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Ask HN: Have you ever tried measuring the time you spend digitally?

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Re: Ask HN: Have you ever tried measuring the time you spend digitally?

#4
2. It's not useful. There are some improvements, but overall it makes things worse.

A good breakdown is as follows:

    writing code/tests/documentation: 33%
    procrastinating (includes HN): 29%
    design: 13%
    debugging: 8%
    task/team management: 8%
    testing: 4%
    waiting for compile: 4%
On the worst days, I spend about 50% of time procrastinating. This is why I stopped - the more I tracked it, the worse it got. The more I try to stop procrastinating, the closer something is to a deadline, the more likely I tilt.

There were some patterns. Early morning and post-siesta were creative moments. These were perfect for design/debug/task management. Late morning were tired-focused moments. These were perfect for menial tasks, i.e. code and documentation.

When you're creative, your brain jumps all over the place, which also makes it prime procrastination moments. Focus is a bug; the human brain was not built for it. Which might be why many people code best late at night.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever tried measuring the time you spend digitally?

#5
i think this is pointless.

do whatever you want, you aren't a robot that could understand 'oh wow, i spend a lot of time watching youtube! I should study instead'

nobody would follow/pay for this, people know when they are procrastinating and wasting time

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever tried measuring the time you spend digitally?

#9

1. Yes and it’s quite useful. I use [1] to categorize it automatically. It helps to get a sense what I really spend my time on. As for only measuring time online, I find that less useful [1] https://activitywatch.net/

Hi, I'm curious to know if there's anything that you don't like about ActivityWatch ?
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