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Therapy would take away productive time :) I did actually use my own custom built productivity tools to block websites[0], and I used ActivityWatch[1] to track

Therapy would take away productive time :) I did actually use my own custom built productivity tools to block websites[0], and I used ActivityWatch[1] to track my time. [0] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/webblock/jeahkphmdfbddenabgndnooheiciocka https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/webblock/jeahkphmd... [1] https://activitywatch.net/ https://activitywatch.net/

sam1r 4y ago
Did you ever consider building your own custom tools? Or based on the ones custom you described aforementioned, which features or tools do you wish you had on top of it? Just curious, and I respect the setup thus far.
- sberens 4y ago
  Yeah I built that chrome extension I linked (WebBlock). ActivityWatch is great for single device tracking, but I wish there was a tool for multi-device tracking and also away-from-device tracking (tracking gym, sleep, etc...) that integrated all of the data into one place and made it easily accessible. My use case is pretty niche though :/
  - fragmede 4y ago
    Have you considered a Fitbit or similar device?
    - nebulousthree 4y ago
      The post shows data collected from a fitbit regarding sleep quality
philosopher1234 4y ago
> Therapy would take away productive time :) 1 hr a week for most people. Give up 1 of your 100 unproductive hours instead lol.
viraptor 4y ago
> Therapy would take away productive time :) I'm not sure if that's a joke, or not. But if you sincerely mean it - I put it away for years and now I feel like an idiot for wasting a lot of my time fighting rather than actually addressing my issues. This would've been the most productive time investment I could've done a decade earlier.
- theonething 4y ago
  On the other hand, I've seen a handful of therapists, three of them for longer than six months and really, they've done zilch for me. A waste of money in hindsight. Reading helpful books and really applying the good ones (for me) has helped me more while costing way less, aka bibliotherapy [1] That's great that therapy worked so well for you, but don't make it out to be a panacea for everyone. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5788928/#:~:text=Bibliotherapy%20has%20been%20found%20to,mental%20health%20problems%20among%20adults.&text=Gould%20and%20Clum32%20reviewed,for%20three%20depression%20bibliotherapy%20studies https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5788928/#:~:tex...
  - blackshaw 4y ago
    > Reading helpful books and really applying the good ones (for me) has helped me Which books do you recommend?
    - pitched 4y ago
      From the article linked: > The most common books used were Feeling Good and Helping Your Anxious Child: A Step by Step Guide.
  - Apocryphon 4y ago
    It’s not a panacea but it’s probably worth at least trying before dismissing it out of hand. Much like going to see any doctor.
    - dyno12345 4y ago
chrisandchris 4y ago
I think, it's quite obvious where the "productivity" goes: > In the morning session, I did yoga, went to the gym, started two blog posts, and did some work for my job. If it's the 5th you mention, it's just not that important?
- sberens 4y ago
  My desire to increase my productivity was not solely (or largely) driven by doing better at my job; I find it's relatively easy to be productive if you go into the office. I mainly wanted to get a lot of side projects/hobbies done.
  - safety1st 4y ago
    I'll just leave this here - when remote/junior contractors have a focus issue we simply require them to use software which screenshots their desktop at random intervals during work hours. This usually revolves the issue, if it doesn't, we start actually looking at the screenshots from time to time and providing feedback. It's a cheap and simple solution to the problem of people spending half their work hours puttering around on Twitter etc.
    - bigbillheck 4y ago
      > we simply require them to use software which screenshots their desktop at random intervals during work hours What a horrible thing to do.
      - chrisandchris 4y ago
        I'm all against employee surveillance but I actually would take part in that for several reasons: - It's business devices, so there should be no private stuff in any of the screenshots. - It's screenshots, so it's just a point-in-time. There's no way to determine how long a sequence was. For both sides. - The rule seems to be that it should just set boundaries. There's no proactive monitoring. They only seem to look at the screenshots if productivity does not raise. Obviously, lower intervalls may be problematic. If there are maybe 15-30 screenshots a day, I don't see any issue (for me).
hutzlibu 4y ago
While working out your data, have you considered, that you were basically doing a long sprint? Meaning, I am pretty sure, your effective productivity would have declined after the month, with assistants, or not. And that you got Covid, might be a clear sign of that.
SanjayMehta 4y ago
Yoga takes away "productive time" too.
- dymk 4y ago
  So does eating and sleeping

sam1r 4y ago

Did you ever consider building your own custom tools? Or based on the ones custom you described aforementioned, which features or tools do you wish you had on top of it? Just curious, and I respect the setup thus far.

