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Tangent: I also want a coach & nudge app. I have chemobrain (and other stuff, TMI). So my mind wanders. I need nudges to get back on track. Like a reverse pomo

Tangent: I also want a coach & nudge app. I have chemobrain (and other stuff, TMI). So my mind wanders. I need nudges to get back on track. Like a reverse pomodomo. I used to have a remarkable internal clock (always know time of day, track elapsed time, without looking at watch). Well, no more. Example 1: An inactivity timer. Like the builtin reminder to standup and stretch. Once or twice a day, I just have to sit down. I'll pop some pain pills then veg until they kick in (30-45 min). I never remember to set a timer, alarm. I want my phone to notice I've been vegging for an hour and remind me to start moving. Example 2: Time to stop. I'll start doing a mindless task, usually physical. Like weeding or picking up litter. It's super gratifying. But then I'll overdo it. I want my phone to notice I've been stuck on the same task for too long.

vnxli 6y ago
This is overkill for your example 1, but the apple watch has an inactivity tracker. It reminds you to get up and stand for a minute every hour if it notices you aren't moving. I've found it useful when I'm sitting around or working at a computer for long stretches. For your time to stop alert, the only thing I've found that helps is throwing everything on my outlook calendar - it gives alerts 15 minutes in advance of the appointment and that's enough to make me realize that some task is coming up and I need to prepare for it. I don't think I've seen an app per se that does exactly what you want
- Jarwain 6y ago
  Possibly less overkill, I have a Garmin Vivosmart that has the same inactivity feature.
- specialist 6y ago
  Thank you. I'm doing something wrong. I've dug thru all the settings, yup everything's enabled, and I don't ever recall getting a notification to stand up. I'll keep digging.
gsmo 6y ago
Though a bit narrow, I have found desktop (menubar) timers with ticking in the background to help a lot. As a matter of fact, I see mine counting down from the 5 min I allocated to check out YC and I can hear the ticking. What has surprised me most is that I haven't yet developed the ability to tune it out - so I always hear it. It also acts like a metronome and I believe it makes me work a bit faster.
- anoojb 6y ago
  Would you mind sharing what app you use?
  - gsmo 6y ago
    You bet: It's called Timey 3. I got it off the ios app store. $3 USD! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timey-3-menu-bar-timer/id1421143542?mt=12 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timey-3-menu-bar-timer/id14211...
    - specialist 6y ago
      Thank you! A talking clock hadn't occurred to me. Sounds obvious now that you've suggested it. I was all but certain that Apple's assistive technology stuff had these kinds of features, but now can't find any clues. Eager to try out your solution.
whelton 6y ago
May or may not be of interest, but I’ve been working on a platform for behavior management. It’s data, graph and rules based, which you define habits and objectives on top of (along with your reminders and likes). It has time tracking baked in (one of several data types). Web and app, API coming shortly along with Zapier support. Site is https://conjure.so https://conjure.so with most progress updates and screenshots being posted on Twitter https://twitter.com/ConjureSo https://twitter.com/ConjureSo
- specialist 6y ago
  Will mosdef check out. Thank you. Meanwhile, FWIW, started monkeying with Siri Shortcuts. Now have voice transcription logger thingie, intending to keep a better daily journal. Now trying to figure out how to lash up Streaks.app reminders with Health.app's blood pressure data. (I know, I should just upgrade to a bluetooth enabled cuff. But I'm stubborn.) I mention Shortcuts because I'm hoping it proves useful for the quantified self stuff.
  - prawn 6y ago
    Have you tried timed tasks in Streaks for those chores you only want to do for a specific amount of time?
Abishek_Muthian 6y ago
>I never remember to set a timer, alarm. I want my phone to notice I've been vegging for an hour and remind me to start moving. I built a 'Butt Pomodoro - A butt triggered pomodoro timer' to solve this problem[1], it gets triggered when I sit and reminds me to move after a scheduled interval, reminds me to get back after an interval and also reminds me take a long break after consecutive sessions. It's very easy to build, just by changing the schedules it can do what you ask for. [1]https://abishekmuthian.com/butt-pomodoro-a-butt-triggered-pomodoro-timer/ https://abishekmuthian.com/butt-pomodoro-a-butt-triggered-po...
spiffytech 6y ago
You might look at TagTime (http://tagti.me http://tagti.me). It periodically asks you what you're working on right now, for time-tracking purposes. That periodic nudge to actually think about what you're doing and whether it's what you want to be doing could be what you need to keep yourself on track.

