time it appears, the stopwatch sits along the top edge of the screen Grindstone is on, toward the right.

• Drag any part of the stopwatch that isn’t a button to move it.
• Drag its left or right edge to make it wider or narrower. Its height doesn’t change.
• Double-click any part that isn’t a button to bring Grindstone’s window forward.

Grindstone remembers where you put the stopwatch for each arrangement of displays you use, and puts it back there the next time you have that arrangement. The stopwatch stays within your screens’ work areas, clear of the taskbar.

The stopwatch can’t be minimized or maximized, and it isn’t listed on the taskbar or in Alt+Tab.

Hiding the stopwatch

The stopwatch has no close button. Show the stopwatch decides when it’s on screen (see When it appears). To keep it from appearing at all, set Show the stopwatch to Never.

Stopwatch settings

The Stopwatch tab of Settings has:

Like every setting, these belong to the device, not the workspace. See Settings.

On the Mac

On a Mac, the stopwatch is Grindstone’s item in the menu bar instead of a bar of its own. Show the stopwatch and Seconds in the background work the same way.

• Show the stopwatch set to Never keeps the item out of the menu bar.
• Otherwise the item appears in the menu bar once you open a workspace. While you time, whenever Show the stopwatch calls for the stopwatch to appear (see When it appears), the item widens to show the readout and the first line of the label beside the Grindstone logo; the rest of the time it shows just the logo. Point at it to see the label.
• Click it for a menu with the label, Stop Timing (or Not timing), Switch, Readout and Label submenus for choosing them, and Open Grindstone.
• Switch opens the same picker, below the menu bar item.
• An alert you haven’t seen changes the item’s icon and adds the alert to the top of the menu; choose it to open Grindstone.
• When Grindstone has a question about time you were away, the icon changes and the menu starts with Tell Grindstone What Happened While You Were Away, which opens Grindstone.