[HN Gopher] One Thing - Put a single task or goal in your menu bar
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One Thing - Put a single task or goal in your menu bar
Author : sogen
Score : 90 points
Date : 2022-12-28 17:18 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (sindresorhus.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (sindresorhus.com)
| smm11 wrote:
| I used to carry around a Stickie note, the physical ones, that
| I'd write one or two must-do items on. The notes would wear out
| in my pocket, get wet, that sort of thing, so I had to hurry and
| get the thing/s done. Completed, I'd then get another new note
| going.
| infinityio wrote:
| I've separately made use of something similar to this, using
| Todoist and Wear OS! Todoist exposes a complication to show your
| 'most urgent' task (priority + due date?), which I like to keep
| visible on my watch face (and syncs with the cloud, so tasks can
| be updated from anywhere)
| canadaduane wrote:
| Gnome (Linux) equivalent:
| https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/5072/one-thing/
| ghusto wrote:
| I don't have much use for this one in particular, but poked
| around and found another of his apps called Pure Paste. I've been
| looking for something like it for a long time.
|
| It clears formatting from copy, so you can paste in clear text.
| Shift+cmd+v doesn't work everywhere, and the countless apps and
| scripts I've tried are flaky, but this seems to work!
| mistersquid wrote:
| > paste in clear text. Shift+cmd+v doesn't work everywhere
|
| On macOS, I am unaware of Shift-Command-V as an OS-enabled
| shortcut. Perhaps that shortcut is part of third-party software
| or older versions of macOS?
|
| To paste while matching the style of the focused document
| (including no style at all), I use
|
| > Option-Shift-Command-V: Paste and Match Style: Apply the
| style of the surrounding content to the item pasted within that
| content. [0]
|
| [0] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236
| codetrotter wrote:
| Option-Shift-Command-V is such an uncomfortable keyboard
| command. I wish I could rebind plain Command-V itself to
| paste without style always.
| brnewd wrote:
| I paste in the url bar and copy again as clear text.
| bmacho wrote:
| That's unfortunately not working on firefox. There is that
| text input field looking thingy on my screen, and it tempts
| me every time, and it punches me in the face every time as it
| copies the original URL instead of my text (on both linux,
| windows).
|
| But recently I added the search bar next to the url bar for
| this very reason. I don't remember using it yet.
| d3vmax wrote:
| In Windows I just pin the notepad in the 2nd position of my
| task bar and to achieve the process you did in Mac, it can be
| done with Ctrl+C, Windows+2, Ctrl+V.
| fraXis wrote:
| Easier ways to accomplish this:
|
| https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20220906-00/?p=10.
| ...
| nick0garvey wrote:
| I use the Run window for this same thing
| baxtr wrote:
| Wow. Great. I have a txt file on my desktop only for that.
|
| I paste the text there and then copy it again.
| renewiltord wrote:
| Very cool tool. I use Apple Notes and the little hot corner but I
| like this because it's always staring you in the face.
| FredPret wrote:
| I love this! Focusing on one thing at a time feels like a super-
| power, and this forces me to:
|
| * think about what that is
|
| * get a visual reminder of the one thing
| schappim wrote:
| I just gave it a go, if your "one thing" is extending under the
| notch, as is the case with my MacBook Air, then it's not able to
| be accessed again[0].
|
| If the necessary APIs are available, the app should make
| adjustments and either cut off the content or respond to clicks
| underneath the notch to display the dialog box once more.
|
| [0] I was able to eventually change the content by relaunching
| the app.
| mofle wrote:
| macOS hides menu items if they don't fit and nothing can be
| behind the notch. Apps have no control over this. The app has a
| setting for maximum length. You could also move the menu item
| closer to the right to make sure it's not hidden when there's
| less space in the menu bar.
| rcarr wrote:
| I wrote a plugin for Omnifocus that allows you to select some
| tasks and send them to BusyCal or Fantastical for time blocking.
| If you then use this in conjunction with MeetingBar it will allow
| you to see what task you currently should be working on in the
| menu bar and if you click on the MeetingBar section of the menu
| bar, will display your entire itinerary for the day. It's very
| cool.
