[HN Gopher] Lately I've been using timers daily
___________________________________________________________________
Lately I've been using timers daily
Author : Sujeto
Score : 297 points
Date : 2023-05-17 07:00 UTC (16 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| sureglymop wrote:
| Need it as a shell function in the Terminal :)
| hgsgm wrote:
| https://linux.die.net/man/1/at
| tppiotrowski wrote:
| "So I built one baked into my wm"
|
| wm? window manager?
|
| It looks like part of a shell window on Linux maybe? Does anyone
| know a good resource on how to customize your shell like this?
| dmytrish wrote:
| The screenshot looks like swaybar, a programmable status bar
| for Sway.
| nathanckim18 wrote:
| I think it's literally a part of their window manager, not
| their terminal or shell. They have a monospaced font, which
| makes it look ambiguous
|
| Their code[1] references "wibox", a concept from the `awesome`
| WM[2]
|
| [1]: https://github.com/madprops/awesome-
| setup/blob/master/madwid... [2]:
| https://awesomewm.org/doc/api/classes/wibox.html
| deafpolygon wrote:
| That's cool, but it seems arbitrary - since you can stop/change
| the timer at will.
|
| Still cool.
| saeranv wrote:
| Off topic, but just wanted to say I love the way this guy has
| repurposed a github repo to be a blog. One of the most effective
| integration of aesthetics and functionality of minimalism I've
| seen.
| https443 wrote:
| the clock app in windows 10 is pretty good for this - you can
| create multiple
| marban wrote:
| _" All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit
| quietly in a room alone"_
| deafpolygon wrote:
| - Blaise Pascal
| deepsquirrelnet wrote:
| As a new parent, this quote takes on a whole new meaning...
| nharada wrote:
| In my first job someone high up told me "thinking is also work"
| and it was the most valuable thing I learned at that company.
| permo-w wrote:
| this is seriously true. if I'm trying to solve a problem, getting
| nowhere, then I go the toilet or get something to eat, very often
| when I sit back down a solution will just appear in my head. do
| not underestimate your subconscious
| whoiscroberts wrote:
| I wonder what the author means by "Slowly goes down to 0"? Does
| this timer have longer seconds than other timers?
| hgsgm wrote:
| It's loose language. It means that the timer slows down actions
| actions, by introducing a delay.
| hgsgm wrote:
| You can also use `at` in POSIX-like shell
|
| https://linux.die.net/man/1/at
| Reptur wrote:
| Yes, also if you ever run into an issue that is stumping you for
| more than 30 minutes, take a breather. Guaranteed the solution
| will come to you while you calm down or you'll come back and
| it'll come to you. Don't let yourself spend hours on a problem
| frustrated, it just makes solving it harder.
| aigoochamna wrote:
| The same goes for music. People plug in ear buds the second they
| sit down at a desk or step out the door.
|
| The only time I find it hard to do things in silence is while
| exercising... mainly the treadmill.
| mjdowney wrote:
| _nods approvingly while reading hn instead of just sitting on a
| bench_
| thinkingkong wrote:
| This is the pomodoro method.
| hgsgm wrote:
| If course you can use a timer any way you want, but this method
| is an Undo / Cooldown timeout, not a work timer.
| capableweb wrote:
| Its not. Either you don't understand pomodoro or the method
| outlined in the submission, but they're not the same.
| licebmi__at__ wrote:
| If I understand correctly, they are used for differently but
| rely on the same principle; using a time to delimitate a task
| (in this case, to delimitate reflexion time).
|
| I was actually thinking on using org pomodoro for
| implementing this.
| rchaud wrote:
| It's close enough. Half the benefit of pomodoro is training
| your brain to quantify the passage of time in reality, vs
| what it feels like in your head. Only then can you begin to
| reliaby estimate how long it'll take to do complete tasks.
| AJRF wrote:
| Multiple timers!? Apple, hire this man!
| captainkrtek wrote:
| This reminded me of this book:
| https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9778945-the-shallows
|
| "The Shallows" by Nicholas Carr, I found it an interesting read,
| "As he describes how human thought has been shaped through the
| centuries by "tools of the mind"--from the alphabet to maps, to
| the printing press, the clock, and the computer"
| dwaltrip wrote:
| For a while now I've been going on walks without my phone. It's
| really nice. And freeing in a certain sense.
