Tracking Lunch in RescueTime

Hello,

I have used the computer time logging app RescueTime with modest success for some time now. However - and this can also be a general question, even though it’s about RescueTime in particular - I am consistently a little demoralized that RescueTime treats lunch as distracted time. I mean, I know lunch is distracted time because I am usually not working during it. I want to take some time to get away from my desk, breathe, take a little walk, or run errands. But as far as I can find, RescueTime allows either lunch as distracted time, or lunch as some kind of productive work time or meeting, which it really isn’t either.

I just wonder whether to just ignore lunch and not log that time at all, or whether to continue to see my productivity number drop by a lot when the hour of lunch is added in. How do you treat lunch break time when assessing how productive you are?

Thanks for any help!

Does sleeping at night count as “distracted” time, too? :slight_smile:

RescueTime doesn’t force you to categorize every minute of your life…

Hi!

According to schedule, breaks and lunch time off are periods of time, specified by the employer, during which employees are not actively working on the job. Yet still, it’s a part of your working day, so - in my opinion - you need to track it, even if your productivity number is dropping. If you’re not working, then I’d be a distraction.
You may disagree with me, though :slight_smile:

Hi NotSo, I did a talk about this: https://vimeo.com/227286592

I.e. it counts on what you value as productive. Though in terms of the psych research, lunch really is a distraction and will likely take you at least twenty minutes to recover from when you return from lunch (and up to 45 even with the best intentions). Nothing boosts my productivity like intermittent fasting.