How to Track Offline Activities

RescueTime tracks what happens on your computer. Offline activity lets you log everything else, in-person meetings, phone calls, and more, so your reports reflect your full day.

You can add offline activity two ways: from the Assistant or from the Offline Activity page on the website. Both log to the same place and appear in your reports alongside your tracked computer time.

Offline activity is a Solo Focus and Solo+ feature.

From the Assistant

Adding offline time from the Assistant

The quickest way to log offline time is from the Assistant. Click the + button at the bottom of the Assistant window; it labels itself Offline Activity when hovered.

RescueTime Assistant showing Available to work until 5:00 PM, Goal: 3h on focus work with 3h to go and a progress bar, the Alerts section with morning goal reminder and focus opportunities at noon and 1pm, and at the bottom the ON toggle, a plus button, timer icon, and goals icon

Same Assistant view but with the plus button now labeled Offline Activity, showing it has been hovered

This opens the Record Offline Activity panel. Choose the date and set the time range using the time fields, then select an activity from the preset buttons.

Record Offline Activity panel showing a week calendar with Friday June 5 selected, From time 8:05 AM and Until 8:35 AM, and six activity buttons: Meeting, Phone Call, Reading, Lunch, Milo (selected with blue border), and Coffee, plus a new activity link and an Add details field with 40 character maximum and an Add Activity button

If none of the preset activities fit, click + new activity to create a custom one. Give it a name (up to 15 characters) and it will be added to your preset buttons for future use.

New Offline Activity modal overlaying the Record Offline Activity panel, showing an Activity Name input field with 15 character maximum and an Add button

Add an optional note in the Add details field (up to 40 characters), then click Add Activity.

💡 You can log offline time for any previous day. Use the week calendar at the top of the panel to switch to an earlier date.

From the Website

Adding offline time from the Offline Activity page

Go to Offline Activity in the top navigation bar. The left panel shows a timeline of your day wherein the colored bars are computer activity, and the grey gaps are unlogged time where you may have been away from your computer.

Click any grey gap to select it. This opens the What were you doing? panel on the right. Use the handles on the selected time block to adjust the start and end time, choose an activity, add optional notes, and click Save.

Offline Activity web page showing the timeline on the left with colored activity rows and a yellow selected time block from 8:50 AM to 9:05 AM, and the What were you doing panel on the right with six preset activity buttons including Meeting, Phone Call, Reading, Lunch, Milo, and Coffee, plus a new activity link, an Add details field, and a Save button

Creating a new activity type

Click + new activity in the What were you doing? panel to add a new activity type. Enter a name and click Save; it will be added to your activity buttons.

Offline Activity web page with the What were you doing panel showing a new activity name input field and an Add details field with a Save button

Automatic Prompts

Getting prompted automatically when you're away

Instead of remembering to log offline time yourself, you can have RescueTime prompt you automatically when it detects you've been away from your computer. When you return, the Assistant will pop up and ask what you were doing.

Go to Account Settings → Offline Activity to configure this.

Work Settings Offline Activity settings page showing two sections: Offline Activity Settings with a toggle for Prompt For Offline Activity Entry (currently off) and a Manage pop up trigger time period link, and Offline Activity Pop Up Options with a description and Manage pop up button choices link

Enable the prompt

Toggle on Prompt For Offline Activity Entry. Once enabled, the Assistant will automatically open and ask what you were doing after you've been away from your computer for the selected time. The default trigger is 5 minutes of inactivity.

Change the trigger timing

Click Manage pop up trigger time period to change how long RescueTime waits before prompting you. You can set any combination of hours and minutes.

Customize the activity buttons

The preset buttons that appear when logging offline time can be customized. Click Manage pop up button choices to edit the six main preset activities and add up to six additional ones. Changes apply everywhere offline activity is logged, both in the Assistant and on the website.

💡 Offline activities are tracked and categorized just like your computer activities. They show up in your reports and count toward your productivity totals. You can adjust the productivity level of any offline activity type in the Apps & Websites report, the same way you would for any app or website.