One Thing – Put a single task or goal in your menu bar | Hacker News Reader

One Thing – Put a single task or goal in your menu bar

sindresorhus.com

142 pointssogen89 comments

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!

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.

Easier ways to accomplish this:

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20220906-00/?p=10....

I use the Run window for this same thing

I used to use the URL bar to clear formatting from copy and paste. Copy, paste to URL bar, copy and then paste to destination.

Line Spacing goes away in this method for multiple sentences. This method is good for 1 word / 1 line.

I paste in the url bar and copy again as clear text.

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.

That also loses line breaks, as well as requiring significantly more steps for a single copy-paste.

> 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

Option-Shift-Command-V is such an uncomfortable keyboard command. I wish I could rebind plain Command-V itself to paste without style always.

You can do this with Karabiner-Elements, but as noted this doesn't work everywhere — IIRC, it doesn't work in apps that don't have a "Paste and Match Style" menu item. Pure Paste solves this, as does Paste Plain Text.

If you use Raycast (highly recommended), you can also use its Paste As Plain Text extension: https://www.raycast.com/koinzhang/paste-as-plain-text

You don’t need any extra software to do this. You can reassign `⌘-V` to `Paste and Match Style` by running this in the terminal:

defaults write -g NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add 'Paste and Match Style' '@v';

I’ve been using this for years, and it works perfectly in most programs. If an app doesn’t have a `Paste and Match Style` option, its regular `Paste` command continues using `⌘-V`. But occasionally I want to paste an image and can’t because the `Paste and Match Style` command doesn’t work with non-text clipboard items.

Wow. Great. I have a txt file on my desktop only for that.

I paste the text there and then copy it again.

For Windows there’s PureText: https://stevemiller.net/puretext/

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.

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.

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!

> 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.

Ah, yes. Distribution is an interesting challenge to solve.

It’d be useful if we had some form of electronic mail.

If only.

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.

Yes, I am capable of reading an entire sentence.

I think a forest is being missed for some trees here.

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.

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?

Ok. Fair enough.

I respect Sindre Sorhus' work, and I'm not going to denigrate it. I'm not sure if that was ever in question, but I'd like to make that clear up front.

The One Thing tool is certainly neat. What confused me was a previous commenters fawning. The tool's author is certainly productive and has published lots of great stuff over a long period of time, but that does not mean the One Thing tool "was definitely made out of a need for efficiency or self improvement".

If the goal is "to help you focus on a single task", then there are certainly more "efficient" ways of achieving that. Again, not to say I don't like the tool. I like the tool. And I respect the author. But the lionization struck me as peculiar.

> But the lionization struck me as peculiar.

It's wrong to speak highly of friends now. Got it.

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”

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.

I'm happy to speak highly of someone I have worked closely with for over a decade.

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.

I was going to write the same thing! Some cool stuff in there.

There exists many apps that should have been a post-it

There’s definitely worse ways to procrastinate.

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

> 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.

1.Start task 2.Finish task 3.Profit

1. Make a plan 2. Procrastinate 3. Forget the Plan

https://www.instagram.com/digitallybaffled/?hl=en is amazing.

For adhd the “plan” is more like a Rube Goldberg

You forgot “then a miracle occurs” between steps 1 and 2.

What if you're spinlocked?

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

Gnome (Linux) equivalent: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/5072/one-thing/

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.

How do you do that? You don’t mean literal post it notes right?

The default Stickies app in macOS has a “float” capability for the notes, so they can always be on top

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.

TIL! Looks super useful. I will try it now

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.

I was thinking the same thing, except I pipe shell script output into dzen2. For bonus points, make the text display the currently clocked-in Emacs org-mode task. Of course, this appears in the emacs mode line, so maybe just style it to make it more prominent?

Or.. Maybe just permanent text in the bar? "Stop configuring your WM and get some work done" ;)

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.

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.

That’s actually a cool hack

1Password becomes One Thing if your password is your thing

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.

I do the same with textbar

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

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.

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

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.

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.

I use a todo thing I made https://madprops.github.io/Hoff/

I don't care about due dates, I just write the tasks I have to do in the short term (same day).

Then tick them when they're done.

It helps me not forget things too since I can add a task when I have an idea.

I have a dedicated spot on my monitor to display it.

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)

Make sure to check the other apps from this developer, there's some very cool ones!

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.

This is what I do, on an ugly post-it. Encourages me to get rid of it.

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!

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.

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.

In the more lean environments I've worked in the experienced people often agree that "If we can't remember this thing in the future, it probably wasn't that important."

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.

I made for myself something similar, for display in my shell prompt https://github.com/netgusto/tax

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.

Any android or windows equivalent? Please and thank you.

Searched for alternatives but did not find any, sorry

thanks for trying,i came up empty handed too.

An app that does one thing, extremely visual. A detailed landing page.

No screenshot.

Facepalm, frankly.

I think most of the "free sales" will come from the App Store, which already requires a screenshot preview.

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?

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.

I run uBO too with stricter rules it sounds like but I still saw the screenshot. I'm on Firefox on Windows.

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.

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)

Or follow the link to the App Store and look at the screenshots there.

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

Well, speaking for myself -- I dont use any iOS device I so never had the need/habit to visit AppStore links to learn about apps, so I probably didn't have the learned neural pathway to click on it to satisfy my curiosity.

In fact I just clicked on it now on my PC and it's taking forever to load -- probably blocked by uBlock Origin / uMatrix by default.

Also, the original page seems to have since been upated to show screenshots. So everyone should be happy including me :)

I recently rewrote my website and product screenshots is still a todo. Just follow the App Store button for screenshots.

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/...

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.

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.

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?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com