| st3ve445678 wrote:
| Shouldn't the product page have a picture of the product? Strange
| not to include that so people can quickly see what this looks
| like.
| [deleted]
| mofle wrote:
| I recently rewrote my website and product screenshots is still
| a todo. Just follow the App Store button for screenshots.
| bonestamp2 wrote:
| You may not be a visual person, but many people are. Add this
| tag and you'll have a screenshot on your site.
|
| <img src="https://is3-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple126/
| v4/51/a7/...
| bonestamp2 wrote:
| Lack of screenshots is so common with cool stuff that is posted
| on Hacker News. I am a very visual person, so it completely
| blows my mind that someone wouldn't include one single
| screenshot for something they spent so much time building.
|
| But, I have come to believe that most Hacker News users are NOT
| visual people -- they get that warm an fuzzy feeling about an
| idea simply from reading about it. That's great, but I'm
| writing this comment so they realize that there are other
| people who only get about half way there by reading about it
| and that screenshots are very important for the other half of
| the population that they're trying to get interested in their
| project.
| foreverCarlos wrote:
| In this case one doesn't even need to be a visual person. I
| can't even understand what this app does without a
| screenshot.
| satvikpendem wrote:
| As I said in another comment, not sure what you mean, the
| landing page has a screenshot:
| https://sindresorhus.com/apps/one-thing/screenshot1.jpg
|
| Are you perhaps blocking external images from loading, perhaps
| via an ad blocker?
| albert_e wrote:
| Agreed very much! I googled and found this tweet with a
| screenshot seemingly by OP when this was launched in Jan 2022:
|
| https://twitter.com/sindresorhus/status/1481312807287427075
|
| This is a tweet thread that also has some more updates,
| screenshots and GIFs that show the tool in action. Satisfied my
| itch to know how the product looks/works (I dont have any iOS
| device so I am not going to use it in any way myself)
| fluidcruft wrote:
| Or follow the link to the App Store and look at the
| screenshots there.
| 0ct4via wrote:
| Indeed -- while it's surprising to find them not even
| present on the site, the App Store[1] will always have
| screenshots.
|
| [1] https://apps.apple.com/app/id1604176982
| krembo wrote:
| I use 4Note on Android to achieve the same goal. It allows me to
| put simple colorful notes as widgets on the homescreen, and by
| having 4 small ones like this I always have the top tasks in
| front of my eyes.
| nyrulez wrote:
| FWIW, I just use a floating sticky note on my Mac for my "current
| focus". They work really well and are much more flexible in terms
| of how much information you're comfortable with.
| malshe wrote:
| How do you do that? You don't mean literal post it notes right?
| sogen wrote:
| The default Stickies app in macOS has a "float" capability
| for the notes, so they can always be on top
| nyrulez wrote:
| No. Every Mac has the "Stickies" application built in. And it
| also allows any note to "float on top" so it's always
| visible.
|
| This way you can create your ideal focus reminder that stays
| on top, anywhere on the screen.
| kevinzg wrote:
| I do a very similar thing with Polybar and a custom script.
| Polybar runs the script and displays whatever the script prints
| to stdout. I communicate with the script using rofi and a unix
| socket. I use this to help me focus on a task and track how much
| time I'm spending on it.
| nine_k wrote:
| An app that does one thing, extremely visual. A detailed landing
| page.
|
| _No screenshot._
|
| Facepalm, frankly.
| satvikpendem wrote:
| Not sure what you mean, the landing page has a screenshot:
| https://sindresorhus.com/apps/one-thing/screenshot1.jpg
|
| Are you perhaps blocking external images from loading, perhaps
| via an ad blocker?
| nine_k wrote:
| Weird.
|
| Yes, I run uBlock Origin with default / relaxed rules.
|
| I think that working with a light and widespread ad blocker
| on is important for a site that promotes something,
| commercial or not.
|
| Even just saying "Please turn off your ad blocker to see key
| content" is fine with me: I may as well turn it off if the
| content is worth it.
