Y.Productive
Make yourself more efficient and productive
What is productivity?
Productivity is both a philosophy of life and a mental condition. Being efficient implies doing what we deliberately choose to do at all times, rather than what we feel compelled to do by circumstances. Adopting a mindset of continuous development is what productivity entails.
We are increasingly reliant on tools to increase our productivity in today’s fast-paced and hectic world. It’s sometimes challenging to keep on track when we’re managing so many tasks and responsibilities. As a result, various apps and services might assist you in keeping to your goals.
Various lifestyles and interests demand specific productivity tools. In this article, I’ll go over the Y.Productive tool and provide a detailed user manual on how to utilize it.
1 Overview
Y.Productive is a personal productivity management tool. It helps you to keep your work under control and maximize the working hours and deliver excellent work output by eliminating habits that impede productivity. A Real-Time Productivity chart provides all the necessary information about your performance at a glance.
Your productivity is measured by chart bars. Y.Productive shows your efficiency ratings and what you can do to get better. The application shows you the websites and apps that you open during working hours, detailing what sites impact your work and what sites you open that hinder you from delivering excellent output. This greatly enhances your productivity by banning distracting websites during work hours, providing you with real-time productivity feedback on your goals and projects. Working with Y.Productive allows you to improve your concentration and develop productive work.
1.1 Features
With Y-Productive you can better manage and accomplish your tasks and achieve your goals with its To-do List integrated with Time Tracking and Productivity Chart. This application has the below in-built capabilities:
- Minimalistic productivity chart
- In-depth behavior analysis
- Focus mode
- Activities categorization
- Projects & Tasks
- Productivity reports
1.2 Technical details
1.2.1 Devices support
- Windows
- Mac
1.2.2 Language support
- English
1.2.3 Extensions
- Chrome
- Safari
- Firefox
2 Install application
In this document, we are using the Windows application for illustration.
Installing Y.Productive is a two-step process:
- Download the installation file
- Install Y.Productive
Note: Mac users: If you’re running Mac OS, download and install macOS application.
- Go to the Y.Productive download page and click “Download Windows app”.
- When the file appears at the bottom of the browser, click the file. (If you don’t see the file, choose Downloads from the Chrome menu.)
- Double-click the file to start the installation.
- When asked to confirm whether Windows should continue the operation (User Account Control dialog box), click Yes.
- Wait for the application installation to complete.
6. Once the installation is completed, windows launch the Y.Productive application automatically.
3 Application access
3.1 Sign up — New user registration
To register in the application,
- On the sign-in screen, click “Sign up” at the bottom, to navigate to the registration page.
After being navigated to the registration page,
- In the Name text box, enter the “Name” you wish to register.
- In the Email text box, enter the ”Email ID” you wish to register.
- In the Password text box, enter the “Password” you wish to use as security to your sign-in.
- Tick the check box to confirm that, you have read and accepted the terms of service and privacy policy.
- After filling all the required fields, click on Sign Up to successfully register your Email ID and Password.
Once registered, you are automatically logged in to the application.
Note: Alternatively you can Sign up using Facebook instead of your email. Click Sign up with Facebook to sign up with your Facebook account. If you register with Facebook, you’ll be prompted to log into your Facebook account if you’re currently logged out.
3.2 Sign in — Existing user
To log into Y.Productive:
- In the Email text box, enter your “registered email ID”.
- In the Password text box, enter the “password” to log in to the application and navigate to the home page.
Note: Alternatively you can Sign in using your Facebook account instead of your email. Click Sign in with Facebook to sign in with your Facebook account. If you sign in with Facebook, you’ll be prompted to log into your Facebook account if you’re currently logged out.
3.3 Forgot Password — Password Regeneration
If you happen to forget your Y.Productive application password, follow the below instructions to regenerate a new password.
- On the Sign-in page, click “Forgot Password”, to navigate to Forgot Password page.
After being navigated to Forgot Password page,
- In the Email text box, enter the “registered Email ID”.
- Click “Reset password”
An email with a reset password will be sent to your email address. With this, you can change your password.
3.4 Log Out
After successfully signing in to the application, you are navigated to the homepage which presents the application dashboard.
To log out of the application,
- On the homepage, click on “user profile dropdown” as shown in the below screen.
- In the dropdown list, click “Log out” to log out of the session.
- This logs you out of the application and navigates back to the sign-in page.
3.5 Change password
To change your sign in password:
- On the homepage, click on “user profile dropdown” as shown in the below screen.
- In the dropdown list, click “Settings”.
- In the resulting screen, navigate to the Account section, click “Change password”.
- On the change password screen, fill in the required fields of old and new passwords and click “Save”.
4 Homepage
Homepage of the Y.Productive application uses the chart and details pertaining to the tasks and projects based User Interface to present the live information concerning the time categorized as productive or unproductive.
5 Tasks
This menu allows you to manage tasks and projects, observe your daily activities pertaining to the categorizes, the insight of your digital behavior, and numbers related to productive and unproductive.
5.1 Projects
A project is bigger and includes multiple tasks.
