It’s easy to get lost in the endless scroll. Apps and websites are designed to keep us engaged, but sometimes, that engagement turns into doomscrolling—a seemingly bottomless dive into content that ends only when we realize we’ve spent hours watching, reading, or simply consuming.

A little downtime is healthy. Scrolling through a few posts or watching a couple of videos can be relaxing. But when that scroll becomes a priority over more important tasks, it becomes an issue. Here’s how to balance your online habits with the help of productivity techniques and tools like WhatPulse, so you can enjoy the best of both worlds without sacrificing your time.

Why doomscrolling is designed to hook you​

Social media platforms and content-driven sites are built with one main goal: keeping users engaged. Every like, comment, and endless feed refresh is a hook, a nudge to keep you scrolling for just a little longer. In reality, this approach prioritizes the success of those platforms over your productivity. Who benefits from your time—the developers behind the app, or you?

If you often find yourself mindlessly scrolling during work hours, you’re not alone. Many professionals and remote workers lose track of time due to social media, and that can leave you with a sense of dread by the end of the day. You might even end up working late to meet deadlines, cutting into your personal time.

The impact on work-life balance​

When we give into doomscrolling during work, it doesn’t just hurt our productivity—it can also seep into our personal lives. Logging off at the end of the day with unfinished work can lead to a sense of dread. For remote workers, it’s even easier to blur the lines, finding yourself back at the computer after hours to catch up on what you missed.

In the long run, these habits can lead to burnout, reducing the quality time you have with family and friends. It’s a vicious cycle: the more you scroll, the more you put off important tasks, and the more you’ll feel overwhelmed.

Social media isn’t the enemy—it’s about finding the right balance​

Social media has its perks. It connects us, entertains us, and even informs us. But to make it work for you, find a balance that fits your schedule. Set aside dedicated times for scrolling—maybe during lunch or a quick five-minute break after a productive session. This way, you can enjoy social media without it intruding on important tasks.

One helpful approach is WhatPulse’s tracking capabilities. With insights into your activity, you can see where your time is going. Are you using social media as a quick distraction, or is it taking up hours you could use elsewhere? By analyzing your usage, WhatPulse helps you identify and manage distractions.

Using the Pomodoro technique to stay focused​

The Pomodoro Technique is a popular productivity hack that might be just what you need to manage your scrolling habits. Here’s how it works:

1. Work for a set amount of time, like 25 minutes.
2. Take a 5-minute break.
3. Repeat.

You can even customize it to fit your needs. Try working for 50 minutes with a 10-minute break, or adapt the timing based on your personal rhythm. Set these breaks as your dedicated “scroll time,” giving you a chance to check in online without losing focus on work.

How WhatPulse can help you track and improve your habits​

WhatPulse tracks more than just your hours—it offers insights into your keystrokes, mouse clicks, and time spent on specific applications. This gives you a clear view of where your efforts go and whether they’re aligned with your goals.

With WhatPulse, you can see exactly how much time is spent on productive apps versus time-consuming platforms. You might discover that your “quick break” on social media actually takes longer than you realized. By regularly checking in with your WhatPulse data, you’ll be able to make conscious adjustments, reducing distractions and staying focused on what matters.

Ending the day with a sense of accomplishment​

Imagine the satisfaction of wrapping up your workday knowing you were productive. By setting boundaries with social media, using WhatPulse to monitor your habits, and balancing work with planned breaks, you can end the day with confidence.

Whether you’re commuting home or closing your laptop at the end of the day, you’ll know that your priorities were handled. And once the work is done, feel free to scroll, watch, and enjoy your downtime. After all, you’ve earned it.

For over 20 years, WhatPulse has been tracking our clicks, keystrokes, and time online, creating a unique journey of data, productivity insights, and just fun statistics. We recently wrapped up our 10-day celebration to mark this milestone, and it was all about connecting with you—our loyal community.

With giveaways, stories, and some incredible engagement, this event has inspired me and the rest of the WhatPulse team more than ever. Here's a look back at some highlights!

