TOYL – Task Tracker

Don’t you just hate it when you’re planning to work or worse, are in the middle of a work session and a notification comes in on your phone—a “quick check” becomes hours later. 

Also, do you know how much time you work on certain tasks in relation to the time you have allocated for work per week? 
Enter the TOYL Task Tracker. It enables you to switch off your phone and focus on work, while simultaneously enabling you to set up the amount of time you’d like to work per week—say 60 hours—and the tasks that you’d like to get done. When you sit down for a session, you get an idea of how much time you have left for your overall work. The Tracker has two modes: Timer, where you’ve preset how much time you’d like to spend per task per week, and Stopwatch, where you can simply start-stop the timer after selecting a task.  

Materials

  • Feather Huzzah
  • FeatherWing
  • Male header pins 
  • Female header pins 
  • 500mAh battery 
  • Stranded wire 
  • Pliers 
  • Breadboard 
  • Opaque acrylic sheet 24”x18”
  • Access to a laser cutter 
  • Vector software

Instructable

Link to instructable

Process

Laser cutting process

Sketches

Reflections

Initially, I wanted to make the enclosure using foam core. I’m glad I managed to get out of my comfort zone and learned how to use the laser cutter. My reason for this project was to create something that I could use to better manage and track my workflow in my graduate studies while minimizing distractions. In the future, I would like to put more time into completing it.

KG’s final project update

FocussedWork Task Tracker

Project outline

Link to project outline on Google docs

Instructable

Link to draft project instructable

Project video description

My video will have two actors. In the first scene actor 1 they will be preparing for a work session but keep being distracted by their phone. In scene two, actor 2 notices this and makes a recommendation for them to use the FocussedWork Task Tracker. In scene 3 Actor 1 uses the Tracker and is able to complete a 40min session of work distraction-free.

Parts I need to work in class:

  • Feather Huzzah
  • FeatherWing
  • Breadboard
  • Male & female header pins
  • Soldering equipment
  • Cardboard to prototype the size of the final clock
  • Craft knife

KG’s final project proposals

  1. Silent countdown LED timer

2. A phone cover or bracelet whose colour is dependent on a bank balance or budget

3. Distraction tracker button that sits on your desk

LE-fish (Plush night light)

The story

Jellyfish are able to digest / break down trash – specifically microplastics. There is research (https://phys.org/news/2018-10-plastic-jellyfish-filters.html) that is being conducted on how their mucus can be used to create microplastic filters that could prevent aquamarine pollution.

Using plastic as my primary material, my night light is a metaphor of how good (discovery of the jellyfish’s ability) can come from a negative and gloomy situation (human plastic waste). The target users are individuals and companies that would like a visual example of this.

Proceeds from sales will go to aquamarine conservationists.

Process

The outer material

Painting then fusing plastics together using a hot iron

The inner circuit