This was posted on HN a while ago and I started using it then. I've accumulated quite a bit of data and have used both export and import. That's turned out to be the most useful feature for me
I've used other trackers, ones focused on CBT. My only suggestion is to allow text notes in each entry, so I can track emotional states or recurring thoughts
I love this. My only gripe is that I wish habit trackers were more evidenced-based for some real accountability. "Work out 25 minutes" is such an easy habit to fudge by showing up late to the gym, but if you know 22 minutes can't get you the tick mark, you do the extra work required to create the space in your schedule.
With vision models, evidence-ing should be easy, but what's the best way to make it privacy first without needing a dedicate GPU tower at home?
Ultimately I don't think you will ever be able to rely on technology to validate authenticity . Even if you had a live human expert checking you off, you could still feel you didn't really give your all even though they were satisfied. There is no such thing as being able to objectively verify that you fully engaged in the spirit of a thing.
I also think your thinking on tick marks is backwards. If you're struggling to "fully do" a goal, you should absolutely be giving yourself tick marks. That way the desire to to maintain the streak helps keep you in the rhythm. Habit trackers aren't trying to "perfectly record your activities" - they use psychology to push you into building a habit. Once you get into the stage where the habit is established but you want to push yourself - then you get into detailed food and workout journaling that will let you track intensity over time. But if you aren't making it to the gym the intensity doesn't matter yet.
At least Atomic Habits says it's more important to show up. Like a good way to start a running habit is just to put on your shoes every day even if you don't run.
So here just going to the gym could be enough to check of the box for the habit, rather than say you failed if you don't do the whole 25 minutes or you feel like you wasted time at the gym.
You of course can build on top but it's good to have that fallback minimum.
You're gonna do better at building the habit working out for 1 minute per day than 7 days in a row for 60 minutes, a few times a year.
i would say, be generous with yourself in terms of tracking showing up at all since that alone is huge (and most important for sustaining the behavior). if you notice that you're slipping and showing up late too often, maybe create another habit for being on time?
i don't understand the rationale behind cheating one's own self improvement journal. what's the end game?
Self-destruction, via small acts of self-sabotage.
Next day, your inner critic and saboteur tell you something along the lines of: "You shouldn't go today - you're tired, there's so much work that you should do instead, and you're not even doing the gym actually/properly (AGAIN), just look at yesterday, you couldn't even do 25 min, you've cheated and have now tainted it". Even though it was the same exact voice that led you to do it yesterday.
i don't think that computer vision gates or even an ai agent trying to enforce accountability are going to help all that much in that case. maybe try a therapist or a real-life accountability partner.
I’ve tried it all. No real life partner can be there on the hour (most accountability partner systems work on a daily/weekly basis). “Friends” definitely don’t work.
An automated measurement system is the way to go. Like the poster above you said, the “cheating” rarely happens in a binary Yes/No situation or me going into a log and editing it (that would obviously be silly). It happens in the rolling measurements, the 22mins vs 25 mins hard day gray zone situations
Follow-up: Would also love a Rewards tab attached to a certain amount of growth in the habit-score Ala Habitica but with real-world rewards. Great setup so far though!
I don’t mind AI-written code. But an obviously generated README.md is such a turn off. If you don’t take the time to explain what your software does in your own words, I struggle to trust that it’s been thought about much at all.
If the app is good the app is good. End of discussion
Why do you care how it was made? What’s next? It matters what country or city the developer is from or ahah language it’s written in or what machines were used or how the electric was sourced
I've used other trackers, ones focused on CBT. My only suggestion is to allow text notes in each entry, so I can track emotional states or recurring thoughts
I use Loop Habit Tracker¹ on Android which at a glance seems similar.
I wish someone could pair a habit tracker with a CalDAV task tracker like jtx Board².
¹ https://f-droid.org/packages/org.isoron.uhabits ² https://f-droid.org/packages/at.techbee.jtx
With vision models, evidence-ing should be easy, but what's the best way to make it privacy first without needing a dedicate GPU tower at home?
I also think your thinking on tick marks is backwards. If you're struggling to "fully do" a goal, you should absolutely be giving yourself tick marks. That way the desire to to maintain the streak helps keep you in the rhythm. Habit trackers aren't trying to "perfectly record your activities" - they use psychology to push you into building a habit. Once you get into the stage where the habit is established but you want to push yourself - then you get into detailed food and workout journaling that will let you track intensity over time. But if you aren't making it to the gym the intensity doesn't matter yet.
So here just going to the gym could be enough to check of the box for the habit, rather than say you failed if you don't do the whole 25 minutes or you feel like you wasted time at the gym.
You of course can build on top but it's good to have that fallback minimum.
You're gonna do better at building the habit working out for 1 minute per day than 7 days in a row for 60 minutes, a few times a year.
i don't understand the rationale behind cheating one's own self improvement journal. what's the end game?
Next day, your inner critic and saboteur tell you something along the lines of: "You shouldn't go today - you're tired, there's so much work that you should do instead, and you're not even doing the gym actually/properly (AGAIN), just look at yesterday, you couldn't even do 25 min, you've cheated and have now tainted it". Even though it was the same exact voice that led you to do it yesterday.
An automated measurement system is the way to go. Like the poster above you said, the “cheating” rarely happens in a binary Yes/No situation or me going into a log and editing it (that would obviously be silly). It happens in the rolling measurements, the 22mins vs 25 mins hard day gray zone situations
Why do you care how it was made? What’s next? It matters what country or city the developer is from or ahah language it’s written in or what machines were used or how the electric was sourced
Who cares!
Great work.