Investigate an idle gap without guessing what happened
Separate device inactivity from the meaning of a work record.
Treat an idle interval as a signal about the collector, not a conclusion about the person. Check what the software measures, then ask what happened before changing a work record.
Find the boundary of the measurement
A tool can observe certain device events but cannot see every kind of work. DeskTime describes gaps when tracking is inactive and manual ways to represent offline work. The relevant question is whether the outgoing record needs an explained duration, not whether a chart looks continuously active. Do not use a low activity signal by itself to infer misconduct or lack of work.
Investigate one interval at a time
Note the contributor, date, displayed zone, device and exact interval. Ask whether the collector was running and whether the person was using the expected account. Then ask the contributor whether the interval was offline work, a break, a collector problem or something unresolved. Preserve the original interval before any correction. Avoid collecting unrelated browsing or personal information to explain a small timing discrepancy.
Choose a record action, not a person label
For a fictional 10:00–10:20 gap, a confirmed off-device call can become a separately described manual entry under the agreed review process. A collector outage may need a marked fallback entry. A disputed interval remains unresolved. These actions explain the data’s provenance; they do not establish whether time is legally payable or whether performance was acceptable.
Prevent the same confusion next week
If gaps repeatedly arise during meetings, improve the capture instructions or choose a method that better fits off-device work. If the issue is a device configuration, resolve it through the authorized support process and retest with fictional activity. Do not lower a threshold or enable broader monitoring simply to remove blank areas from a dashboard.
Continue this work-record check
Use the linked guide for the next decision in this workflow. Keep your original records separate from experiments and record any unresolved requirement before changing a live process.
Sources and boundaries
Primary documentation supports the dated product facts. Proposed checks and fictional examples are our editorial method, not observed product results.
- DeskTime — manual · checked September 23, 2026