Hey everyone. I recently joined a Bootcamp for software engineering and development and there is a good amount of ideas I would like to pursue. Initially, I do not initially intend to capitalize on them, but use them as a way to challenge my learning, education, apply what I learned and also create things that solve problems for me and others around me. Also as a way to see what works, why, and what fails and why. Since I am learning, I decided to consider things that are rather simple. For now, everything will be developed on OS X, aside from extensions, as I'm Mac and Safari only, but I considered Chrome as I know the extension market is significantly bigger.
Ideas:
Safari / Chrome tab timer that tracks how long you spend on a specific tab. The timer would start automatically as a new tab is opened. There is a lot of people that "are going to check their e-mail in the morning" and end up hours deep browsing YouTube and Reddit. I think this is a good solution for that, and could also have settings such as "alert me when I've been on a tab for 10 minutes", or even be set to a specific page.
Similar to above, but a computer session timer usage that tracks how long you have been using your computer from the minute you turn it on / wake it from sleep. The timer will simply be displayed at the top UI, I always forget what it's called (Where it shows what program you're on, File, Edit, View, etc) This would be useful for me and others because: I have to stretch every 1-2hours, and I notice that working in blocks with breaks in between, as opposed to a full 4-6-8 hour session on the computer, is significantly more productive, but often I and others forget to start actual timers when trying to use apps like Pomodoro timers or ActivityTimer.
An extension / tracker that tracks how many times you visit a website a day, and allows you to set goals / limits for how often you visit those websites and how much time you spent on them. It can also set up alerts for when thresholds are exceeded and can provide with end-of-the day/week e-mail reports.
An application that tracks how often you change tabs, or tracks patterns in random reading subjects or unrelated websites and signals that you have begun to be distracted and began to browse/surf the net, which is a common obstacle now-a-days, especially for people who are constricted to working on the computer.
Self-destructing applications / tabs. I've seen a few applications but most are broken and limited.
Multi-copypaste using extension shortcuts of Command+C such as Command+C+2 for 2nd copy, Command+C+3 for third copy, etc.
A single-task To-Do list that displays the task on the top bar, I THINK it's called the menu bar. You can add tasks to the backlog but only 1 task will be displayed, always.
A digital sticky-note app. All it would be is a little icon on the menu bar that drops down a section where you can type things that you don't want to forget. They can be exported to different doc types at the end of the day for those who are forgetful, and could possibly be placed in a folder. It wouldn't actually be a sticky note, but just bars/lines of text. I just call it that because that is what I used to use sticky notes for, but after a while... the sticky overload get's intimidating, I end up not doing them, and I guess it was as good as forgetting them. Since then I swapped to a "system" I created on a note-taking app called SimpleNote. I call it a distraction thought log. If for example I'm working on learning code on a 1 hour block, and I get an unrelated thought about something I have to do later that day, I add it to the distraction thought log, and anything I feel like I need to do but can't put my finger on / forget, I glance at the distraction thought-log entry for the day. I also review them at the end of the week to make sure I didn't miss anything important.
I've also thought about an application that tracks your eye patterns and signals you when you are stressed/anxious through patterns like dilation of your pupils or an incremental/sudden increase in eye movements, as people often get quite "quick" or impulsive when they are mentally strained or so. It could be connected to notifications that open a UI and show quick 1-3 minute meditation sessions such as deep breathing to calm your Amygdala / fight-or-flight response. The earlier the pattern is spotted, the less you'd have to meditate, similar to how they say you need 45m to an hour to recover after a panic attack, as your body simply gets tired of the production of Adrenaline and other things that fuel this. This idea would probably have to hold off for a bit as I know I'd have to integrate machine learning and other things which are a bit more complex.
I have a LOT of other ideas but once again, have constricted myself to things that are more beginner. If someone could give me feedback on the ideas, that would be wonderful. I really don't mind being shot down or being told they don't work, as learning what is a fluke and what doesn't would really help me refine my idea-brainstorming system. Many ideas are not completely original and come from a mix of things I've used that didn't work because they weren't polished or complete, and things I wish existed because I know they'd help me and therefore, others with similar problems. I know the productivity app/extension market is quite saturated but as you can see, I'm not just trying to pump out another to do list app with a nice interface. There is a lot of problems these solve that I have not found existing applications or developments will help with or solve. From what I've seen, those that have do so in a very limited manner.
Most are pretty cool. Some could not be monetized some could. As long as you continue to learn it is not a waste. Always keep your eyes open for problems. The ideas you present are nice but they really are not designed around any real problem. Keep plugging away a real problem will pop up as they do every day.
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