Reconnecting with our longtime users​

During our celebration, we saw many "old-timers" rejoin the community. People who had been using WhatPulse for a decade or more popped up in our Discord. Many also discovered our Discord for the first time, sparking conversations and sharing stories.

This event showed us how strong the WhatPulse community remains after two decades. With so many people joining or rejoining our community, we've been able to share stories and ideas that make WhatPulse better for everyone.

By the numbers​

The giveaways were bananas. How bananas? Here are some stats from the 10-day event:

• 1319 people entered in Discord giveaways
• ~700 new members on our Discord 🤯
• Prizes given away:
  • 8 WhatPulse hoodies, 10 t-shirts, 5 hats, and 5 mugs
  • 18 Duckeys keycaps 🐥
  • A Stream Deck
  • A $300 gift card from MechanicalKeyboards.com

Stories from our community: Why WhatPulse matters​

Beyond the fun we had with giving away prizes, I was really moved by the stories you shared about how WhatPulse has impacted your lives. Here are a few highlights:

Tracking for Recovery​

"I want to thank the WhatPulse developers for the application. I use it because I need to control how much I type before I get injured. I suffer from muscle atrophy and my hands are really weak. I couldn't type 5k keystrokes a day, and now I'm at about 35-40k a day. So keeping track of my activity has been key for my recovery."

A Friendly Challenge Turned Self-Reflection​

"I installed WhatPulse to prove to my friends that I was the most productive person in our group. After a month, I proudly showed them my data: thousands of keys and clicks. One of them asked, 'How much of that was actual work?' I paused, realizing... 80% of it was from gaming."

Sibling Rivalry with a Digital Twist​

"When my brother is on the PC and it's my turn, I know he's going to lie if I ask him how much time he played. When I ask him to open WhatPulse, he makes a funny face and accepts defeat. LMAO!"

These stories are a huge reminder of why I started WhatPulse in the first place: to give you insights into your habits and help you make sense of your digital life.

Thank you for 20 years of WhatPulse!​

As we look to the future, we want to thank each of you for being a part of this journey. From our long-standing users to those just joining, your stories and passion inspire us. This celebration may have ended, but it's not the last you'll see of fun community events and ways to share your journey with WhatPulse. We can't wait to keep building and evolving alongside each of you. Here's to another 20 years of clicks, keystrokes, and friendships!

Learning to type faster is an investment in efficiency. Whether you’re a gamer, a writer, or just spend hours at your keyboard, upping your typing speed can save you time and help with accuracy. But if you’re putting in the work to improve, why not get real insights into your progress? WhatPulse can help you track your keystrokes across different typing test sites and let you see the numbers stack up in real-time. Below, we’ll look at some of the best websites to improve your typing speed, with each offering its own features for keeping you engaged, motivated, and improving.

1. TypeTest.io – simple, fast, and accurate​

TypeTest.io is a no-frills typing test designed for speed, offering short, medium, and long texts to test different skill levels. Its minimalist design allows you to get started quickly without distractions, and it accurately measures your speed and accuracy. Plus, with a WhatPulse account, you can track your keystrokes here and see how they compare over time.

2. 10FastFingers – popular typing races​

10FastFingers is perfect if you’re looking for some friendly competition. This site offers typing races where you can pit yourself against others, and the social leaderboard system adds an extra push to improve. With WhatPulse tracking in the background, you can even use your data to compare your speed across different sites and see where you’re performing best.

3. Keybr – build muscle memory​

Keybr offers a unique typing experience, as it builds your typing skills based on an algorithm that identifies which letters you struggle with most. The result is a test that adapts to you, helping you build muscle memory efficiently. Tracking your typing progress with WhatPulse lets you see your total keystrokes, making it easy to look back on your practice and see just how far you’ve come.

