Today, we're sharing the experience of Sarah Thompson, a WhatPulse member and marketing consultant from Seattle. Sarah's story demonstrates how WhatPulse can help solve unexpected tech issues and improve productivity for remote workers. Read on to discover how Sarah used our software to overcome a puzzling internet slowdown and enhance her home office setup.

Sarah faced a growing problem: her internet was getting slower by the day. This issue threatened Sarah's productivity at work, as her fast connection is essential for her remote job. She didn't know it yet, but WhatPulse Premium would be the solution to her problem.

The Growing Problem​

At first, the changes were small. Video calls became less clear. Uploading files took longer. Websites loaded slowly. Sarah thought it might be temporary, but the problem got worse as the day went on.

"Everything I did online took forever," Sarah said. "It was frustrating and embarrassing, especially during client calls. I knew I had to fix it."

Trying the Usual Solutions​

Sarah started with common fixes. She restarted her router, checked her internet speed, and tried to use her computer's built-in network monitor, checked for viruses, and even tried working in different parts of her house. Still, she couldn't find what was causing her slow internet.

"I was running out of ideas," Sarah admitted. "I was close to paying for a more expensive internet plan, thinking I might need more bandwidth."

Discovering WhatPulse​

Just before Sarah called her internet provider about costlier plans, a friend who knows a lot about technology suggested she try WhatPulse. "It's not just for tracking how you use your computer," her friend explained. "It can also show you which programs are using your internet. It might find something your regular tools missed."

Interested in this new option, Sarah decided to try it. She installed WhatPulse and let it run for a few minutes to see what it would show.

Finding the Cause​

After a few minutes, when Sarah looked at the WhatPulse data, she was surprised. The software had found the cause of her internet problems: her Dropbox cloud storage program.

"I couldn't believe it," Sarah said. "My cloud storage was uploading huge amounts of data all the time. It was using up all my internet speed."

Sarah found out that a recent update had changed the program's settings. Instead of only saving her work files, it was trying to back up her entire computer—including large videos, old projects, and all her photos.

Fixing the Problem​

Now that she knew what was wrong, Sarah quickly changed her cloud storage settings. She made sure only her important work files were being uploaded. She also set large backups to happen at night when she wasn't working.

"It was such an easy fix," Sarah said. "But without WhatPulse, I might never have found it. None of my other tools showed me which specific program was using all my internet."

The Big Improvement​

As soon as Sarah made these changes, her internet speed went back to normal. Video calls became clear again, websites loaded quickly, and files transferred much faster.

"The difference was huge," Sarah said. "Suddenly, I could work efficiently again. No more slow calls or annoying delays. I got so much more done."

A New Way to Manage Time​

Sarah then started using other features of WhatPulse to improve how she worked. The software showed her exactly how she used different programs, which helped her find ways to work better. The WhatPulse Profiles feature helped Sarah to track time spent on different projects, visualizing which took up the most time and effort.

"WhatPulse turned out to be much more than just a tool for fixing problems," Sarah said. "It's now an important part of how I manage my workday. I can see exactly how I'm using my computer and internet, which helps me stay focused and get more done."

Improve Your Workflows​

Sarah's experience shows an important lesson: the programs we use to help us work can sometimes cause problems if we don't watch them closely.

Regular tools often can't find specific issues in today's complex computer setups. WhatPulse solves this problem by showing detailed information about each program, which can uncover hidden issues and ways to work better.

For Sarah, what started as a frustrating internet problem led to a more efficient home office. By showing her how her computer was really working, WhatPulse not only fixed her immediate issue but also helped her keep improving how she works.

"I tell all my friends who work from home about WhatPulse now," Sarah says. "When you work from home, you often have to solve your own tech problems. Having a tool like this is really valuable."

Don't let hidden problems or inefficient habits slow you down. Whether you're trying to fix tech issues or want to work more efficiently, WhatPulse Premium gives you the information you need to take charge of your home office.

Try WhatPulse today and see how much better your home office can be. Start your free trial now and experience the benefits of seeing exactly how you use your computer and internet.

Hi Pulsers,

You asked, and we listened. I'm thrilled to announce the launch of something many of you have been requesting for a long time: our brand new WhatPulse merchandise shop!

WhatPulse.Shop​

Whether you're looking for clothing or accessories, our new shop lets you show off your love for the WhatPulse brand.

