2023-06-13 02:25:18 +00:00
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# Working Memory Helper
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Human brains keep track of what they are doing in a conceptual space known as "working memory". Older adults and people
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of all ages with ADHD often struggle to maintain information in their working memories, causing them to forget what
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they were doing only moments after deciding to do it. One excellent way to combat this symptom is to externalize your
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working memory.
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This app doesn't completely externalize and replace working memory, but it does act as a prosthesis for the task
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management aspect of working memory. The workflow looks something like this:
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1. Decide to do something. (If you can't get this far on your own, this app is not gonna help.)
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2. Immediately enter a brief prompt in the app as a "task". For example, if you were going to take out the trash,
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you might write "Trash". If you were going to take your car to the mechanic, you might write "car", or "mechanic". It
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doesn't have to remind you what you were doing a week from now, only a minute or so, so it can be very simple / brief.
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3. Thirty seconds after you enter the task into the app, your device will vibrate and ask you if you are on task, or if
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you got distracted.
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1. If you are on task, hit "On task" and the app will wait a little longer before reminding you again.
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2. If you got distracted, hit "distracted" and the app will remind you a little sooner next time.
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4. Continue getting reminders from your watch at various intervals until you complete the task, then tell the app the
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task is complete. Repeat this process for every single thing you do until you die, basically.
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## Requirements
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You must have some kind of keyboard library available in order to enter task descriptions on your device. This app is
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only supported on BangleJS2
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## Styling
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2023-06-13 19:22:25 +00:00
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This app attempts to match whatever theme your Bangle watch is using. You can also modify whether individual
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words are wrapped and whether outlines are drawn on text.
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2023-06-13 02:25:18 +00:00
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## Task settings
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You can edit the settings of any individual task. You can rename the task, restart (un-complete) the task, or change
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2023-06-13 19:22:25 +00:00
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some of the reminder cadence settings. As far as cadence, there are a couple that warrant explanation:
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2023-06-13 02:25:18 +00:00
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2023-06-13 19:22:25 +00:00
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### Interval
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2023-06-13 02:25:18 +00:00
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This is the base reminder interval for your task. If it is 30, your first reminder will be after 30 seconds.
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2023-06-13 19:22:25 +00:00
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### Incremental Backoff
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2023-06-13 02:25:18 +00:00
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Incremental backoff is a strategy for timing the reminder notifications you get based on how well you stay on task.
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Each time you affirm that you are "on task", incremental backoff means it will wait longer before reminding you again.
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Similarly each time you affirm that you are "distracted" the incremental backoff will wait less time before reminding
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you again. The exact intervals are multiples of the base interval. For a task with a base interval of 30 seconds, the
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second reminder would be after 60 seconds. The third after 120 seconds, etc. Then if you got distracted it would go
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back to 60, then 30, then 15. Typically the interval will never go below 1/2 of your base interval.
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If you disable Incremental Backoff, you will be reminded once every base interval no matter what you do. This can be
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handy if you are having trouble staying on task when the intervals get too long with incremental backoff.
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## Controls
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A large focus of this app was making clear affordances for the user interface. Anything that can be pressed should look
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like a button, however you may notice some small arrows and text on the sides / top / bottom of the screen in some
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cases. These hints are there to tell you that you can swipe across the screen to perform additional actions.
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Swipe your finger anywhere on the screen in the direction the arrow is pointing to use the listed function.
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## Known issues
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The clock is not super-duper accurate because it only updates when the screen refreshes (which can be 30 seconds or 5
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minutes apart). I put it on there, though, because it is more useful to be there and lagging by 30+ seconds than to be
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not there at all. I plan to fix this problem eventually but it's secondary to the main functions of the app at the
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moment.
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