| dj_mc_merlin wrote:
| Can anyone identify the font? I tried whatthefont but it's only
| giving me paid fonts, I'm pretty sure this is a free font but
| can't seem to find it.
|
| edit: thanks for the answers
| seri4l wrote:
| I think it may be Noto Sans Mono.
|
| >I tried whatthefont
|
| Has that website ever worked for anyone?
| davisoneee wrote:
| The author links to their timer script, which links to what
| looks like dotfiles[1].
|
| The author uses awesomewm (window manager), and loads the
| default font[2]. Default font is noto sans[3].
|
| edit: add missing 'h' to start of ref 1.
|
| [1]: https://github.com/madprops/awesome-
| setup/blob/f8557150941ce...
|
| [2]: https://github.com/awesomeWM/awesome/blob/b13ac3e34d7702
| 778a...
|
| [3]: https://github.com/awesomeWM/awesome/blob/b13ac3e34d7702
| 778a...
| muny wrote:
| Yes but mostly to narrow the solution space. I usually end up
| comparing glyphs from the subset.
| dj_mc_merlin wrote:
| I think this one fits the most. It's also a popular Google
| font, so would make sense for a developer to use it. Thanks!
| j_mo wrote:
| Typewalk Mono 1915 according to the FontSquirrel font
| identifier
|
| Looks pretty similar to me, and being a monospaced font makes
| sense as it's being used by a dev.
| nyanpasu64 wrote:
| That's definitely wrong. The "r" glyph has no top-right curve
| or serif, whereas Typewalk Mono 1915 has an exaggerated
| curve. The photos' s glyphs have open apertures, but Typewalk
| has closed apertures (curled-in stroke ends).
| dahart wrote:
| We're talking about the black-background images, right?
| dj_mc_merlin wrote:
| Yes, he surprisingly even mentions it:
|
| > I do this by using the same number of characters with a
| monospace font.
|
| Thanks!
| artificial wrote:
| Adobe Capture (app) has one of the best in my experience
| https://helpx.adobe.com/fonts/using/visual-search-adobe-font...
| guzik wrote:
| Years ago I reprogrammed my Pebble watch exactly for this.
|
| Tap button once: +1 minute.
|
| Tap twice: +5 minute.
|
| Tap three times: +20 minutes.
|
| Tap secondary button: Reset timer.
|
| And this app was always in foreground.
| WJW wrote:
| Timers are great, I've been using them for more and more things
| lately. I still want to make a proper server-backed app one day
| that syncs any timers between devices though. I often enable them
| in my phone but then put it away when working on something on my
| PC and the widget in the app would be a good idea. Maybe even a
| plugin for my editor!
| tl90 wrote:
| I use Toggl [1] exactly for this.
|
| [1] https://toggl.com/
| WJW wrote:
| May I ask how it you use it? I skimmed their site and it
| looks like they provide time tracking software for when you
| are actually doing something, but what I'm looking for is
| more a page with many "kitchen timers" ticking down all the
| time and doing a programmable action when they reach zero.
| laratied wrote:
| I buy packs of old school stop watches from amazon. They are
| practically disposable.
|
| There is something really nice about having the timer
| disconnected from all other usability as a separate device and
| at the same time not having to care if it is lost or damaged.
| incanus77 wrote:
| This is my number one use case for my Apple Watch these days.
| codery wrote:
| I use org-mode timers[1] all the time, here's youtube short[2] on
| that.
|
| [1]:orgmode.org/manual/Timers.html
| [2]:youtube.com/shorts/JbHE819kVGQ
| alexalx666 wrote:
| Can anyone recommend a nice Mac menu item timer
| swah wrote:
| Gestimer, Horo, AS Timer or extensions for Alfred and Raycast
| codeaddslife wrote:
| https://matthewpalmer.net/horo-free-timer-mac/
| primity wrote:
| If someone wants a timer for tmux, I made one in bash
| https://github.com/fernandeslouro/tmux-tempus
| inflam52 wrote:
| I came across this app recently. It's cross platform which is
| nice.
