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app looks clean. I dig it. Kind of unrelated to the app, but wanted to share a related thought that's been useful to me over the years in case it's useful for

app looks clean. I dig it. Kind of unrelated to the app, but wanted to share a related thought that's been useful to me over the years in case it's useful for anyone else. I have pretty strong ADHD. Pomodoro and other time tracking techniques never really worked well for me long-term because they end up being associated with a lot of anxiety and self-shame as I used them, so I tend to stop using them as negative feelings build up. Now I use them differently. I'll set the timer for 30 - 45 minutes and when it goes off I ask myself if I'm using my time in the way I intended. I try to ask it in a non-judgmental way and the answer is mostly unrelated to the process. Sometimes it's fine that I got off on a tangent; sometimes it's not. The goal is really just to be aware that time is passing and have built in moments where I'm conscious of how it's being used. When I'm consistent about it (which isn't always), I find that I'm much more aware of how I'm actually using my time, which tends to lead toward naturally using it better but again, I try to separate the awareness from the tracking and planning. I personally use a physical clock like this one but I think using a website or clock is really personal preference: https://www.amazon.com/Hexagon-Rotating-Minute-Preset-Countdown/dp/B07L2QN8MY https://www.amazon.com/Hexagon-Rotating-Minute-Preset-Countd... I like that one because I enjoy the physical feeling of rotating it. I also like that the alarm is the light blue backlight flashing, which feels less aggressive and psychologically traumatic than my phone alarm. That's also not to say pomodoro is bad for someone with adhd. I still use similar methods and I think there are techniques for being more successful with it that I wasn't employing. I just like to separate the time/task management from time awareness now and feel that it's useful for me.

