What is it?

This is a CLI-based tool that combines the best of several different productivity methodologies.

At present it has these features:

• A timer to help with keeping to the Pomodoro Technique rhythm of 4 25 minute work periods with five minute breaks, followed by a long 15 minute break. You hear the soothing sounds of a "pomodoro" kitchen timer at the beginning and end of a break.
• A todo log that allows starting, unstarting and completing a task.
• Ability to filter tasks by a string (useful for focusing on Getting Things Done-style labels like @context and +project.
• Ability to jump through tasks using a Vim-like search.

Plans for the future include:

• Integration with a website blacklist tool like SelfControl.
• Keeping track of the number of pomodoros performed during a day.
• Desktop notifications for Linux and MacOS
• Prompts to summarize plans for the day and day's end progress, inspired by Day One.

Audio files are from https://github.com/niftylettuce/pomodoro-timer

Installation

You must have a version of Ruby that is 2.1 or higher.

Install with

gem install minder

Usage

Command line

Start the program by running minder

Interface

Minder is designed to be run in a separate pane in a Tmux session (or in a split inside a program like iTerm2). The tasks list will scroll if there is not enough room to display all tasks.

The interface is organized into frames. You can switch between frames by pressing Tab. The commands for each frame only work when the frame is focused.

• The Pomodoro timer frame. Press space to begin the next period.
• The Tasks frame. This frame minimizes during a Pomodoro period to avoid distraction. The commands for interacting with the message frame are based on Vim keystrokes:
  • / to open a dialog to search within the list of tasks.
  • d to mark a task as done.
  • e to edit the whole tasks list in your $EDITOR.
  • f to open a dialog to filter the list of tasks.
  • gg to go to top of task list and G to go to bottom of list.
  • j to do down the list and k to go up.
  • m to minimize the tasks frame.
  • n to go to next search result and N to go to previous search result.
  • s to start a task.
  • u to un-start a task.
  • x to delete a task.
• The Quick Add Task frame. Enter text here to add a task to the tasks list at any time.

Data

The tasks are stored in an sqlite3 file that by default is located at ~/.minder/database.sqlite3.

Minder also generates a couple text files as a form of backup in case the sqlite file gets corrupted: ~/.minder/doing.txt and ~/.minder/done.txt

Design notes

This program is intentionally idiosyncratic. It is designed for a particular workflow and set of use cases that make sense to me. Specifically it is designed for someone who works in a maximized terminal all day, using Vim keybindings for both text editing and for moving between Vim splits and Tmux panes (using the excellent vim-tmux-navigator). The main goal is to avoid switching to a GUI program or opening a website in order to add a task or see the Pomodoro status.

If you do find this program useful feel free to make feature requests or better yet open pull requests.

License

MIT License, see LICENSE.txt