|
| https://github.com/tom-james-watson/breaktimer-app
| voytec wrote:
| I call my "timer" a "nagger" and use it via a shell nagme()
| function. Takes care of certain ADHD traits which were previously
| causing "refocusing" during unpleasant tasks, like emptying the
| washing machine (half or less clothes would go to the dryer and
| half would stay in the washing machine while I'd switch to other
| task). I learned to only turn off the nagger after completing a
| task and it works.
|
| It's used not just for time-sensitive tasks but also not to over-
| engineer stuff during hyperfocus. nagme () {
| [ "$#" -ne 2 ] && printf "usage: $0 [in_minutes] [text]\n" &&
| return 1 printf "sleeping $1 min before telling you
| to $2\n" sleep $(echo $1\*60|bc) espeak
| "$2" > /dev/null 2>&1 while : do
| sleep 30 echo -n '.' espeak "I'm
| nagging you to $2" > /dev/null 2>&1 done }
| TechBro8615 wrote:
| This reminds me of a feature I had enabled on my previous
| computer but hadn't enabled on my current one yet: having MacOS
| announce the time on the hour. Sometimes it would scare the
| crap out of me, but it was effective at breaking me out of the
| periodic trance state that's so easy to fall into. I think I'll
| enable that again...
| alberth wrote:
| Stop listening to podcasts.
|
| Enjoy the quiet.
|
| I use to fill up my day with listening to podcasts during all
| non-work time (e.g. driving in the car, exercising, even
| showering).
|
| It overloads your brain if it's having to process info during
| every waking moment.
|
| You brain just needs quiet time to think, relax and explore.
|
| I'm way more relaxed, creative and find unique solutions to
| problems now, than before.
| antegamisou wrote:
| > It overloads your brain if it's having to process info during
| every waking moment.
|
| And many times, it's overloaded with BS by the host.
| Suprisingly a lot of misinformation comes from many of HN's
| favorite influencers.
| Barrin92 wrote:
| I don't know if it's a purely modern thing but quietness is I
| think straight up perceived as uncomfortable by a lot of people
| now. Had a conversation recently with someone saying that they
| can't have a meal without having something on in the
| background, and in conversations too people are very hung up
| about avoiding silence.
|
| it's really underdiscussed how averse people seem to just
| contemplation.
| Silverback_VII wrote:
| >it's really underdiscussed how averse people seem to just
| contemplation.
|
| Another observation I've made is that the more time people
| spend consuming information, the more they feel compelled to
| talk. It's as if humans are programmed to share the
| information they've gathered. I'm certain that in the past,
| people eagerly listened if you had new information, but these
| days, everyone is constantly collecting new information. It
| seems like everyone wants to share/talk, yet no one wants to
| listen.
| codyb wrote:
| I know a few people who seem to always be in negative moods...
| and when I learn about them, it appears, that basically every
| waking moment of their lives, there is _some_ form of... signal
| just being beamed directly into their brain. Whether it's all
| day long with headphones on playing music, or podcasts, or TV.
|
| It's bonkers to me. I resolve so many of my own issues just...
| staring out the window, or staring at the ceiling.
|
| I get that people are different, and we all have our different
| ways of going about things, but I just cannot imagine it is
| healthy to not let your brain "breathe" a bit sometimes.
|
| I mostly sit with my noise cancelling headphones on, with no
| sound. And lately, I'm just moving towards not having them on
| at all when I'm not in meetings.
|
| It's wonderful. There's a reason "silence is golden" after all.
| I actually still find classical music a bit distracting a lot
| of times even. A lot of the newer composers especially are
| particularly discordant.
| Swizec wrote:
| I need to be very tired to just stare out the window. Get
| fidgety and somehow anxious.
|
| But a motorcycle ride or a nice drive? Even doing the dishes?
| Now we're talking! The mind and body are occupied in a mostly
| autonomus task so the rest of your brain can process and
| digest. It's great.
|
| Dare I say I almost enjoy doing chores now.
|
| Another great option for me is boxing. For those 3 minutes in
| the ring, you are _not_ thinking about anything else. Whether
| you like it or not, your mind clears and focuses and only the
| sparring partner exists. It's great.
|
| You can get that level of focus on a motorcycle, but that
| gets a little dangerous for my taste. Maybe I should try
| going to a track.