dangwhy 4y ago
Love this comment. I suffer from some of the same problems and feelings. One weird thing that works me is playing reality TV in the background (love and hip hop, vanderpump ect). Seems to have really calming effect on my brain which lets me focus on work. I've realized over the years that my adhd is just suppressed anxiety in disguise and reality TV masks it.
- courseofaction 4y ago
  A cognitive psych professor of mine couldn't work without music playing to 'occupy a certain part of his brain', almost always prog rock. Didn't seem to be holding him back - sometimes a mask is a workable solution. :)
  - bee_rider 4y ago
    John Von Neumann famously preferred chaotic background noise while working. I think most of us would be happy to trade brains with him.
  - xanathar 4y ago
    I am the same. Some things (code, writing docs) I can only do them with music in the background, usually music that is either downtempo, instrumental or both (for the most part Pink Floyd, Sting, Mogwai, Morcheeba or several jazz/fusion artists). Without music it 10x harder for me to get those activities going.
    - comprev 4y ago
      Since being diagnosed and medicated it’s the total opposite for me. Before I needed some background music - electronic or hip-hop in any language but English (to avoid my brain focusing on the lyrics). Now with meds I sit in silence all day.
  - rpozarickij 4y ago
    Nowadays it's as if silence creates some type of mental pressure inside me. I found this to work really well in many different situations: https://youtu.be/P48QELwruQs https://youtu.be/P48QELwruQs
- nativeit 4y ago
  I do the same thing, although I typically put on something lightweight that I’ve seen before, like a season of Parks & Rec. It’s interesting to see someone else with this specific experience, I always used the analogy of “picking up the slack”. If I am engaging in rote work that doesn’t require much creativity or doesn’t fully engage my mind, then part of my attention tends to wander. It might not lead to total distraction, but it does produce an uneasy feeling I describe as anxiety. I always imagined that music can serve a similar function in others, but I believe that my having been a musician (and a serious one when I was younger) causes me to engage a little too deeply into whatever music is playing, so it’s a little too active for me.
fblp 4y ago
I got the same clock! but I find it hard to read the screen without the backlight. going to try it again given your comment.
disiplus 4y ago
To be honest, nothing really works for me except medications. like i have a spare smartphone that's running my pomodoro timer, but if it's a task that interests me i will blow past every 5min pause and anything else because im focused on the task that interests me on hours end, like i would program in my head while drive home, but if the task is boring that i don't want to do i can have 100 timers it would not help. like for example i have to fill a form and send it that would return me 17k in overpaid taxes i did not do it for last 4 months. there is X amount of those task that no amount of timers would help me do it. i fucking hate my adhd in that without medications im a zombie. the only thing that i can hope without medications is find interesting problems. that's also shit when you have a family because you cannot turn of, because you are dealing with the interesting problem all the time and it consumes you. my brain is great in resolving big challenges, but the worst at doing daily tasks.
- doorhammer 4y ago
  I very much relate to this (or at least parts of it; everyone's relationship with their own adhd is very specific and personal). I was medicated as a 90s kid, then went a long time without being medicated. It took awhile to get medicated again and a longer time to be okay with it as a part of my life instead of constantly trying to wean myself off of it because of lingering stigmas around medications and mental health. The timer for me is 100% in conjunction with meds and other life strategies for managing my ADHD and honestly, even then it feels crippling at times, especially since I've been laid off. Without the day-to-day structure of a job, my brain feels like a tornado in fog a lot of days. Context is another big one for me. I don't do well working from home, so if I have a remote job I rent a small office. Part of it is having "work context" and part is just the fact that I don't have a VR headset, a thousand books on random hobbies, ten unbuilt lego sets, and a shelf of books on elm, clojure, idris, or whatever random language I'm interested in that week. Anyhow, what you're saying makes a ton of sense. I feel like the timer thing just helps me specifically with even being aware of time at all, but I really find that coping mechanisms for adhd are super varied. Appreciate you contributing your own experience, though, and highlighting that it's not as simple as one or two life hacks
- mklepaczewski 4y ago
kayodelycaon 4y ago
MacOS can announce the time every 15, 30, or 60 minutes. I've used it in the past. It's kind of like a metronome for my day. I think I'll try turning it back on. :) System Settings > Control Center > Clock > Clock Options
snissn 4y ago
I’ve been getting into wearing and collecting not that expensive wrist watches as a hobby to help feel more connected and aware of time and it’s been a great and enjoyable thing for me! Along the lines of you comment
- doorhammer 4y ago
  That's a super interesting idea. Make the newness a thing you constantly rotate on purpose. It reminds me of recently thinking that my clothes are only neatly folded after I learn a new way to fold them, so maybe I should just invent one every week, lol--which feels a little less tenable than the watch idea Really cool way you're coopting the novelty like that
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
Abishek_Muthian 4y ago
Thanks for sharing. For me, The act of starting the pomodoro timer itself was the chore, I think being contextually aware of pomodoro timer was a drag to me. So I fixed that by creating a butt triggered timer which starts when I sit on my chair and reminds me to get off the chair after 25 mins and triggers the break timer when I do. The whole process is un-attended and I didn't have to be aware of the timer at all. Then I went overboard and built a game around it using WASM & what not[1] which defeated the whole purpose of me not having to be aware of the timer, So I again went back to the basics and built a new Simple Butt Mover[2] which I use regularly now with huge quality of life improvement. P.S. Congratulations to OP for the launch of their Pomodoro timer. [1] https://github.com/abishekmuthian/buttmoverWebApp https://github.com/abishekmuthian/buttmoverWebApp [2] https://github.com/abishekmuthian/simpleButtMover https://github.com/abishekmuthian/simpleButtMover
rubicon33 4y ago
I have a feeling just by the length of your post that you’re on medication too.

dangwhy 4y ago

Love this comment. I suffer from some of the same problems and feelings. One weird thing that works me is playing reality TV in the background (love and hip hop, vanderpump ect). Seems to have really calming effect on my brain which lets me focus on work. I've realized over the years that my adhd is just suppressed anxiety in disguise and reality TV masks it.

courseofaction 4y ago
A cognitive psych professor of mine couldn't work without music playing to 'occupy a certain part of his brain', almost always prog rock. Didn't seem to be holding him back - sometimes a mask is a workable solution. :)
- bee_rider 4y ago
  John Von Neumann famously preferred chaotic background noise while working. I think most of us would be happy to trade brains with him.
- xanathar 4y ago
  I am the same. Some things (code, writing docs) I can only do them with music in the background, usually music that is either downtempo, instrumental or both (for the most part Pink Floyd, Sting, Mogwai, Morcheeba or several jazz/fusion artists). Without music it 10x harder for me to get those activities going.
  - comprev 4y ago
    Since being diagnosed and medicated it’s the total opposite for me. Before I needed some background music - electronic or hip-hop in any language but English (to avoid my brain focusing on the lyrics). Now with meds I sit in silence all day.
- rpozarickij 4y ago
  Nowadays it's as if silence creates some type of mental pressure inside me. I found this to work really well in many different situations: https://youtu.be/P48QELwruQs https://youtu.be/P48QELwruQs
nativeit 4y ago
I do the same thing, although I typically put on something lightweight that I’ve seen before, like a season of Parks & Rec. It’s interesting to see someone else with this specific experience, I always used the analogy of “picking up the slack”. If I am engaging in rote work that doesn’t require much creativity or doesn’t fully engage my mind, then part of my attention tends to wander. It might not lead to total distraction, but it does produce an uneasy feeling I describe as anxiety. I always imagined that music can serve a similar function in others, but I believe that my having been a musician (and a serious one when I was younger) causes me to engage a little too deeply into whatever music is playing, so it’s a little too active for me.

