Humans are odd creatures, and no two are exactly alike, which is likely why so many different methods exist for tracking the progress of tasks that must be accomplished. [Simone Giertz] has graced us with her own spin on task tracking that adds an element of chance.
[Giertz] tells us that she started with written lists that she tackled in dice-determined order to keep her from overthinking or cherry-picking tasks. While this worked fine, she longed for a more elegant solution. Approaching the UI first, unlike any Open Source project ever, she determined that a marker that could randomly point to a task on a vertical list would be most pleasant.
The bulk of the project was evaluating different mechanisms to make the marker pick tasks at random while not selecting a task that had already been completed. A set of magnetic toggles that could repel the marker proved ineffective, but a simpler solution involving moving the completed tasks past a divider won the day. The finished product has a satisfying selection mechanism that makes interacting with the chore chart a joy, which probably helps make it more likely things get done.
We’ve seen many productivity hacks over the years, including Arya’s Hacking the Self, this rotary time tracker, or this e-ink macropad.
Glad to see that Simone is still alive and kicking, but I stopped the video when she started advertising a 3D printer brand that has also gone to the dark side.
Set up sponsorblock.
I didn’t even bother to click “play”. Intuition suggested it’s mere “content” designed to “monetize” attention.
If by “content designer to monetize attention”, you mean entertainment, then yes, that’s exactly what this is. I’ve been watching her videos for years now and all of her projects address imaginary or minor problems in absurd and impractical ways (i.e. projects just for fun; whimsy) but there is absolutely a lot of creativity and ingenuity that goes into her builds.
I didn’t even bother to read reply. Intuition suggested it’s mere “content” designed to “weaponize” aggravation.
Because otherwise, you’ve perhaps badly misunderstood the nature of this site…
I always get a laugh out of Simone’s random builds! Nothing will quite top the incredibly aggressive alarm clock she built years ago, though.
Hm, am I the only one to realise that we never saw her spinning for tasks when the finished tab had been moved up?
I think that’s for a good reason.
The mechanism uses a screw drive with a grooved cam shaft which I remember from cheap matrix printers from a millennium long past. Those screw drives require you to go through the full cycle (i.e. one end to the other end) before reversing direction — at least unless you change the direction of the rotation of the cam shaft. If you insert an end stop (like her Finished indicator), there would be a rather hard clunk and the contraption would probably come to a very sudden stop (or possibly fall apart if she drove it too hard).
I am afraid I have to call Foul! here.
But please tell me that I am wrong and show me how it could work as per her design.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ipkp8QTQWAo
The width of the chore pieces match the spacing of the spiral grooves, so that placing the finished indicator always aligns with an intersection of the spiral grooves. The chore selector bounces off of the finished indicator the same as it does from the bottom.
That said, I believe Giertz’s history of making should grant her some benefit of the doubt that she’s not just faking something like some unknown tiktok’er.
Also, Guy Incognito has now linked a video showing just the thing you’re asking for.
In this case I love to be wrong and send my apologies to Simone Giertz.
I wonder if the clunk would happen if the Finish line is not properly aligned — but that risk can be minimised (or even eliminated) by some fairly easy to make snapping technology.
Can it be done from SW?