| akhosravian wrote:
| Sorry to be that guy, but IME the fidgety & anxious feeling
| is almost always some need in one's life that is being
| unmet. If you sit with that feeling it often becomes clear
| exactly what the source is.
|
| YMMV especially if you've experienced some serious trauma.
| Swizec wrote:
| Oh from what I've read it's probably just undiagnosed ADD
| (for me).
| mathgorges wrote:
| If you're interested in doing this, but find it hard to
| sit it the feelings, consider trying Dialectical Behavior
| Therapy (DBT), which involves investigating the root of
| your feelings within your mind.
|
| It's best to do DBT with a professional, but there's a
| large community of DIY DBT practitioners out there. [1]
|
| If your unable to investigate the source of _some_
| feelings (e.g. because your brain shuts down when you
| interrogate them) there is a new-ish practice for
| detangling your thoughts without all the interpersonal
| unpleasantness of Talk Therapy (that doesn't mean it
| won't be unpleasant in it's own way).
|
| It's called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
| (EMDR). Again, working with a professional is best, but
| it's possible to be successful with a DIY approach. [2]
|
| Disclaimer: I'm not a professional in any form of health,
| mental or otherwise. I'm just a happy self-administered
| DBT & EMDR patient :)
|
| [1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/dbtselfhelp
|
| [2]: https://anxietyreleaseapp.com/
| Agree2468 wrote:
| In my experience, sitting with the feelings pretty
| reliably leads to panic spiraling. I just don't think my
| brain is as capable of pulling back a level as yours
| seems to be. And I'm not sure how to change that.
| pie420 wrote:
| You have to keep going. You must endure and let your
| brain process, and learn to relax and exist in a non-
| stimulated state. Facebook and Tik-tok have fried our
| brains so much that sitting in silence for 30 minutes is
| painful because we are used to constant dopamine.
|
| Try going on walks, doing guided meditations, leaving
| your phone in another room and reading a book for 30
| minutes. You'll find your brain slowly relax, think more
| creatively and in a more coherent fashion. It's painful
| at first, but it's the most important thing you can do.
| nimbleplum40 wrote:
| Not an endorsement, but you could look into Acceptance
| and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Similar to CBT but a lot of
| it centers around learning to notice and accept negative
| feelings without spiraling. Rather than trying to avoid
| the thoughts, it's about accepting them and still taking
| positive _action_ regardless.
| rubicon33 wrote:
| I'm, yea... it is completely clear what the "source" is.
|
| I need to MOVE. I was not made to sit in silence and do
| nothing.
|
| I was born to move, physically. After a long run, some
| weights, etc... I can sit and focus or be in silence.
|
| To me the ability to sit in silence is just a test to see
| if you're in a settled state.
| alonmower wrote:
| I gave up the moto when my wife and I started trying for a
| kid, and this is by far the thing I miss most about it.
| Instant mental clarity on demand. I bike a lot now but the
| lower stakes mean it's not quite the same.
| thfuran wrote:
| I don't think boxing is really the best sport for brain
| health.
| sgt wrote:
| Bikers of HN! What do you ride? I have BMW R1200GS.
| skeeter2020 wrote:
| I completely agree with some form of exercise or activity
| that is not supplemented by audio or anything else. Go for
| a walk and leave your phone at home. Turn off your car
| audio. I love to drive with the heater blasting and all the
| windows down in the winter time. Focus combined with
| spacial awareness makes me feel very alive.
| robohoe wrote:
| Track driving will put you into that mode. It's about 20-25
| minutes of pure bliss and focus on your line, braking,
| throttle control, etc.
| dbtc wrote:
| Running on trails is like that for me - you must focus or
| you'll have some face time with a rock.
|
| But I also think that just sitting is a more advanced and
| more rewarding type of meditation. My belief is that it is
| a skill which can be practiced.
|
| One technique is to go through each body part and relax it.
| Eventually it happens automatically.
| rpozarickij wrote:
| > I mostly sit with my noise cancelling headphones on, with
| no sound. And lately, I'm just moving towards not having them
| on at all when I'm not in meetings.
|
| I find it very difficult to sit in complete silence. It's as
| if the silence exerts some pressure on me. But I've recently
| discovered brown noise and it works wonderfully well for me.
