auto-start break time should be optional

[hunkjazz]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Not always I can simply stop working and have a break.

It's like reading a book, before sleep. If you feel asleep while reading, you can't stop in the middle of a sentence and sleep. It's best to finish the whole page or a sentence, at least.

Describe the solution you'd like

When work time finishes, play button could be replaced by another button representing break time. When user clicks on it, then breaks starts. Otherwise, break time may start in a not so desired time. Hence, user may loose control of the app.

Additional context

I'm taking all of these ideas from TickTick. It may help downloading their mobile app to improve yours.

[roldanjr]

You have a point with this. I will try to make it soon as I can. 👍

[roldanjr]

Hello @hunkjazz . I tried to implement the feature you've requested.
I found it conflict with Full-screen Break feature.

Let say, the user enabled Full-screen Break and disabled Auto-start Break Time.
Since there's no play, paused, skip or reset button while user's still on full-screen mode. It is impossible for the user to exit the app. The only way to quit the app is to restart the operating system.

What I am proposing instead, I will add feature that enable the user from extending the work time if needed.

Like for example, it takes 5 - 10 minutes to finish the task and the user wants to finish it first before he/she takes the break.
The user can extend the timer duration up to let say 10 minutes. It makes the app flexible enough from what the users need.

This feature might helpful too if I started to develop Productivity Report.

What do you think?

[hunkjazz]

best of both worlds!

[roldanjr]

I will just put Time Extender feature to Roadmap as of now.

I tried to develop it and used the notification property of node-notifier for that but unfortunately Linux doesn't support it.

I will try to do some alternatives as soon as I can.

[OndrejVasicek]

Hi Roldan and thanks for your great app.

The idea with extending the time work time sounds good on paper, but I’m a bit worried about it in real life situations. When am I supposed to extend the time? Before the break begins? In real life, I’m working, I’m focused for the whole time (and I want to keep that this way) and don’t know there is a break coming. When the break hits, should I just press “add 5 minutes” button, the break ends, and the work time continues again? I don’t know, it seems strange.

There is another solution, to notify user when the break is coming, but it’s honestly contra productive solution, while the app is supposed to let me be focused. So many notifications are disturbing. And see a notification saying “you have 30 second to delay the break or the brake force you too…take a break” :D is just ridiculous and totally kills my ongoing focus.

In other apps, the straightforward solution is to just stop the timer after 25 mins and wait for the user to start the break timer. I’m quite happy with this solution even though it’s not perfect. I understand, you mentioned the problem with full screen mode. But doesn’t that mean there is a need to fix/enhance the full screen mode to have some button for this purpose, rather than twist and complicate other parts of the app? Or maybe just simply disable the fullscreen feature when using this discussed feature?

Other way it can work and it would fit to your Productivity Report: the work timer doesn’t stop after 25 minutes – it gives the user notification, that the work time is over and is running over (the timer can get red).

This solution is great for those reasons.

• The user knows now, he should take a break but isn’t force to do something in 30 seconds
• His focus isn’t broken
• No other “prenotification” bothers me
• I can decide if I take a break now or just finish the feature, which takes me for example 7 minutes and 36 second – which is something I don’t know in the beginning off course, so it makes sense to just start the break when I finish, not to guess “hmm, give me another 5 or 10” and then add another time if I don’t make it or finish early and have some spare time – it’s silly. I’ll get just the right time I need and then stop.
• The over time will be logged for the purpose of report.

What do you think about it?