Stray Work — Track Everything Honestly

The problem

Sometimes you help a colleague on a project you're not allocated to. Sometimes a client calls with an urgent fix. Traditional tools punish honesty: no allocation = no tracking. So people lie, logging time to the wrong project. The PM gets clean data that's fiction.

PayMe takes the opposite approach: track first, sort out later.

How it works

You can track time on ANY project. If you don't have an allocation, the system creates a provisional one behind the scenes. Your timer starts instantly — no forms, no approval, no waiting.

What you see

• Timer: Looks almost normal. A subtle dashed border and compass icon (🧭) indicate you're exploring.
• Score: Stray work counts toward your daily score. Tracked work is tracked work.
• Timeline: Stray entries appear with a compass icon and slightly transparent background.

What your PM sees

• A daily digest notification: "3 members explored new projects."
• A review panel where they can accept (creates a real allocation) or dismiss.
• Budget reports exclude provisional work until the PM accepts it.

Starting a stray timer

1. Open the timer picker
2. Choose any project — even one you're not allocated to
3. Describe what you're working on
4. Tap Start

The system handles everything else.

Quick logging stray work

If you forgot to start a timer, you can quick-log stray work after the fact:

1. From the home screen, tap "Quick log"
2. Pick the project
3. Enter the duration and describe the work
4. Done — the entry is logged with a stray flag

PM notification flow

When a member starts a stray timer, the system notifies the PM:

• Immediate — a Telegram message to the project's PM: "[Member] started tracking on [Project] (no allocation)."
• Daily digest — at end of day, a summary: "3 members explored new projects today" with a link to the review panel.
• Weekly rollup — unreviewed stray entries appear in the weekly team report.

PMs can tap the Telegram notification to jump directly to the review panel.

PM review

PMs review stray work from the team page → Stray work tab. Entries are grouped by project and member. For each stray entry, they can:

• Accept — converts the provisional allocation to a real one. The PM sets a budget for the new allocation. Logged hours are immediately included in project reports.
• Accept all — batch-accept all stray entries from the same member on the same project.
• Dismiss — leaves the entry as-is with zero budget. The logged hours remain (data is never deleted) but don't count toward project budget consumption.

Accepted allocations appear in the normal allocation list. The member sees their stray entries lose the compass icon and become regular logged work.

FAQ

Does stray work affect the project budget? Not until the PM accepts it. Stray entries are real logged hours, but provisional allocations have zero budget. Budget reports exclude them.

Can I be penalized for logging stray work? No. Honest tracking is always better than fiction. The system is designed to make the honest path easier than the dishonest one.

Related

• How the Planner Works — rocks, water, and how the agenda is built
• Budget Model — the four-level budget hierarchy
• Key Concepts — the mental model behind PayMe
• Smart Attribution — how PayMe suggests the right project when logging
• Timer & Budget Awareness — budget colors and flow state on the timer