|
| It has become my go to sound/noise whenever I'm doing
| something that requires thinking. This is my favorite:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P48QELwruQs
| alberth wrote:
| > I find it very difficult to sit in complete silence.
|
| That's not what I'm suggesting.
|
| What I'm suggesting is, when you drive - just don't have
| any music on. Just drive.
|
| When you're showering, don't play a podcast - just shower.
|
| When you're doing dishes, just do dishes quietly.
|
| It's not dedicated quiet time. It's "don't fill in all
| parts of your day with information".
| TheCapn wrote:
| I agree, to an extent.
|
| I find that if I need to be "attentive" then having
| something going on helps. For me it is podcasts while
| driving. Having nothing noise my mind tends to wander
| which isn't always ideal because my focus should still be
| on the road despite engaging my brain with passive
| knowledge.
|
| But for the rest of your comments? I agree
| wholeheartedly. I used to have the headphones in walking
| dogs, listening to podcasts, but I've stopped doing that
| and find the time outside far more relaxing, because that
| is time I _should_ let my mind wander and venture. At
| work? Music to fill the voids, but I mute it if I 'm
| trying to roll over some sort of problem in my head.
| Other strategies such as leaving the desk or using
| physical mediums (writing / sketching problems in
| notebooks) help too, but that's not really where we're at
| in this discussion.
|
| Ultimately I think people need to just be aware that how
| _they_ troubleshoot and relax won 't be the same as
| another's. But it takes discomfort and experimentation to
| find what works for you too. Try podcasts where you would
| use music. Try the opposite. Try nothing where you would
| try something. Find what helps, and always be willing to
| re-test with new/old atmospheres.
| glennonymous wrote:
| This is the exact opposite of my experience. As a chronically
| depressed person, my inner voice is pretty much my enemy. I
| listen to podcasts to drown it out. I mostly listen to
| podcasts that soothe me, that I have no need to listen to
| every word that's said. This works even when I listen to a
| podcast with hosts' banter I enjoy on such a low volume I
| can't follow what's being said, at all. I do this quite
| often, in fact. I listen to podcasts, when I'm not working,
| probably 75% of the time. I estimate it's improved my mood by
| a similar percentage.
| supernikio2 wrote:
| It would be interesting to know how much quiet time the brain
| needs to properly rest throughout the day.
|
| However I feel like this question falls into the "optimise
| every second of the day" thought pattern which kinda goes
| against the point.
| ericjmorey wrote:
| It likely depends on things that are difficult or impossible
| to measure like the amount of stress experienced in the past.
| andyferris wrote:
| That's funny. Still, I think it's more that the "obvious"
| optimal (fill up your day with productive tasks) is actually
| non-optimal, which is an important and useful fact to
| consider and share.
| munificent wrote:
| This, 1000%.
|
| If you're always jamming new media into your brain, it's like
| you're constantly writing to a hard drive without ever giving
| it time to defragment.
| SamPatt wrote:
| Agreed, and if you combine silence with physical movement (aka
| go for a walk or hike) the benefits of both are amplified.
|
| So many brilliant men in history are known for having walking
| routines. I'm not going so far as to say walking _made_ them
| brilliant, but I do think it 's likely it contributed to them
| being able to maintain the physical and mental health needed to
| be able to think deeply and communicate their thoughts to
| others.
| deegles wrote:
| I went through a "productivity" phase where I tried to listen
| to podcasts every day at 1.5x speed or more to be more
| efficient... it did not last long.
| satysin wrote:
| 100% agree. I used to have podcasts or an audiobook on to
| listen to while I was doing 'boring' tasks but I found it was
| just causing my brain to work overtime and drained me of mental
| energy so quickly.
|
| Now I just enjoy the sound of silence. Sometimes I may put on
| some music quietly to drown out another background noise but
| always something I know well so that _my brain knows it_ and
| doesn 't spend time or energy processing it for the 1000th
| time. I've found it can be any music providing I know it well
| enough.
|
| I actually listen to fewer podcasts now because of it but I am
| much happier about that as I seriously began to worry about how
| my brain _needed_ constant stimulation.
|
| I was unable to just be still in silence.
|
| I worry a lot of us are just overloading our brains with
| constant stimulation leading to faster burnout and mental
| health issues but that is a conversation for another day!
