I mean--it's iconic. And that's fun. But I'd prefer a natural view rather than a gangly steep thing jutting into the sky. I also don't like the Hollywood sign for the same reason. shrug
If this concept resonates, https://www.flow.club/ is where you'll find people who practice this technique regularly. We use it to do everything from the work we care about and want to be even better at, to work we don't care for like taxes, bills and laundry but have some mental block or emotional resistance to.
I think people with ADHD are hyper attuned to the effort that goes into everything from the moment we wake up (related term: executive dysfunction), so we look for ways to facilitate "doing." Other people who have similar levels of awareness tend to be self-employed (your time costs you), working parents (limited time and energy) and graduate students (long-term dread), but not everyone. And no, I don't think this is a purely remote work issue.
With all the AI discussion I'll just take a moment to talk about humans. HN probably thinks anything having to do with other humans are yuck especially on the internet and would be proven right most of the time. But humans and internet-mediated humans can also be great if the product does a good and careful job to allow their best parts shine. That's why we love HN and admire dang, and we try to make https://www.flow.club/ another awesome human corner of the internet.
I'm just so tired of this VC urge to monetize every possible aspect of human interaction. You're selling yourself as a "community", but instead of actually doing that you lure people in with a free trial, to then use the friendships people make to lock them into a ridiculous 40€/month subscription.
Sorry, but I'm not paying 3x a netflix subscription for what amounts to little more than a glorified discord bot.
Actually, now that I look for it, I found this exact product as a discord server. And would point people there instead: https://discord.com/invite/study
I joined that Discord, did a session, and promptly left afterwards. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for, if even as a Veblen good. I joined a community last year for example that costs hundreds of dollars a month and the price itself acts as a filter for being around the types of people you want to be around.
Mentioned this below as well. Seconding Flow Club. I don't have ADHD, but am just a new parent and god having an "appointment" w/ other people for deep work changes everything.
RT in pure trials: 463ms
RT in mixed trials: 833ms
Mixing cost: 369ms
RT in task-repeat trials (in mixed blocks): 833ms
RT in task-switching trials (in mixed blocks): 1040ms
Task-switch cost: 207ms
I put my phone on permanent focus mode and specifically turn off even notifications from Messages, and I've found this to be super useful for keeping my focus. I see everyone else glancing at notifications all the time.
But even without notifications, I still pick up my phone on my own volition whenever I'm working on something slightly difficult. It's almost a reflex at this point. Something about wanting a little dopamine or even just something to touch and swipe around, which could provide some dopamine on its own.
This website is super useful because I don't even want to touch my phone because I don't want to end the timer. I love it!
If you hired WeWork for a reliable context-switch to help you focus on work, a more affordable alternative could be virtual co-working spaces like https://www.flow.club/.
I know most of the time as an independent consultant, the physical space to get away from your house is the reason why you pay WeWork, but if it's about structuring your work day, more focus, more energy from other people around you, and potentially meeting a person or two, virtual co-working offers all of that.
https://www.flow.club/ is another one that is worth trying if you like this method of working. Pomodoro is one of the simplest and most effective methods out there, and we've designed an entire social context around the Pomodoro to support you.
Oops, thanks for the catch re: the spaces. Looks like I can't edit the comment anymore though.
That said, I'd say going from a SaaS model where you charge companies or universities $40k/year to access software that they provide free to students/workers is very different from a mobile app that does real-time dispatch / pickup inside a city and you charge the consumer directly. Different customer, different business model, different offering.
One of the things we’ve learned over at Flow Club is that working in the presence of others helps keep you motivated and accountable, especially when working alone. We made this version of a Lofi Cafe to create that feeling. Let me know what you think. Send me a high five (I'm Ricky Y).
Flow Club (YC S21) | Full-Stack and Front-end Engineers | SF or Remote (US only) | Full-Time | https://www.flow.club
Flow Club is a virtual co-working space where people work in high-intensity sprints designed to double their productivity. Our mission is to build the software that powers the most inspiring and productive work environment for knowledge workers. Our members love Flow Club (https://www.flow.club/wall-of-love).
We’re growing quickly, just presented at Y Combinator’s Summer 2021 Demo Day, raised $5M, and hiring our founding team. We are backed by Worklife Ventures, a firm investing in companies re-designing the way work gets done in the future, and 100 more of the world’s best investors and operators. Among our investors are Paul Graham and the founders of iconic companies like Dropbox, Mercury, Quora, Outschool, and Sendbird.
If this sounds interesting to you, send me an email. I’m ry (at) flow (dot) club. Or apply on our jobs page: https://bit.ly/fc-is-hiring
