Stay Focused

A Brief History of Reinventing the Wheel (From the Dawn of Time, Might Be Boring) Programming has been my passion for over 30 years, ever since my father gifted me an Atari 800XL at age 14, and I wrote my own Boulder Dash clone. After university, I shifted to commerce and offline entrepreneurship, while coding remained a "pure passion project," mostly for my own business needs: websites, custom CRM/ERP systems, various apps, and so on. I never actively pursued monetization in IT. Over the years, I accumulated a vast array of software solutions, experience, and a massive codebase. When you’re your own boss or a freelancer, "serious" task managers can feel overkill (even classic Kanban, since there’s no one to review completed tasks). At the same time, you need to plan tasks or at least keep track of them (memos, sticky notes, and notebooks aren’t ideal). I also dislike overly complex interfaces and bloated "all-in-one" solutions. So, I built myself a simple to-do list with task time tracking and a focus on one task at a time. Recently, I needed to create a Google Chrome extension. While diving into browser capabilities, an idea struck: why not turn my time tracker into an extension? This would unlock features like tracking time spent on work vs. leisure sites, helping me self-regulate. For example, monitoring time on productive sites versus distractions. Suddenly, a simple to-do list evolved into a tool for self-control. One week later, my to-do list became an extension. Then, I spent three weeks polishing it, using the extension itself to manage micro-tasks while delaying the release. Over time, the app’s concept solidified as a productivity tool focused on: - Breaking big goals into micro-tasks - Enforcing single-tasking - Splitting time into work sessions and breaks via focus modes - Tracking task durations and break times - Analyzing time spent across websites I showed it to colleagues, but the reception wasn’t what I expected: - A small minority used it as a time tracker; most didn’t care for that feature. - The majority treated it as a replacement for "monitor sticky notes and notebooks" and loved its simplicity. - Some were curious about tracking time on Gmail vs. Facebook, which helped them stay organized. - A few used it as a "soft" site blocker—a reminder to work, not a strict restriction. - Despite aiming for intuitiveness, many users still needed instructions. Each user group wanted the product to dive deeper into *their* specific use case. Post-launch, I realized: - Everyone and their dog makes a to-do list 😅. Few care about yet another one. - To-do apps are simple; there’s little room to "reinvent a better wheel." I tried with a clean UI (for me, at least). - Site blockers are hyper-competitive. Going that route would require strict restriction levels, site groups, schedules—and stray from the original vision. - The core "Stay Focused" positioning is risky. It’s vague, competitive, and attracts users with mismatched expectations. - Users *do* worry about privacy ("Is someone reading my tasks or tracking my porn sites?"). Building trust here is tricky—it’s a "leap of faith." **A Note on Privacy** This is non-negotiable. The extension collects no personally identifiable data, task details, or website usage history. All data stays in the browser’s local storage, inaccessible to developers or third parties. No IDFA/AdID tracking. Only anonymous metrics are used for product direction, like: - Percentage of users who never create tasks - Users who complete tasks without timing - Those using only the site blocker - Other aggregate stats (no individual insights). Even quantitative metrics on visited sites are **not** collected. While writing this, I had an idea: maybe publish a mini-guide on using browser DevTools to inspect what data any extension sends? If time allows, I’ll do it. **Future Plans?** The extension could pivot in many directions: a full site blocker, advanced cross-filtered analytics, a collaborative task tracker, Pomodoro-style work/rest balance, or even Mind Maps. But I don’t want to abandon the core idea of a super-simple, intuitive tool. For now: pause, gather feedback, and refine the concept. With only ~300 users, it’s too early for major conclusions. The next step is adding a feedback form or communication channel before making big changes. That’s the story of my first public product—a Chrome extension. Let’s see if it gains enough traction to justify further development. Any comments, suggestions, or feedback—bring it on! P.S. And apologies for yet another to-do list. 😊