Requires version 1.0.29 or higher
I've been using notion a lot, I use it to track my projects, tasks that I need to work on, trips, expense, pretty much everything. But creating a task timer on otto is 3 steps, which is a lot. And for someone like me it's a lot of effort to even do that.
Focus Task timers are useful because they keep you focused on one task and blocks all distracting websites during a session. So last week I thought what would be the best way to integrate this into my own workflow.
Since I use notion a lot to manage tasks I thought, why can't I have a little timer next to the todos itself? It saves a lot of time and removes the friction I had. Now I have no excuse!!
So how does it work?
It's so simple that you don't really have to do anything. Otto's focus timer for Notion fits directly into your workflow as long as you have Otto installed and enabled. Just go to Notion, go to any page and create a To-do. If you already have To-dos, just hover over them you should see a little play button to start that todo as a task timer.
Note: You might also have to reload the page or switch pages to see the play button. There's still some issues and edge cases I need to fix.
See this help guide (it has pictures), if your confused.
Just to double check if it's actually working, see if you can see the little guy on the notion header like this
To start to-dos
- Single click to open the timer popup and adjust the duration
- Double click to start the timer directly.
Where does this work
- Right now it works only on Notion pages.
Where it doesn't work
- It doesn't work with lists. Only to-dos.
- It doesn't work with kanban, calendar or overlay pages.
Is this a new feature?
Well kinda, but not really. The goal of this feature is to reduce the friction to getting into focus mode. It's essentially a layer on top of Notion that works with the existing focus timers on Otto.
okay but what are the Limits?
This feature is in beta right now so there are no restrictions. You can create unlimited tasks per day. Although each task can only be upto 60 min, but worry not, as soon as the timer ends so you can extend it.
But once, this feature is out of beta you will only be able to have 3 tasks per day with a total duration of 80 minutes. That's 20 min/task. You'll have to upgrade to pro.
Why should I use this?
If you're a regular Otto user, you probably use the Pomodoro timer a lot. Pomodoros are great but they are recurring and you can't name them.
Do you get points for focusing?
Right now no, I haven't implemented that logic in yet. I will be adding that soon.
Is it possible to turn this feature off completely?
Yes, just click on the popup on notion header, then click the power off button. Once confirmed, reload the page and you shouldn't see the To-dos.