Thoughts about Rest Time?

[SteveJobzniak]

I got an email about this being released today. I don't know how I feel about it...

Rest Time (http://www.publicspace.net/RestTime/index.html)

It sits in the menubar, and at regular intervals it blocks the whole screen and forces you to take a break. I used the trial today and noticed that I feel more relaxed when I am forced to split the day into 30 minute work with 5 minute rest periods. You can set the durations and you can skip the break if you are in the zone... It's a good looking app.

It's also coded in a way that doesn't require access to "Assistive Devices", so unlike other similar apps it cannot do keylogging. It's safer.

On the other hand, I have their other product, Vitamin-R, and it seems like this new app should be built into that one instead... (http://www.publicspace.net/Vitamin-R/index.html). It's an app for starting work on a task with a given time duration, and taking forced breaks. It tracks what you spent your time on... as well as how productive you felt, at what hours, for what work lengths, etc...

So this new Rest Time app is like a simpler version of that, with a full-screen blocking... and no statistics.

I'm torn. I really like the feeling of this new app but it doesn't work together with Vitamin-R...

Perhaps one of you will figure out Rest Time and what to do with it.

 

[960design]

I use my Apple Watch. Code for 50 minutes, get up and walk around for 10, when it tells me.

 

[SteveJobzniak]

I use my Apple Watch. Code for 50 minutes, get up and walk around for 10, when it tells me.

Cool, I might have to get an Apple Watch.

 

[SteveJobzniak]

I sent this question:

I don’t really understand Rest Time since it doesn’t integrate with Vitamin-R. So if I want to work for X minutes and then take a forced break, I need to set up two separate timers in two separate apps.

Should I just wait and hope that you’ll bring Rest Time features into Vitamin-R? This experience is too disjointed at the moment.

And got this answer:

Vitamin-R and Rest Time aren't designed to work cooperatively. They are two distinct applications with two completely different purposes in mind. Vitamin-R is specifically designed for productivity enhancement, while Rest Time is more suited for periods you don't have to track time/objectives/productivity trends. Vitamin-R is great for work, while Rest Time is best for the rest of your day.

Of course, that's not to say that the developer won't redesign Vitamin-R to appear and work more similarly to Rest Time. He is in the early design stages for Vitamin-R 3, so we just might have a nice major refresh to enjoy.

I'll wait for Vitamin-R 3!