5.1.1 Add project
To add project:
- Click “+ Add project”.
- Input the project name in the resulting text box and click “Add”.
5.1.2 Edit project
To edit project name:
- Hover to the respective project and click the “three dots” icon.
- Click “Edit project”.
- Change the project name as per your convenience and click “Save”.
5.1.3 Delete project
To delete a project:
- Hover to the respective project and click the “three dots” icon.
- Click “Delete project”.
- In the resulting dialog screen, click “Yes” to delete the project.
5.1.4 Project time counter
To view the total spent time, total productive time, and average productivity pertaining to the project and task:
Click the respective project title to view the above details.
5.2 Task
A task is a single thing that you can do in one or multiple sessions. This can be assigned to the project.
5.2.1 Add task
To add a task:
- Click “+ Add new task”.
- Enter the task name and select the date.
- Click “project” and select the project name to assign the task to the respective project (not mandatory).
- Click “Add task”
5.2.2 Edit task
To edit a task:
- Hover to the respective task and click the “three dots” icon.
- Click “Edit task”.
- Edit the task details (name, date, and project) and click “Save”.
5.2.3 Delete task
To delete a task:
- Hover to the respective task and click the “three dots” icon.
- Click “Delete task”.
- In the resulting dialog screen, click “Yes” to delete the task.
5.2.4 Complete task
To complete the task:
- Hover to the respective task and click the “three dots” icon.
- Click “Complete task”.
5.2.5 Assign to project
To assign to project:
- Hover to the respective task and click the “three dots” icon.
- Click “Assign to project”.
- Select the respective project from the dropdown list and click “Save”.
5.2.6 Uncomplete task
To uncomplete task:
- Hover to the respective completed task and click the “three dots” icon.
- Click “Uncomplete task”.
5.2.7 Start/Stop the task timer
To start/stop the task timer:
5.3 Chart
The chart’s goal is to give your insight into your digital behavior. One bar represents 5 minutes of your time. Its height indicates the level of your productivity: the higher, the better. Colors match the appropriate tasks.
The chart in Y-Productive is designed to inform you about every action that harms your productivity. The indications are:
- The bars’ height decreases
- High number of switching in the bars` context menu
- Huge list of “unproductive” activities
5.3.1 Chart insight
If you click on any range of bars on the chart, you see a pop-up that shows activities (websites and applications) on which you’ve spent time.
Activities are grouped by categories:
- Productive — The websites or apps that are vital for your workflow or improve it.
- Unproductive — The websites or apps that make you lose your focus or divide your attention.
- Uncategorized (new) — New websites or apps which are yet to be determined to be productive or unproductive for you.
Switching numbers shows how many times you have shifted to unproductive activities.
5.3.2 Chart — Assign to task
Your activities are automatically recorded even if you didn’t create or track any tasks (the gradient colored bars). Chart bars may be assigned to the appropriate task retrospectively.
To assign to task:
- Click on the gradient area and click the “Assign to a task”.
- Select the task.
Note: The bars’ colors will be matched with the color of your task.
5.3.3 Chart — Reassign to task
To reassign to task:
- Click on the colored area and click the “Reassign to a task”.
- Select the task.
5.3.4 History tab
You may research your best productivity hours by comparing the days in the History Tab. View the best or worse productivity tendency by checking the chart bars` height: the better you perform — the higher it is.
6 Categories
In this menu, you can build a personal working environment that best fits your needs. It consists of 3 sections.
- Uncategorized
- Productive
- Unproductive
It allows you to segregate the activities based on the categorize by drag and drop function. Also, you can manually add the new activity pertaining to the category.
6.1 Add new activity
To add a new activity:
- Click “+Add new activity” as shown below.
- Select the category.
- Enter the URL of the website.
- Click “Add activity”.
6.2 Reassign activity
To reassign the activity:
- Drag and drop the activity to the respective category.
7 Reports
Get summarized insights covering your performance and time spent on tasks or projects by days, weeks, or months.
To view the reports:
- Navigate to the reports menu.
To manage multiple tasks and projects:
- Select the project and date to view the report pertaining to the given criteria.
8 Focus mode
This feature allows you to block distracting websites with a built-in automatic website blocker on Safari, Firefox, or Chrome. It enhances the personal productivity tracker.
Prerequisite:
Download the focus mode extension for your browser. Without extension, focus mode will not work. This extension is required to maintain the full functionality of Y-Productive`s application.
8.1 Download extension
To download extension:
- Click the “Focus Mode” button.
- In the resulting screen select the browser extension, to download.
The application automatically navigates you to the download URL.
(we are using chrome for illustration)
- Click “Add to chrome”
8.2 Enable focus mode
To enable focus mode:
- Click the “Focus Mode” button in the right top corner of the app.
Focus mode is now enabled.
To disable Focus Mode, simply stop the progress tracking for a task. For the time working the access to websites which you’ve categorized as “unproductive” will be restricted. When you’ve finished your work or feel like taking a break, just click the button again and the access will be restored.
End of article