[HN Gopher] Show HN: Time-tracker that helps me with context swi...
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       Show HN: Time-tracker that helps me with context switches and
       documentation
        
       Hi HN!  I was feeling incredibly frustrated with my struggles in
       context-switching and writing documentation, so I decided to take
       action and find a solution.  I wrote a simple tool for Alfred and
       Raycast that helps me be more mindful when switching between tasks,
       which can even prevent some of those switches. Plus, I can jot down
       quick notes on each task as I go, making it easier to document
       everything once I'm finished.  This tool is really simple with only
       5 commands - tsr, tsn, tsl, tsv, tse  tsr writes a new record  tsn
       writes a new note  tsl shows you the current task  tsv builds a
       static html page displaying a single timeline of the tasks and
       notes  tse opens the directory where records are stored for easy
       manual editing  TSR stores your data as simple csv files in ~/tsr,
       making it super easy to integrate with other tools or perform your
       own custom analysis and visualisation magic. The built-in tsv
       timeline visualisation is rather simple and doesn't do any analysis
       (for now at least).  It depends solely on Python3 and works
       offline. I encourage you to check the python scripts to see how
       simple they are and potentially adapt them to your own needs.  Let
       me know what you think!
        
       Author : tomaszsobota
       Score  : 36 points
       Date   : 2023-03-27 19:34 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | meta-level wrote:
       | Also built something slightly similar - without the need to
       | interact https://github.com/frans-fuerst/track Works on Linux
       | with XOrg and Windows only unfortunately..
        
       | PeterWhittaker wrote:
       | Question: why? I read your post and the readme, but I still don't
       | know. Perhaps some background?
       | 
       | I'm unfamiliar with both Alfred and Raycast, and while a quick
       | search tells me they are application launchers, that of itself
       | tells me little, since I do not use any and don't know what
       | problem they solve.
       | 
       | Since I've been using Mac OS for many years, I'm guessing it's a
       | problem I don't have or don't know that I have.
       | 
       | Thoughts?
        
         | beaker52 wrote:
         | Application Launchers are cmd + space replacements that usually
         | come with host of useful features and a plugin interface of
         | some kind. They're just better than Spotlight - period. Check
         | out Raycast - it's the new kid on the block. Alfred is old
         | trusty and has been around for over 15 years.
        
       | beaker52 wrote:
       | I get the intention. The challenge for me is that I don't have
       | any notion of flicking from one task to another, so I'd install
       | this and guaranteed use it once, maybe twice. Then poof, I've
       | forgotten all about it and I'd rediscover it next time you post
       | on HN.
        
       | alchemist1e9 wrote:
       | I don't know what Alfred and Raycast are but if I could type it
       | at the command line then makes sense to me and is useful.
        
       | baxtr wrote:
       | I like the demo. I also like very much that you try to keep the
       | features down to a minimum as you write:
       | 
       |  _I tried a few other tools over the years, but the number of
       | features they offer often distracted me from using it
       | efficiently, making time tracking an effort on its own.
       | 
       | While tsr may not have an extensive list of features, it has
       | proven to be effective for my needs, and I believe it may also
       | benefit others in similar situations._
       | 
       | In that vein I wouldn't add any new features and seriously
       | consider removing tsn.
        
       | lukemercado wrote:
       | I really like Tyme for time tracking. It works quite well for me,
       | is dirt cheap, has a great UX across both my iphone and my
       | macbook and gives me flexibility around start and end times so
       | it's easy to keep it roughly accurate.
       | 
       | That said, I don't use it for detailed task observation. For
       | example while writing this my "management" timer is running and
       | this is definitely not managing my team. I use it for
       | directionality more than anything else.
        
       | tincholio wrote:
       | I would recommend looking into org-mode for task-based time
       | tracking and documentation (probably using org-capture), it's one
       | of the basic use cases.
        
       | keyle wrote:
       | Nice one! I made something somewhat related a while back... I
       | still use it.
       | 
       | https://github.com/keyle/mdtimesheet
       | 
       | There is nothing like solving your own problems.
        
       | sureglymop wrote:
       | I use ActivityWatch which has a browser and vs code plugin and it
       | just tracks what i do by itself in the background. As soon as I
       | spend a second having to do something with the time tracking
       | software that is a second lost. It should be passive and in the
       | background. It's by no means perfect and sometimes buggy.. but
       | works for me.
        
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       (page generated 2023-03-27 23:00 UTC)