⏱️ Multi-Task Timer

A focused, distraction-free desktop timer for managing up to 4 parallel tasks — built for makers, developers, and deep workers.

Features • Installation • Usage • Configuration • Build

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🎯 What is this?

Multi-Task Timer lets you track up to 4 countdown timers simultaneously — each named, independently controllable, and fully configurable. Ideal for time-boxing your coding sessions, meetings, study blocks, or any workflow where you juggle multiple tasks at once.

Unlike generic timer apps, each task has its own full UI card with start/pause/reset, manual time editing, and a "minutes already used" shortcut — keeping you accurate without friction.

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✨ Features

• 🔢 4 independent countdown timers — each with its own state machine (IDLE → RUNNING → PAUSED → FINISHED)
• ✏️ Click-to-edit timer — tap the display to type in mm:ss directly
• ⚡ "Minutes Used" shortcut — enter minutes already elapsed to auto-calculate remaining time
• 🔔 Sound alerts — plays a Windows system sound or your custom .wav / .mp3 / .ogg on finish
• 🪟 Desktop notification popup — non-blocking card-style popup with auto-dismiss timeout
• 🔦 Taskbar flash — Windows taskbar flashes until you re-focus the app (never miss a timer)
• ⚙️ Settings dialog — rename tasks, change base duration, pick notification sound
• 🔄 Auto-save config — settings persist in %APPDATA%\MultiTaskTimer\config.json with automatic .bak backup
• 🖥️ HiDPI aware — proper scaling on high-resolution displays

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🖼️ Screenshot

4 task cards, each at 60:00 and IDLE. Click ▶ Start to begin any task.

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🚀 Installation

Requirements

Dependency	Version	Notes
Python	3.10+	Required
PySide6	6.6+	UI framework
pygame	latest	Audio playback

Note: Full feature support on Windows 10/11. Linux/macOS: UI works, but system sounds and taskbar flash are unavailable.

From source

# 1. Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/an-tc2912/multi-task-timer.git
cd multi-task-timer

# 2. Create and activate a virtual environment  
python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate        # Windows
# source venv/bin/activate   # Linux / macOS

# 3. Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# 4. Run
python main.py

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🎮 Usage

Action	How
Start a timer	Click ▶ Start on any task card
Pause	Click ⏸ Pause on a running card
Reset	Click ↺ Reset
Edit time directly	Click the mm:ss display → type a new value
Set by time already used	Enter elapsed minutes in the "Minutes Used" field
Start all 4 timers at once	Click ▶ Start All in the footer
Stop / reset all timers	⏸ Stop All or ↺ Reset All in the footer
Open settings	Click the ⚙ gear icon (top right)

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⚙️ Configuration

Settings are saved automatically to:

%APPDATA%\MultiTaskTimer\config.json

Key	Default	Description
task_names	["Task 1"…"Task 4"]	Labels shown on each card
base_minutes	60	Countdown duration in minutes
sound_path	"" (system default)	Path to a .wav/.mp3/.ogg audio file
sound_enabled	true	Toggle completion sound on/off
popup_timeout_seconds	10	Auto-dismiss timeout for notification popup

💡 A .bak backup is written before every config save. If the file is corrupted on startup, the app automatically falls back to defaults and shows a toast notification.

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🏗️ Build Binary

Build a standalone .exe (no Python required on target machine):

pip install pyinstaller
pyinstaller App_Timer_Miner.spec

Output will be in dist/.

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🗂️ Project Structure

multi-task-timer/
├── main.py                    # App entry point
├── requirements.txt           # Python dependencies
├── App_Timer_Miner.spec       # PyInstaller build config
└── src/
    ├── config.py              # Config read/write (%APPDATA%)
    ├── models.py              # TaskTimer state machine
    ├── audio.py               # Sound player (pygame.mixer)
    ├── styles.py              # Qt stylesheet tokens & constants
    ├── utils/
    │   └── logger.py          # File logger (%APPDATA%\app.log)
    └── widgets/
        ├── main_window.py     # Main dashboard window
        ├── task_card.py       # Individual timer card widget
        ├── settings_dialog.py # Settings popup
        ├── notif_popup.py     # Task completion notification
        └── toast.py           # In-app toast messages

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🗺️ Roadmap

• macOS system sound & dock bounce support
• Global hotkeys (start/pause all without focusing window)
• Task history log with export to CSV
• Light mode / theme switcher
• Pomodoro mode integration

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🤝 Contributing

Pull requests are welcome! For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you'd like to change.