|
| I mostly run an ad blocker because ads tend to be visually
| intrusive, hog the CPU, and consume bandwidth, slowing down
| the loading of the actual content. Not because I'm opposed to
| site owners making a bit of money off my visit.
| satvikpendem wrote:
| I run uBO too with stricter rules it sounds like but I
| still saw the screenshot. I'm on Firefox on Windows.
| schappim wrote:
| I think most of the "free sales" will come from the App Store,
| which already requires a screenshot preview.
| newbieuser wrote:
| What problem exactly is this app to solve? it looks exactly like
| a producthunt product. a big landing page with long text but you
| never understand what it does
| guilamu wrote:
| Any android or windows equivalent? Please and thank you.
| sogen wrote:
| Searched for alternatives but did not find any, sorry
| guilamu wrote:
| thanks for trying,i came up empty handed too.
| netgusto wrote:
| I made for myself something similar, for display in my shell
| prompt https://github.com/netgusto/tax
| mmphosis wrote:
| Xfce Panel right click the menu bar > Panel > Add
| New Items... Launcher > click Add click Close
| right click the Launcher icon in the menu bar > Properties
| Delete the currently selected items Add a new hyperlink
| type the *One Thing* as the Name type in the URL
| click Create click the Advanced tab click Show label
| instead of icon click Close
| toxik wrote:
| Ironically, this app is almost surely the product of
| procrastination. I had the idea to make this once, then I
| realized a) just do the thing, b) a literal post-it note solves
| this and more.
| junon wrote:
| It's made by Sindre Sorhus, who certainly does not
| procrastinate when it comes to OSS. This was definitely made
| out of a need for efficiency or self improvement. Everything he
| builds has self-utility.
| yakshaving_jgt wrote:
| Writing code, compiling it, and fiddling with it until it's
| sufficiently robust to handle most typical edge cases when
| rendering text in a menu bar is more efficient than writing
| on a Post-it note? Really?
|
| I think I would have gone with the Post-it. Or a file on my
| desktop. Even the data in the Post-it note is persisted in
| the event of power failure!
| lalopalota wrote:
| > Writing code, compiling it, and fiddling with it until
| it's sufficiently robust to handle most typical edge cases
| when rendering text in a menu bar
|
| + distributing it for others to use
|
| is WAY more efficient than send post-it notes and a pen to
| every user who is looking for a way to stay on task.
| yakshaving_jgt wrote:
| Ah, yes. Distribution is an interesting challenge to
| solve.
|
| It'd be useful if we had some form of electronic mail.
|
| If only.
| Dylan16807 wrote:
| Did you read the whole comment you replied to? If you
| have a way to send someone post-its in an email that they
| can attach to their screen, please share.
| yakshaving_jgt wrote:
| Yes, I am capable of reading an entire sentence.
|
| I think a forest is being missed for some trees here.
| Dylan16807 wrote:
| Well you made a criticism that didn't make sense. I can
| guess what you really mean but I think you're making some
| unwarranted assumptions.
|
| Not everyone has a supply of post-its. If you can avoid
| those purchases for a hundred people that's a significant
| impact already.
| britneybitch wrote:
| My pet peeve is people who can't resist writing comments
| dripping with sarcasm while everyone involved is
| obviously talking past each other. Why don't you just
| explain your point in plain language?
| quickthrower2 wrote:
| Luckily most people have a way to get access to
| stationery, and it is quite decentralised. It just isn't
| too newsworthy to say "use a sticky note"
| akerl_ wrote:
| Let's not put people on a pedestal. Being prolific at open
| source software doesn't imply that somebody never
| procrastinates, or that they never just get an itch to make
| something that's not driven by an immediate need.
|
| Sindre Sorhus makes some amazing projects, but he's still
| human.
| junon wrote:
| I'm happy to speak highly of someone I have worked closely
| with for over a decade.
| renewiltord wrote:
| I'm actually quite glad that you did. I like the app idea
| but I wouldn't have installed it. The social credit you
| gave him got me to look up his Github and that convinced
| me to install this app. Thank you.