The recognizable WhatPulse logo is proudly displayed on most products, and we've also included some other fun and geeky designs.

We have a wide range of cool items available for purchase right now, including:

• T-shirts
• Hoodies
• Hats
• Gaming mouse and desk pads
• Cups
• WhatPulse branded AirPods cases
• And more!

Is there something you'd like to buy that's WhatPulse branded but it's not in the shop? Suggest it in our Discord channel and we might just add it!

Visit whatpulse.shop today to check out our full range and show off your WhatPulse pride.

📝 Keeping you motivated with more content​

Some of you eagle-eyed Pulsers may have noticed we've been ramping up the content on our blog recently. We want to help our existing users to be more productive, healthy and happy whilst also organically reaching new people to join WhatPulse.

You'll see our most recent article is now live, which focuses around ensuring you are staying productive and not just ‘busy'. Check it out here: https://whatpulse.org/blog/2024-07-26-productive-or-just-busy

Our new content will focus on all things productivity and tech, mixed in with exciting new updates for the WhatPulse client.

We'll start emailing these blog posts as well. If you'd like to stay updated, you can update your email settings here. Enable (or disable) the New blog posts notification.

Have you ever gotten to the end of your very busy working day, felt exhausted yet still felt like you haven’t really achieved much? Do you feel like you could have moved the business needle 1% further and generally been more productive?

Don’t worry – you’re not alone. It’s very common to feel like you are working hard in certain roles when in fact you are procrastinating on easy-to-complete tasks, repetitive motions, and low-priority actions.

The danger of doing this over the long term is clear: you risk your position at your job and face a performance review or worse. Plus that feeling of not being productive enough at work can also have an impact on your mental health.

Thankfully, this is generally a pretty simple thing to fix – the challenge is your willpower to overcome the temptations of procrastination and tasks that take time out of your working day, are easy to complete, and tick off the to-do list for that additional dopamine rush, but don’t really help the business to move forward.

Moving the business forward is the best way to showcase your abilities to your management, meaning more opportunities for a pay rise or even a promotion. More money doesn’t mean everything but it sure does enable you to do more things that make you happy.

So let’s dive into a few ways you can make sure you are working on the right thing.

Focus on ‘The One Thing’​

As Gary Keller says in his New York Times Bestselling book ‘The One Thing’, a key way to ensure you are being productive and not just busy is to ask yourself a simple question each day: What is the one thing you can work on that will make everything else easier, or even unnecessary.

What’s that number one priority, the big task or project that you can focus all your attention on that will have the biggest impact on the business you work for? If you were to focus your attention on that one thing, would it mean other tasks not being completed do not matter as much? Would the positive impact created by your focused work on the “big thing” help you keep your boss happy? It’s worth asking yourself these questions on a regular basis.

Check out our dedicated blog post about 'The One Thing' here.

Saying no even when it’s hard​

Don’t get me wrong – being the person who ‘gets sht done’ is really important. But you can’t get everyone’s sht done. If you are being asked to take on a new task that will take you away from the high-priority thing you are already working on – ask yourself if it’s worth saying ‘no’ to this request. It can be difficult and even sometimes cause tension but trying to keep everyone else happy will usually lead to slacking on everything. That means nobody will be happy – especially you.

Planning your day and priorities​

This brings us to the next important step. Planning your day is key for productivity. If you go to work and start working on the thing that comes up first on your to-do list, you risk ending the day without making any real progress. If you commute into work consider spending some time going through your pending tasks and pick no more than three items that are your must-dos for that day.

It’s likely those tasks won’t be completed in one day so by having three items on your priority list, you can work on the first one, make progress, and then whilst you are waiting for sign-off or someone to come back to you so you can progress it further, switch to the second most important task.

Does this risk you not progressing with other items on your to-do list? Yes! But the whole point is those items shouldn’t be the top priority right now. Plus on a lot of occasions, you’ll progress enough on the three top priorities that towards the end of the day you’ll have some to catch up on some lower-priority tasks.

Imagine how productive you’ll feel on the way home knowing you progressed your top 3 priorities that day as well as ticked off a few other things from the backlog. You’ll sleep well that night!

Structuring and timeboxing your day​

Another tactic you can consider to prioritize your productivity is bringing structure and timeboxing to your day. There are plenty of calendar options you can use to make this possible and the popular to-do platform Todoist also recently launched their calendar view.