4. NitroType – typing meets racing​

NitroType is an exciting typing site where your typing speed determines the speed of your car in a virtual race. This site is especially popular among younger users and gamers, but it’s a fun way for anyone to build typing speed. With WhatPulse, you can add your NitroType keystrokes to your total and even set goals for how many keystrokes you want to rack up while racing.

5. TypingClub – structured lessons​

TypingClub provides structured lessons ideal for people who want a more organized approach to typing practice. This platform offers tutorials from beginner to advanced levels, making it ideal for users who want a comprehensive improvement. You can also track your keystrokes with WhatPulse, giving you a clear view of your typing progress over time, no matter where you practice.

6. Monkeytype – sleek design for long sessions​

Monkeytype is a highly customizable typing site with a sleek, modern design that makes it ideal for long practice sessions. You can track multiple metrics like speed, accuracy, and consistency in a clean interface. It’s perfect for users who prefer a distraction-free environment. WhatPulse users can see their typing stats seamlessly across all platforms and sessions, so you can be sure every keystroke counts toward your progress.

Keep track of your progress with WhatPulse​

All these websites are fantastic resources to help you improve, but tracking your journey can make the process more rewarding. With WhatPulse, every keystroke counts! You can connect with others, compete on leaderboards, and view your keystrokes across multiple computers and platforms. If you’re aiming to become a top typist, WhatPulse can be your personal typing coach—keeping all your data in one place and giving you the metrics to fine-tune your skills.

Final thoughts​

Boosting your typing speed can be an incredibly satisfying way to improve your efficiency, whether you’re gaming, writing, or just working from home. These websites offer various features to keep you engaged, but adding WhatPulse into the mix helps you see the bigger picture. With its multi-device tracking, data insights, and gamified elements, WhatPulse can make your typing journey that much more rewarding. So, pick a site, start typing, and watch your progress unfold with WhatPulse!

Hi everyone,

WhatPulse turned 20 recently, and we want to celebrate with you! 🎉 As a way to thank this awesome community that's supported us all these years, we're doing an epic 10-day giveaway streak. It's our way of giving back to the folks who helped us get where we are today. So get ready, because the fun starts soon!

Starting September 2, we'll be handing out epic prizes every day for 10 consecutive days! From cool swag from the brand new whatpulse.shop to premium subscriptions, to the main events:

• A $300 gift card to buy the keyboard of your dreams from mechanicalkeyboards.com
• And an Elgato Stream Deck+

Even if you don't win one with us, everyone needs a Stream Deck. 😊

Throughout these awesome 10 days, we'll be throwing a variety of giveaway types your way. From lightning-fast first-come-first-serves to engaging clue hunts that'll keep you on your toes, get ready for a diverse range of challenges.

To have a shot at snagging these awesome prizes, make sure you join our Discord and follow our social media channels.

Let's make WhatPulse's 20th birthday a celebration to remember!

Martijn,

WhatPulse

P.S.: terms and conditions listed on this page.

We're excited to announce the launch of WhatPulse's affiliate program, offering you a fantastic opportunity to earn some extra income by promoting your favorite statistics & productivity tracking tool.

Here's how it works: When you sign up for our affiliate program, you'll receive a unique referral link. You can share this link on your website, social media, in YouTube descriptions, or email it to friends and colleagues interested in tracking their computer usage and productivity.

Every visitor you refer gets a 60-day cookie to link them back to you. If they convert to a paying Premium customer within that timespan, you'll receive a 20% commission on all the payments that customer makes to us. And here's the best part - it's for the lifetime of their subscription! That's an excellent deal, right?

Visit our affiliate program page for all the information on how to get started. We provide you with banners, logos, and other resources to help you promote WhatPulse effectively.

Some key benefits of our program:

• 20% lifetime commission on Premium subscriptions
• 60-day cookie duration
• Monthly payments via PayPal or Wise

If you have a popular website, a strong social media following, or skills in SEO, web design, or content creation, joining the WhatPulse affiliate program could be a great way to generate recurring revenue.

Ready to get started? Create your affiliate account here and begin earning today!