| toxik wrote:
| I was going to write the same thing! Some cool stuff in
| there.
| wildcow wrote:
| There exists many apps that should have been a post-it
| hoyd wrote:
| I sometimes choose a password that writes out as a thing I want
| to remind myself of. Then every time I write it, i get reminded
| of it.
| drdrey wrote:
| That's actually a cool hack
|
| 1Password becomes One Thing if your password is your thing
| andrew_ wrote:
| bitbar can do the same. I currently use it to display time zones
| for the folks I work with. have used it in the past for
| reminders.
|
| a lot of what sindre makes isn't novel or unique - it's presented
| professionally, easy to work with or understand, and is well
| documented. that's what he's most well-known for in my circles.
| hartator wrote:
| > You can achieve almost anything in life -- as long as you focus
| on achieving one thing at a time.
|
| Oddly I have the reverse issue.
|
| I always focus on one thing at the time, and everything else is
| frozen. E.g., my full day is frozen if I have an appointment with
| the dentist at 2pmn. It's a symptom of ADHD.
|
| And I have been aiming now to force myself to do the reverse.
| Parallelizing tasks that can.
| FullKirby wrote:
| Wow, I have the same issue that you describe with the dentist
| appointment thing, but it's the first time I hear someone else
| describe it. I'm certain I have ADHD, I'm a few months away
| from professional diagnostic
| sogen wrote:
| 1.Start task 2.Finish task 3.Profit
| hartator wrote:
| 1. Make a plan 2. Procrastinate 3. Forget the Plan
|
| https://www.instagram.com/digitallybaffled/?hl=en is amazing.
| sogen wrote:
| For adhd the "plan" is more like a Rube Goldberg
| zhte415 wrote:
| Have a piece of paper on your desk. Write down what needs to be
| done. Specific stuff.
|
| Use it for impromptu note taking or work breakdown through the
| day.
|
| Tick off or cross out whatever's done. If you end up writing down
| something that's worth keeping around, keep it around in whatever
| medium suits it best.
|
| Then throw the paper away at the end of the day. If there are
| things not done, you can write them on tomorrow's paper if you
| remember them.
| [deleted]
| davchana wrote:
| I started doing that around in 2017 at my job. It was an office
| job. For work & personal tasks. I was using any random piece of
| paper, post it note, scrap paper. Soon I ended up with a bunch
| of papers held together with paper clips because some of the
| things were not getting transferred to next day. Then I started
| using a simple A5 size notebook.
|
| As heading, I used to out today's date in dd/mm then a empty
| square box underneath date, & then the phrase To Do. On page I
| would do a phrase YYYY-MM-DD DDDD & extend tail of lowercase Y
| to underline the whole phrase. Then simple blank square box, &
| the task. When that task is done, I would tick that box, &
| would write DD/MM on right side of line. When whole page is
| done, I would check that heading big box, & write DD/MM
| underneath the box. Soon in few months I came across Bullet
| Journal concept, & I adapted index page, & Specific Task pages
| (like Financial To Do, Programming To Do, Travel, In Six
| Months, Big To Do). It is fun.
| joegahona wrote:
| This is what I do, on an ugly post-it. Encourages me to get rid
| of it.
| asciii wrote:
| I use to do this in school and tbh, should try going back. It
| was very much adapted from Cal Newport's method. Every morning
| I wrote all my to-dos on a index card from my Google Calendar.
| Anything that came up during my day which I could not finish
| within 5-20 minutes was written on the back to add to my
| calendar. This way I can focus on finishing the front side of
| the card and mindful of activities in the back.
|
| Now it's easier with the Things app (especially since I can
| email or have a script to send my todos to it directly). Highly
| recommend it!
| lylejantzi3rd wrote:
| This is what I do, except I take a photo of the paper with my
| phone before throwing it away. I now have a timestamped record
| of what I did every day without having to manage a shelf of old
| notebooks. I know some people would consider having a shelf of
| old notebooks to be a perk, but I move around too much to want
| to lug around boxes of paper. That stuff gets heavy after a
| while.
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