GetDoneNow - a focus timer that asks you to validate your focus every 5 minutes (feedback welcome)
Started by Marcu
on 6/6/2026
Marcu
6/6/2026 10:05 am
Hi everyone,
I'm the creator of GetDoneNow, a browser-based focus timer designed to help you stay concentrated on the task you're currently doing.
The main idea is simple: instead of starting a timer and slowly drifting into distractions, GetDoneNow asks you to validate your focus every 5 minutes. Each 5-minute block becomes a small commitment: "Am I still doing the task I said I would do?"
Over the day, those blocks build a visual map of how your time was actually spent: focused blocks, breaks, late validations, missed blocks, and untracked time.
I know this forum is mostly about outliners, PIMs, note-taking, and planning tools, which is exactly why I'm posting here. GetDoneNow isn't meant to replace any of those, it's meant to work alongside them. Once you've decided in your outliner or task manager what to work on, GetDoneNow helps you actually stay on it, in real time.
You can try the core concept right on the homepage — no signup needed. Creating an account unlocks a 3-day free trial of the full feature set, with no card required; after that, the core 5-minute timer stays free, and the planner and analytics are the Pro part.
There's also a planner where you can select cells/blocks in the day grid and assign tasks to those time periods, but the planner isn't the core idea. The core idea is focus validation: staying aware, not drifting, and getting back to the task before too much time is lost.
What I'm trying to solve:
- to-do lists show what needs doing, but don't always help you stay with the task;
- long work sessions make it easy to lose focus without noticing;
- many timers keep running even after you've already drifted off;
- people often need small moments of accountability to stay on track;
- seeing the day as small validated blocks makes time feel more concrete.
I'd genuinely appreciate honest feedback on:
- Does validating focus every 5 minutes sound useful, or would it get annoying?
- Is 5 minutes the right interval for this kind of accountability?
- Would this work alongside an outliner, task manager, or PIM you already use?
- Does the visual day grid make the idea clearer?
- Should it stay focused on real-time concentration, or should the planner play a bigger role?
Link: https://getdonenow.app
Posting transparently as the creator, happy to answer anything, and I'll read and reply to every comment.
I'm the creator of GetDoneNow, a browser-based focus timer designed to help you stay concentrated on the task you're currently doing.
The main idea is simple: instead of starting a timer and slowly drifting into distractions, GetDoneNow asks you to validate your focus every 5 minutes. Each 5-minute block becomes a small commitment: "Am I still doing the task I said I would do?"
Over the day, those blocks build a visual map of how your time was actually spent: focused blocks, breaks, late validations, missed blocks, and untracked time.
I know this forum is mostly about outliners, PIMs, note-taking, and planning tools, which is exactly why I'm posting here. GetDoneNow isn't meant to replace any of those, it's meant to work alongside them. Once you've decided in your outliner or task manager what to work on, GetDoneNow helps you actually stay on it, in real time.
You can try the core concept right on the homepage — no signup needed. Creating an account unlocks a 3-day free trial of the full feature set, with no card required; after that, the core 5-minute timer stays free, and the planner and analytics are the Pro part.
There's also a planner where you can select cells/blocks in the day grid and assign tasks to those time periods, but the planner isn't the core idea. The core idea is focus validation: staying aware, not drifting, and getting back to the task before too much time is lost.
What I'm trying to solve:
- to-do lists show what needs doing, but don't always help you stay with the task;
- long work sessions make it easy to lose focus without noticing;
- many timers keep running even after you've already drifted off;
- people often need small moments of accountability to stay on track;
- seeing the day as small validated blocks makes time feel more concrete.
I'd genuinely appreciate honest feedback on:
- Does validating focus every 5 minutes sound useful, or would it get annoying?
- Is 5 minutes the right interval for this kind of accountability?
- Would this work alongside an outliner, task manager, or PIM you already use?
- Does the visual day grid make the idea clearer?
- Should it stay focused on real-time concentration, or should the planner play a bigger role?
Link: https://getdonenow.app
Posting transparently as the creator, happy to answer anything, and I'll read and reply to every comment.