Logging work in Jira allows you to specify the amount of time (work) you have spent working on an issue. You can log work against any of the issues, provided you have the permission to do so. We will cover permissions in Chapter 10, Searching, Reporting, and Analysis.

Go through the following steps to log work against an issue:

1. Browse to the issue you wish to log work against
2. Select Log Work from the More menu
3. Enter the amount of time you wish to log. Use w, d, h, and m to specify the week, day, hour, and minute, respectively
4. Select the date you wish to log your work against
5. Optionally, select how the remaining estimate should be adjusted
6. Add a description to the work you have done
7. Optionally, select who can view the work log entry
8. Click on the Log button

When you log work on an issue, you have the option to choose how the remaining estimate value will be affected. By default, this value will be automatically calculated by subtracting the amount that has been logged from the original estimate. You can, however, choose from other options that are available, such as setting the remaining estimate to a specific value or reducing it by an amount that is different from the amount of work being logged.