sberens 4y ago
Yeah I built that chrome extension I linked (WebBlock). ActivityWatch is great for single device tracking, but I wish there was a tool for multi-device tracking and also away-from-device tracking (tracking gym, sleep, etc...) that integrated all of the data into one place and made it easily accessible. My use case is pretty niche though :/
- fragmede 4y ago
  Have you considered a Fitbit or similar device?
  - nebulousthree 4y ago
    The post shows data collected from a fitbit regarding sleep quality

philosopher1234 4y ago

> Therapy would take away productive time :) 1 hr a week for most people. Give up 1 of your 100 unproductive hours instead lol.

viraptor 4y ago

> Therapy would take away productive time :) I'm not sure if that's a joke, or not. But if you sincerely mean it - I put it away for years and now I feel like an idiot for wasting a lot of my time fighting rather than actually addressing my issues. This would've been the most productive time investment I could've done a decade earlier.

theonething 4y ago
On the other hand, I've seen a handful of therapists, three of them for longer than six months and really, they've done zilch for me. A waste of money in hindsight. Reading helpful books and really applying the good ones (for me) has helped me more while costing way less, aka bibliotherapy [1] That's great that therapy worked so well for you, but don't make it out to be a panacea for everyone. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5788928/#:~:text=Bibliotherapy%20has%20been%20found%20to,mental%20health%20problems%20among%20adults.&text=Gould%20and%20Clum32%20reviewed,for%20three%20depression%20bibliotherapy%20studies https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5788928/#:~:tex...
- blackshaw 4y ago
  > Reading helpful books and really applying the good ones (for me) has helped me Which books do you recommend?
  - pitched 4y ago
    From the article linked: > The most common books used were Feeling Good and Helping Your Anxious Child: A Step by Step Guide.
- Apocryphon 4y ago
  It’s not a panacea but it’s probably worth at least trying before dismissing it out of hand. Much like going to see any doctor.
  - dyno12345 4y ago

chrisandchris 4y ago

I think, it's quite obvious where the "productivity" goes: > In the morning session, I did yoga, went to the gym, started two blog posts, and did some work for my job. If it's the 5th you mention, it's just not that important?

sberens 4y ago
My desire to increase my productivity was not solely (or largely) driven by doing better at my job; I find it's relatively easy to be productive if you go into the office. I mainly wanted to get a lot of side projects/hobbies done.
- safety1st 4y ago
  I'll just leave this here - when remote/junior contractors have a focus issue we simply require them to use software which screenshots their desktop at random intervals during work hours. This usually revolves the issue, if it doesn't, we start actually looking at the screenshots from time to time and providing feedback. It's a cheap and simple solution to the problem of people spending half their work hours puttering around on Twitter etc.
  - bigbillheck 4y ago
    > we simply require them to use software which screenshots their desktop at random intervals during work hours What a horrible thing to do.
    - chrisandchris 4y ago
      I'm all against employee surveillance but I actually would take part in that for several reasons: - It's business devices, so there should be no private stuff in any of the screenshots. - It's screenshots, so it's just a point-in-time. There's no way to determine how long a sequence was. For both sides. - The rule seems to be that it should just set boundaries. There's no proactive monitoring. They only seem to look at the screenshots if productivity does not raise. Obviously, lower intervalls may be problematic. If there are maybe 15-30 screenshots a day, I don't see any issue (for me).

hutzlibu 4y ago

While working out your data, have you considered, that you were basically doing a long sprint? Meaning, I am pretty sure, your effective productivity would have declined after the month, with assistants, or not. And that you got Covid, might be a clear sign of that.

SanjayMehta 4y ago

Yoga takes away "productive time" too.

dymk 4y ago
So does eating and sleeping