vnxli 6y ago

This is overkill for your example 1, but the apple watch has an inactivity tracker. It reminds you to get up and stand for a minute every hour if it notices you aren't moving. I've found it useful when I'm sitting around or working at a computer for long stretches. For your time to stop alert, the only thing I've found that helps is throwing everything on my outlook calendar - it gives alerts 15 minutes in advance of the appointment and that's enough to make me realize that some task is coming up and I need to prepare for it. I don't think I've seen an app per se that does exactly what you want

Jarwain 6y ago
Possibly less overkill, I have a Garmin Vivosmart that has the same inactivity feature.
specialist 6y ago
Thank you. I'm doing something wrong. I've dug thru all the settings, yup everything's enabled, and I don't ever recall getting a notification to stand up. I'll keep digging.

gsmo 6y ago

Though a bit narrow, I have found desktop (menubar) timers with ticking in the background to help a lot. As a matter of fact, I see mine counting down from the 5 min I allocated to check out YC and I can hear the ticking. What has surprised me most is that I haven't yet developed the ability to tune it out - so I always hear it. It also acts like a metronome and I believe it makes me work a bit faster.

anoojb 6y ago
Would you mind sharing what app you use?
- gsmo 6y ago
  You bet: It's called Timey 3. I got it off the ios app store. $3 USD! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timey-3-menu-bar-timer/id1421143542?mt=12 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timey-3-menu-bar-timer/id14211...
  - specialist 6y ago
    Thank you! A talking clock hadn't occurred to me. Sounds obvious now that you've suggested it. I was all but certain that Apple's assistive technology stuff had these kinds of features, but now can't find any clues. Eager to try out your solution.

whelton 6y ago

May or may not be of interest, but I’ve been working on a platform for behavior management. It’s data, graph and rules based, which you define habits and objectives on top of (along with your reminders and likes). It has time tracking baked in (one of several data types). Web and app, API coming shortly along with Zapier support. Site is https://conjure.so https://conjure.so with most progress updates and screenshots being posted on Twitter https://twitter.com/ConjureSo https://twitter.com/ConjureSo

specialist 6y ago
Will mosdef check out. Thank you. Meanwhile, FWIW, started monkeying with Siri Shortcuts. Now have voice transcription logger thingie, intending to keep a better daily journal. Now trying to figure out how to lash up Streaks.app reminders with Health.app's blood pressure data. (I know, I should just upgrade to a bluetooth enabled cuff. But I'm stubborn.) I mention Shortcuts because I'm hoping it proves useful for the quantified self stuff.
- prawn 6y ago
  Have you tried timed tasks in Streaks for those chores you only want to do for a specific amount of time?

Abishek_Muthian 6y ago

>I never remember to set a timer, alarm. I want my phone to notice I've been vegging for an hour and remind me to start moving. I built a 'Butt Pomodoro - A butt triggered pomodoro timer' to solve this problem[1], it gets triggered when I sit and reminds me to move after a scheduled interval, reminds me to get back after an interval and also reminds me take a long break after consecutive sessions. It's very easy to build, just by changing the schedules it can do what you ask for. [1]https://abishekmuthian.com/butt-pomodoro-a-butt-triggered-pomodoro-timer/ https://abishekmuthian.com/butt-pomodoro-a-butt-triggered-po...

spiffytech 6y ago

You might look at TagTime (http://tagti.me http://tagti.me). It periodically asks you what you're working on right now, for time-tracking purposes. That periodic nudge to actually think about what you're doing and whether it's what you want to be doing could be what you need to keep yourself on track.