Hacker News Reader

Comment by 9_weslay | Hacker News Reader

I used to think I was working hard until I began tracking my focused work time, excluding trivial tasks like emails. I was surprised to find I averaged only 40-50 hours a week. My goal is to maintain a consistent 60.

I created a web app with a stopwatch and a bar chart log. Start the stopwatch when working and pause for breaks.

Here's an example of how my friend, Sam, has been using the app: www.countthehours.app/u/samdarmali

Hope you guys find it helpful!

View on HN

For what its worth I think the premise of a webapp-only time tracking application is flawed. Around 40% of my "focused work time" is done in places where an internet connection is not available. How am I supposed to track that time?

Even if your app works "offline" (IE, I have the page loaded in my mobile browser and it works even when device has no internet) having to open the web browser on my mobile device to track those tasks is a pain.

Similar to calendaring, recording audio-notes to self, task tracking, note taking, and health tracking, time tracking is something that I think needs a dedicated mobile application that works offline but can then sync to a webservice when it does have a connection.

It does not necessarily need all the same features, but you are making a lot of assumptions about how people get work done if the premise of your time tracking application is that it requires a desktop/laptop and an internet connection.

Have you considered that if your trackable focus time is mostly offline, you’re not the intended user?

My trackable focus time is not 'mostly offline', but thats besides the point.

And you are probably right, but thats like saying that if you are blind or deaf your not the intended user. More often then not people don't get to choose whether or not they have access to the internet. Its an accessibility issue. Excluding users for things that are outside of their control is not right.

I'm sorry but a) no it is not the same thing as being deaf or blind. A currently Internet-less person can at some point have Internet. In fact, it is probably the case that most people who don't have Internet at any particular moment, will have Internet at some later point. Deaf and blind people do not typically become able to hear or sighted suddenly. b) The idea that not specifically creating a solution for someone in a particular condition is the same as actively excluding them, as you seem to imply by your axiological "it's not right" judgment, is incorrect. By your logic, making any tool for anything at all, so long as it has any dependency whatsoever, excludes all people who don't have those prerequisites, which, again according to you, "is not right". This would mean that even a tool which worked offline "wouldn't be right" since it excluded people without computers, smartphones, etc.

Your points are well made and well articulated, but I nevertheless disagree. Of course access to the internet is not the same as deafness/blindness, but I never said it was. its similar in that is an accessibility issue.

There are obviously accommodations and functionalities that are unreasonable to implant when it comes to accommodating accessibility issues. But offline functionality is not one of them, not for time tracking.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com