| simplone wrote:
| Genius CEOs know that, so while they email for 30 minutes and
| go surf, we grind or get fired. If we didn't grind we'd build
| our own solutions.
|
| Corporatism is not a random emergent thing. Occupational
| psychology goes back 100 years, and behavioral economics almost
| as long.
|
| It's all melodrama over the end of literal reality if we don't
| burn ourselves out though.
| bifrost wrote:
| Yes, 100% this.
| leroy-is-here wrote:
| People don't know what they are like at equilibrium, so when
| something affects them they do not know the source. By
| constantly filling your self, you cannot be sure of the source.
| When filling yourself of podcasts, of food, of low-entropy
| words, of wine, of cheap books, of easy sights, of leisure, of
| wine, of coffee, etc. -- when filling yourself of all these
| different things, it's hard to know your literal self, because
| it's being fluctuated nearly every second of the day.
| endorphine wrote:
| I was in the same boat. I subconsciously reached for ways to
| distract my mind whenever it didn't have something to occupy
| itself with.
|
| - When I was doing the dishes, I would immediately put a
| podcast on
|
| - When I was waiting for my kid's music lesson, I would
| immediately grab a book to read
|
| - When I was eating, I would always turn the TV on
|
| - When I was sitting on the couch, to supposedly rest, I would
| put a music record on and I would also reach for my mobile
| phone to "catch up" or text a friend
|
| - When I lie to bed, I immediately would grab my phone to
| browse HN
|
| I realized that these were harmful habits that I subconsciously
| formed as a way to distract my mind from other thoughts that
| were causing stress and anxiety.
|
| These days I'm more mindful about this and I try to just sit
| there by myself and just be. Kinda like meditation.
| sosuke wrote:
| Soooo did you come up with good habits to handle the thoughts
| causing stress and anxiety? Was the change good or bad?
| endorphine wrote:
| Nothing particularly fancy, just being more mindful and
| conscious of when I tend to do this, and deliberately stop
| doing it.
| a_petrov wrote:
| Been there, done that.
|
| - Doing the dishes - podcast
|
| - Walking in the lunch break - audiobook
|
| - Cycling in the park - audiobook
|
| After a couple of months I felt my brain is completely fried
| from that information overflow.
|
| Now I don't even put my earbuds, unless I'm in a very noisy
| area and I need to focus on a work task.
|
| I'd say what you describe is an active form of meditation. I
| do that now when swimming, walking, or simply having a coffee
| in the morning and looking at the ocean.
| mjochim wrote:
| > Stop listening to podcasts. > > Enjoy the quiet.
|
| For me, this translates directly to "close this very tab."
| "Now." And I'll do that, but I'll hit reply first ;-).
| wholinator2 wrote:
| Exactly, i agree. But i also fight with the idea that there
| might be some extra wisdom if i just keep scrolling a little
| bit longer. Maybe if i close now I'll miss out on the most
| important part
| pyfan878 wrote:
| I'd add cut off browsing news/reddit and scrolling social
| media. It also overload the brain with garbage.
| matwood wrote:
| I've been switching back to classical music more and more for
| this reason. For me it fades into background like white noise.
| Slightly related, but one of my favorite ways to exercise for
| many years has been Jiu-Jitsu. It forces presence in the exact
| moment, which for me triggers a mind flush. When I get done
| training I often immediately see solutions to problems I had
| been exploring.
|
| Finally, there is a fairly new book that suggests to stop
| listening to things at all waking hours, "STFU: The Power of
| Keeping Your Mouth Shut in an Endlessly Noisy World".
| alexalx666 wrote:
| classical music is great! I started with piano sonatas and
| now able to enjoy piano and violin concerts. Highly recommend
| Roon/Qobuz combo for streaming classical
| bitL wrote:
| Taking a break from work and just going for a walk/bike ride in a
| forest or visiting some interesting place while traveling and
| working remotely often gave me really great ideas that helped me
| to solve problems at hand much faster than sitting in an office,
| fighting with a problem. Like what would take me a week to solve
| was often done in a day when changing scenery.
| Carrok wrote:
| Very much so.
|
| I have solved far more tricky problems on a chair lift at a ski
| area than I have in an office chair.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2023-05-17 23:01 UTC)