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Show HN: ADHD-friendly Pomodoro web app

brainpls.work

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Re: Show HN: ADHD-friendly Pomodoro web app

#51
post #7

Nicely done. Does anyone else get anxiety from watching the timer get close to 0 and not being nearly done with you've set out to do in the pomo?

You might like third time: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/FDCJ2BfAT9qJGrpFa/what-s-wro...

> you can’t expect others to obey your tomato

This gave me a good chuckle

Re: Show HN: ADHD-friendly Pomodoro web app

#53
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-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.

Re: Show HN: ADHD-friendly Pomodoro web app

#54
post #5
post #3

What makes this ADHD friendly? Also, as you prob know, there are multiple free/FOSS native taskbar based pomodoro apps that really get out the way, what is the advantage of using a browser based on?

It's designed to be somewhere in view of the person using it. People with ADHD (myself included) struggle with time blindness and just starting tasks in general, so this helps with that (I hope) by: a) making the start of your tasks just a simple press of a button b) keeping your progress of time and your deadline right in front of you. It's just another one of pomodoro apps that I made specifically for myself and wa…

For me it would make more sense as a (native) desktop app, personally I like the idea of attention / flow timers but not if they're another browser tab (or electron app.

Re: Show HN: ADHD-friendly Pomodoro web app

#56
post #49
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's designed to be somewhere in view of the person using it. People with ADHD (myself included) struggle with time blindness and just starting tasks in general, so this helps with that (I hope) by: a) making the start of your tasks just a simple press of a button b) keeping your progress of time and your deadline right in front of you. It's just another one of pomodoro apps that I made specifically for myself and wa…

I would package this as a local nativefier app and have it running as a dedicated app/window for it to make sense for me.. This as a browser tab would just get lost. Is there source code for this?

Yep! https://github.com/grzracz/BrainPlsWork Enjoy :)

Re: Show HN: ADHD-friendly Pomodoro web app

#57

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 feel…

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.

Re: Show HN: ADHD-friendly Pomodoro web app

#58
post #57

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 feel…

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.

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. :)

Re: Show HN: ADHD-friendly Pomodoro web app

#59
Great project, but even better for other users - if you need something simple and bespoke, build it!

I love how the age of AI development is making whipping up an app like this for personal use more viable. I created a CLI study flashcard with progress tracking app in <30 minutes for my own purposes the other day.

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