allow configerable simple snooze old behaviour

[niryud]

Hi, I really liked the snooze as it behaved in 0.9.5
I find the new snooze and adjust behaviour a bit aggressive/constraining...
Can we bring the old one back, maybe behind a toggle?

btw: love this tool! thx for making it!

[OfirTres]

+1
also being able to postpone multiple times would be useful 🙏

[AllanChain]

I find myself pretty satisfied with the new postpone feature, and I feel less guilty when using it because I will "pay back" the time postponed in the next session, and the average number of breaks taken is guaranteed. And I will remember to start the break manually if I initially postponed for a longer time than necessary so that I can avoid a longer break.

However, since there are many people (like #143) wanting the old behavior, maybe I missed some important use cases in my design. If you have strong reasons other than "I don't want to think, and I just want to postpone with a few clicks", please elaborate.

[OfirTres]

The time to click postpone and pick the amount of time (which is also inconvenient, for some reason pressing "5" doesn't change it to 5 minutes, and I have to press 5 time the 'add 1 min' button), isn't negligible. Suppose 50% of the time I need a 5-minute snooze - it means I have to do it every 45 minutes, which is quite often, so the struggle is very noticable. (It means I do it about 13 times a day!)
I will say that I installed it just yesterday, so maybe I'm unaware of some features that make it simpler.

The time added to the next snooze is a nice idea, I don't have a problem with it. It's just the high effort of triggering the snooze, and during a stressful countdown haha

[niryud]

I think @niiinjoe from 143 phrased it nicely
When I am in the middle of something important, I can't always afford to pause for a long time

There is a tradeoff between keeping the flow and forcing the break we want for our eyes' health
It's probably a personal preference. The previous tradeoff hit my sweet spot, and the new one less so

[AllanChain]

So I see different reasons:

1. "Fewer clicks to do a postponement." Although the current amount of clicks is by design, it's acceptable to have shortcuts if people don't like using clicks as an opportunity to pause and reflect.
2. "I can't take breaks during focused work/whatever." Please look at the focus mode and meeting mode. They are designed for this purpose.
3. "A break reminder should allow the user to keep skipping breaks." This is not how a break reminder is supposed to work.

[niiinjoe]

I'm glad someone brought this issue up again. Thank you, @niryud, for tagging me! :)

I have been pinning Sane Break to 0.9.5 because of this.

For me, sometimes I just need some extra uninterrupted time, like when replying to emails or chats. So, the option I use the most is the 5-minute one. I also sometimes use the 60-minute option for meetings, and I'm quite sure that even with the new meeting mode, I will sometimes forget to change modes.

[AllanChain]

Thanks for the comment. It appears that keeping the current postpone logic while providing a shortcut (point 1) will mostly address this issue.

[jrmrjnck]

The main problems for me with the new behavior:

1. I find it aggravating having to type a description for focus mode or meeting mode. I usually don't remember to enter meeting mode when a meeting starts, so I have to quickly do it to avert an impending break in the middle of a meeting, and then being forced to type a description is very frustrating. I used to be able to quickly postpone 30 or 60 minutes when I was interrupted in a meeting.
2. The meeting mode end time selection widget is too hard to use. Scrolling on the minute doesn't roll over the hour so it's always a two part click and scroll in a small widget requiring fine motor skills. Maybe the minutes should only be multiples of 5 and would roll over the hours. Or there could be quick select options for the next 3 half-hour increments for common meeting end times.
3. Focus mode is OK, but not a good replacement for multiple postpones. Often I'm just finishing up some work before a deadline or lunch or EOD and things keep extending because "i just need 5 more minutes" over and over. I don't know how long it will really take and I don't want to stop to schedule a focus mode because it really is more of a scramble mode than focus mode.

I tried every single break reminder app before sane break and was really happy with it before 0.10. The new behavior is almost unusable for me.

[AllanChain]

I usually don't remember to enter meeting mode

I see this is the root cause of why you don't like the meeting mode. This is indeed a problem, but the same problem already exists without any break reminder installed, because you can also forget muting your phone and IM chats before the meeting. We already support auto pausing when some specific programs (like video conference apps) are running. Therefore, most of the time, this is not a big problem.

The meeting mode end time selection widget is too hard to use

This is indeed a problem that should be addressed.

I don't know how long it will really take and I don't want to stop to schedule a focus mode

That is a sign that you have lost control of your time. Stopping and scheduling a focus mode is better than working without awareness of the time. Tasks that take hours to complete but cannot be delayed by a few minutes are rare. If you are really dealing with this kind of task frequently, you probably need a different break reminder.

[niryud]

How about adding a note like: "Oh, it's break time! Let me just finish writing this message/ paragraph / Claude prompt while it's flowing through me and then break immediately?" A few clicks are alright, but more than that will kill my zen, and it's only 20 seconds I needed without the reminder flashing at me.

Also, I'm not sure if the "take a small break instead of a long one" button is still there, but it's an important option. Sometimes I know a meeting or a happy hour is coming up soon that would serve as a natural break, and I'd just prefer to wait.

And sometimes - just sometimes - I also want to opt for a less-than-perfect break schedule when I'm feeling really in focus and a mandatory 5-minute break would break my flow.

Also, when chatting with someone, I often don't want to stall the chat and prefer to keep chatting for a few minutes, then break, which is a softer version of a meeting

Seemingly, many people here like me enjoy the product being just a bit less strict, while you'd prefer it to enforce best practices...

[niiinjoe]

I think creating a good break reminder tool is tough. Too relaxed, and it becomes useless; too strict, and it just gets in the users' way. To me, Sane Break did a fantastic job of balancing the two, at least up to version 0.9.5.

I'd like to suggest an alternative idea: what if we made it progressively harder to postpone a break? For example, the first time you postpone, the quick menu from 0.9 is available. The second time, you can still use the menu, but a confirmation dialog appears. After that, it switches to the 0.10 method. Or at least something along those lines! I know it's more work for the development team, but it could be the perfect middle ground for the users.

[jrmrjnck]

I usually don't remember to enter meeting mode

I see this is the root cause of why you don't like the meeting mode. This is indeed a problem, but the same problem already exists without any break reminder installed, because you can also forget muting your phone and IM chats before the meeting. We already support auto pausing when some specific programs (like video conference apps) are running. Therefore, most of the time, this is not a big problem.

Well, phone and IM don't completely block my ability to interact with my computer. And these other potential interruptions might happen, but a Sane Break interruption is guaranteed to happen during a 1h meeting. I will try the auto pausing solution but it's not easy with Microsoft Teams, which is always running for IM and does not start a specific new process for calls.

I don't know how long it will really take and I don't want to stop to schedule a focus mode

That is a sign that you have lost control of your time. Stopping and scheduling a focus mode is better than working without awareness of the time. Tasks that take hours to complete but cannot be delayed by a few minutes are rare. If you are really dealing with this kind of task frequently, you probably need a different break reminder.

Sure, maybe. I'm not talking about hours though, I'm talking about 1-30 minutes. Sometimes people IM to ask for something, and they keep asking for a little more at a time, and I push out my lunch break a few minutes at a time to accommodate. I guess usually a short break is doable and I should just do that to buy some time.