Why is my activity level low?

If your daily activity level is different from that of an individual screenshot interval, that’s normal and as they are calculated differently. This article explains what WebWork measures, how it calculates activity over the course of a day, and why the number you see on a screenshot may look different from your daily total.

What WebWork Measures

Activity Level is based on three types of computer input:

• Keyboard strokes
• Mouse clicks
• Scroll wheel actions

WebWork counts the total number of these actions during tracked time and uses them to calculate an activity percentage. Time spent on a task that doesn’t involve any of these inputs (such as reading, listening to audio, or being on a call) will register little to no activity, even if the work itself is meaningful.

For a full breakdown of how the calculation works, see How does WebWork calculate activity levels?

Why Your Daily % Can Look Different from Your Screenshot %

This is the most common source of confusion. A member might see 100% on their daily activity report but notice individual screenshots showing much lower percentages, or the other way around. Both numbers can be correct at the same time as they measure activity differently.

Per-screenshot %

Each screenshot in WebWork represents a 10-minute interval (can vary depending on the set frequency of screenshots). The activity percentage shown on that screenshot reflects only what happened during those minutes. The activity measuring formula is applied to just that interval’s actions and time.

Daily %

The daily activity percentage is not an average of the individual screenshot percentages. Instead, WebWork takes all of the day’s actions and all of the day’s tracked minutes and runs the formula once across the combined totals.

This means a period of intense activity early in the day can significantly raise the daily figure, even if later intervals look quiet on their own.

Example

Say a member tracks 30 minutes across three intervals, and the workspace is set to Normal sensitivity (normative value: 50 actions per minute):

Looking at the screenshots, two of the three intervals show low activity — 20% and 10%. It’s easy to assume the day was largely inactive.

But to calculate daily activity, WebWork pools all the actions and all the minutes together:

    5,150 total actions ÷ 30 minutes = 171 actions/min

    171 ÷ 50 (normative) × 100 = 342% → capped at 100%

The daily report shows 100% because the intense activity in interval 1 is heavy enough to bring the combined total well above the normative threshold.

To put it shortly, the screenshot percentages answer the question: “How active was this person during this specific 10-minute slice?” The daily percentage answers: “How active was this person across their full tracked day?”

Other Reasons Activity Level May Look Low

Activity Sensitivity is set to Strict

If the workspace is using Strict sensitivity (normative: 100 actions/min), the bar for reaching high activity percentages is much higher. A member who would show 80% on Normal might show 40% on Strict. Check your current sensitivity setting in Settings > Activity Level.

The work involves low-input tasks

Reading, reviewing documents, attending calls, or thinking through a problem generate little or no keyboard and mouse input. Activity Level will naturally be lower for these kinds of tasks, which doesn’t necessarily reflect low engagement or effort.

Inactive intervals are being included in the view

If a member leaves their timer running during a break or meeting, those minutes will be included in the calculation. Active time and inactive time are both counted, which can lower the overall percentage. Members should pause the tracker when stepping away or you can set the tracker to stop after a certain period of inactivity in Settings > Tracking.