fblp 4y ago

I got the same clock! but I find it hard to read the screen without the backlight. going to try it again given your comment.

disiplus 4y ago

To be honest, nothing really works for me except medications. like i have a spare smartphone that's running my pomodoro timer, but if it's a task that interests me i will blow past every 5min pause and anything else because im focused on the task that interests me on hours end, like i would program in my head while drive home, but if the task is boring that i don't want to do i can have 100 timers it would not help. like for example i have to fill a form and send it that would return me 17k in overpaid taxes i did not do it for last 4 months. there is X amount of those task that no amount of timers would help me do it. i fucking hate my adhd in that without medications im a zombie. the only thing that i can hope without medications is find interesting problems. that's also shit when you have a family because you cannot turn of, because you are dealing with the interesting problem all the time and it consumes you. my brain is great in resolving big challenges, but the worst at doing daily tasks.

doorhammer 4y ago
I very much relate to this (or at least parts of it; everyone's relationship with their own adhd is very specific and personal). I was medicated as a 90s kid, then went a long time without being medicated. It took awhile to get medicated again and a longer time to be okay with it as a part of my life instead of constantly trying to wean myself off of it because of lingering stigmas around medications and mental health. The timer for me is 100% in conjunction with meds and other life strategies for managing my ADHD and honestly, even then it feels crippling at times, especially since I've been laid off. Without the day-to-day structure of a job, my brain feels like a tornado in fog a lot of days. Context is another big one for me. I don't do well working from home, so if I have a remote job I rent a small office. Part of it is having "work context" and part is just the fact that I don't have a VR headset, a thousand books on random hobbies, ten unbuilt lego sets, and a shelf of books on elm, clojure, idris, or whatever random language I'm interested in that week. Anyhow, what you're saying makes a ton of sense. I feel like the timer thing just helps me specifically with even being aware of time at all, but I really find that coping mechanisms for adhd are super varied. Appreciate you contributing your own experience, though, and highlighting that it's not as simple as one or two life hacks
mklepaczewski 4y ago

kayodelycaon 4y ago

MacOS can announce the time every 15, 30, or 60 minutes. I've used it in the past. It's kind of like a metronome for my day. I think I'll try turning it back on. :) System Settings > Control Center > Clock > Clock Options

snissn 4y ago

I’ve been getting into wearing and collecting not that expensive wrist watches as a hobby to help feel more connected and aware of time and it’s been a great and enjoyable thing for me! Along the lines of you comment

doorhammer 4y ago
That's a super interesting idea. Make the newness a thing you constantly rotate on purpose. It reminds me of recently thinking that my clothes are only neatly folded after I learn a new way to fold them, so maybe I should just invent one every week, lol--which feels a little less tenable than the watch idea Really cool way you're coopting the novelty like that

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

Abishek_Muthian 4y ago

Thanks for sharing. For me, The act of starting the pomodoro timer itself was the chore, I think being contextually aware of pomodoro timer was a drag to me. So I fixed that by creating a butt triggered timer which starts when I sit on my chair and reminds me to get off the chair after 25 mins and triggers the break timer when I do. The whole process is un-attended and I didn't have to be aware of the timer at all. Then I went overboard and built a game around it using WASM & what not[1] which defeated the whole purpose of me not having to be aware of the timer, So I again went back to the basics and built a new Simple Butt Mover[2] which I use regularly now with huge quality of life improvement. P.S. Congratulations to OP for the launch of their Pomodoro timer. [1] https://github.com/abishekmuthian/buttmoverWebApp https://github.com/abishekmuthian/buttmoverWebApp [2] https://github.com/abishekmuthian/simpleButtMover https://github.com/abishekmuthian/simpleButtMover

rubicon33 4y ago

I have a feeling just by the length of your post that you’re on medication too.