So how could this be interesting to you?
The app
I read a book called Deep Work to improve the quality of my work and found the simple "shutdown ritual" idea powerful. I started with a dead simple list that I went through every evening to clear my mind and disconnect from work.
Then I decided to build a simple app and keep iterating in small increments every day I also use the app. After about 2mo I use it daily and it looks good enough to draw a line. So I made it public in case anyone else finds it useful.
The codebase
Meanwhile, I wanted to learn React Native and try react-native-web. I also wanted to see how well styled-components behaves "unversally" and how to do server-side-rendering with RNW. It worked pretty well (for the most part...) and I learned a lot.
If you're interested in this tech stack I encourage you to dig through the codebase and maybe run it locally to get a feel.
If you have any questions related to the app or the codebase, fire away. I'll answer gladly!
I've not used react or react-native so not sure how it handles this.
So I first made the app web-only, which is what I know best. Used CSS animations and they were smooth!
Then converted the project to React Native (because I wanted to learn how to make a RN app). But because I wanted to keep using the web app I used react-native-web, which had also been intriguing me for some time.
Result? Animations became much slower! react-native-web basically polyfills RN's Animated library [0], so maybe it's not very optimal. But to be honest, even when running the native app the animations seem janky (tried on Android via Expo and on iOS simulator).
So react-native-web is a great project, but I'll likely not use it again for a similar project. I'm a web believer anyway, so I'll probably do just web apps going forward unless some use case really benefits from native APIs.
[0] I never looked at the source but I assume the code for web animations is here https://github.com/necolas/react-native-web/tree/3fa18becc76...
I haven't read the book. Is that possible to understand the idea without reading the book?
The end-of-day shutdown is just that. You put your work day in order, you make sure your papers are tidy, you check what you need to do tomorrow (no nasty surprises) and perhaps a few days ahead, then you actually say, out loud, “shutdown complete”.
It’s supposed to help separate your day of (deep) work from your time off. I like the idea but – ha! – never remember to do it.
OP: cool looking app, it’s really nicely done. Was this a “teach myself a language” sort of project? If not, what was the motivation? [Edit: just seen your comment below.]
This would make an excellent companion to that. The lessons I've learned from that book have been incredibly valuable in helping me work more efficiently and happily. Thanks for building this.
https://twitter.com/JaysonElliot/status/1057490478625705985
The front page has an unmarked calendar so you can write in any three month period. It's meant for the Jerry Seinfeld chain method. Write the one thing you want to do every day at the top, and X out the days that you do it.
Inside, each day has one page broken into 30 minute blocks, with a column for "plan" and one for "actual." Next to that is an open area with a dot grid for planning. (I also put a full page of dot grid on the back, for random notes.)
Use your shutdown ritual each evening to make a list of things you want to do the next day in the dot grid area. Then assign them to 30-minute slots in the "plan" area.
As you go through your day, write down what you really did with your time in the "actual" column. Then you can review in the evening, and see how your plans differed from reality, to help you plan more accurately as you continue to use the notebook.
I hope this is helpful to someone, it's been a great tool for me.
Deep Work reads like a lightweight book but impact of its practices are huge. Glad to see other people who found it useful.
Maybe this will help. I think I'll schedule an event on my calendar to visit jobs-done.now.sh and go through the checklist. Then it would be good to relax for an hour or two and read/watch something before sleeping. The problem with my weird schedule is that I usually go to sleep immediately after finishing work, so I don't think that's very good.
Happy to hear you're giving Jobs Done a try. Note that you can customize the steps, set phrase and suggested activities by cloning the repo, editing data.js, building and publishing the static build with a service like https://zeit.co/now or https://surge.sh (free).
Good luck!
Once alarm rings, shutdown TV or computer, take a shower, change into sleep wear.
Dumps all work related ideas out of my head for me to feel like I can leave work at work.
Windows 10, Google Chrome Version 70.0.3538.77 (Official Build) (64-bit)
It works on Firefox Quantum though!
EDIT: It seems on Chrome I need to press on the Start text itself; clicking the button doesn't work.
This must have been the most depressing thing I've read in a long time.
But Heartstone? Ha! Go back in time another 12 years.
I used to play Warcraft III in highschool and that sound stuck with me for sure.
PWAs play nicely like this on Android, which is what I'm using atm. I'm actually planning to switch back to iOS soon but not being able to have web app shortcuts on my home page would be a bummer!
It is possible. This is actually what they had in mind before the app store... every app was just going to be a shortcut to a webpage.
Side note: The future I want for myself is not hard-hustling multimillionaire tech executive. More like local small business owner.
Probably only applies to single people, though.
I have to say I've gotten much better at avoiding overworking myself lately, but evenings are still an issue (again, probably only relevant for single people).
The suggestions I've added help but not entirely, as evenings usually have to be planned in advance (you can't just summon friends at 5:59pm).
Going through these activity suggestions daily helps me in two ways: 1) it reminds me what a true afterhours activity looks like (ie. not more work stuff desguised as leisure) and 2) it reminds me to plan ahead my evenings in the near future.
I usually do it in periods where I'd have a few weeks fully booked and the other two relatively free except regular ones.
The activities part is very experimental. I basically realised that I suck at planning my evenings and it's hard to disconnect unless a pasttime activity draws you in and shifts your focus.
That said, definitely looking for suggestions. Maybe a reminder to "plan evening activities for the following days" might be more suited than "ideas for what to do NOW".
See my related comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18339840
> OP: cool looking app, it’s really nicely done. Was this a “teach myself a language” sort of project? If not, what was the motivation? [Edit: just seen your comment below.]
Thanks! A combination of learning RN and adopting Deep Work principles by building something around it --- my favorite type of learning, albeit time consuming :).
When I travel my life looks more interesting, but when I settle in one place for a while to focus on work (current situation) I often fail to schedule my personal life. Definitely an area I can improve.
I'm very excited for Capacitor's support for React coming soon! It seems pretty awesome with Angular, so I'm hoping supporting React provides the same experience.
Of course I'd love to be proven wrong and shown what animation optimizations I missed in my code.
I haven't heard of Capacitor yet, but I've used Cordova in the past. Is it a big improvement?
Let me know if you see any improvement: https://jobs-done.now.sh