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1

Set up

Set up an observation and choose Duration. Name each behavior and define what starts and ends an episode. There is no length: the observation keeps running until you select End.
2

Time each episode

Select Start when you begin watching. When the behavior starts, select its row, or press the key beside it. The control turns to a square and the episode timer runs. When the behavior stops, select the row again. The finished episode appears below with its length and times.
Duration recorder for Sam Sample with Off-task episode 2 running, a square stop control, and a finished 3-second episode listed below.

One episode is finished and a second is running. Shown in demo mode.

You can time several behaviors at once. Starting one doesn’t stop another, so stop each when it ends.
3

End and save

Select End and confirm. Sightline stops any episode still running at that moment. Add any final context, then save.

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Where your data appears

In Results, the Summary card shows each behavior’s total time, percent of time observed, and number of episodes. Duration Record shows every episode on a Timeline or in a Table, where you can also correct one. How the measures are calculated
Results for Casey Case on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, with a Summary card for Emotional outburst and Off-task, and Duration Record set to Table, listing four episodes with Start, End, Length, and a row menu, and Add episode above them.

Duration Record in Table view, with each episode's start, end, and length. Shown in demo mode.

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Good to know

Define the end. For out of seat, decide whether timing stops when the student is back in the seat or back at work, and write that into the definition. Pausing. Pause freezes the clock and every running episode’s timer. Resume continues the same episodes, and paused time isn’t counted. To keep two episodes separate, stop the first before you pause. Activities. With an activity selected in Results, an episode counts toward every activity it overlaps, and only its time inside that activity counts. See Results explained. Made a mistake? Outside a text field, press ⌘Z or Ctrl+Z to undo the latest start or stop. Fix times after saving in Duration Record: see Fix a mistake.