This approach can be really powerful if you are in a role with lots of meetings because you can create needed structure in the breaks between your meetings. For example, if you have a meeting at 9 am and 11 am you can book 10 am-11 am as a time to work on your #1 priority task. Then the other gap you have you can work on your #2 and #3 priorities as suggested above. And then if any other spare slots remain, that’s where you can reserve time for your lower priority items.

And of course – don’t forget to timebox in a couple of short breaks and lunch breaks in there. You need to refresh your body and mind to avoid burnout. Working more and more hours won’t necessarily make you more productive.

Creating this timeboxed structure holds you to account throughout the day, can trigger notifications, keep you on track, and ensure you are attending all your meetings as well as progressing your high-priority projects. Now that sounds like a productive day!

Constantly prioritize​

It’s important to remember that your priorities can and will change. It’s therefore vital you constantly ask yourself whether you are still working on the top priorities.

Has something new come in that should take priority and knock something else off the top list? Difficult decisions come with the territory and sometimes it means someone along the long will be disappointed. But as long as you have the data to back up your decision-making process and show your prioritization helped move the business forward, you should be rewarded and not punished. If you find this isn’t working and you are being criticized for that prioritization, you need to ask yourself if it’s a ‘you’ problem or an issue with the company you work at...

Reward the productivity​

Life isn’t all about work, work, work. I’ve mentioned above about taking regular breaks and ensuring your well-being is looked after – which in a way is a reward in itself. But some people are driven to be ultra productive knowing a reward is in sight for them.

It works in a wide range of scenarios. Look at a sales exec – they know if they put in the hours and hard work to get a new client over the line, they'll be rewarded with a healthy commission payment. That drives salespeople to do the best they can in their role.

If you feel like you have a similar mentality then you can set up rewards for when things are achieved. Such as the completion of a high-priority project on your to-do list being rewarded with that video game you wanted to buy or if it’s big enough, booking that holiday you want to go on with your family.

Tying rewards to the work and projects you need to do can help keep you focused on the work that matters, as in your mind you know you won’t be ‘rewarded’ for the work you do on lower priority items. Rewards are unique to you as a person so sit down and spend some time thinking about what these rewards might be as they’ll likely be quite different to somebody else’s choices.

Productivity platforms such as Habitica also have this feature built-in. On Habitica specifically, it’s a column within your workspace where you can set up custom rewards. You then use the coins you earned from completing tasks to “buy” those rewards. This works well to gamify productivity but be careful you don’t fall into the trap of completing lots of easy tasks to earn coins to then redeem for a reward. This creates a dopamine rush for you because you are getting a sense of completion from ticking off tasks and choosing a reward for doing so, but you won’t be moving that company needle and therefore not really being that productive – just busy.

Find work-life balance​

Finally, the most important thing to remember is that it’s not all about work. Over the years I’ve met many self-diagnosed ‘workaholics’ who put in huge stints at the cost of quality time with their family. But in reality, I’ve seen them struggling more at work due to the insurmountable amount of pressure they put on themselves, in addition to family issues at home because they are harming those relationships by never being there – or worse yet being there but not really being ‘present’ as they are engulfed in their work email on their phone the entire time.

Finding balance enables you to keep a clear, happy mind. This can really have a positive effect on your ability to focus at work. When you return to work after a nice vacation, you tend to feel a little blue, but when it comes to making decisions and getting sh*t done, you tend to be a lot more productive and successful in doing so. Balance is key.

And that clear mind enables you to have better clarity on what the most important tasks and projects are, to ensure you are as productive as you can possibly be.

I'm excited to announce the release of version 2.0 of our Stream Deck plugin for WhatPulse. This update brings a new action called Profile toggle designed to streamline your time and stats tracking workflow.

The centerpiece of this release is the integration with WhatPulse Profiles. Now, you can toggle profiles on and off directly from your Stream Deck, making it easier than ever to track time across different projects. Whether you're a student juggling multiple assignments, a freelancer managing various client projects, or simply someone looking to better understand how you spend your time on the computer, this new action offers a practical solution.

With version 2.0, you'll be able to:

• Start and stop time tracking for specific projects with a single button press
• Quickly switch between different profiles as you change tasks
• See which profile is currently active thanks to visual feedback on your Stream Deck

With the new profile toggle feature, all of this is now possible directly from your Stream Deck. The button lights up when a profile is active, giving you instant visual confirmation of your current tracking status.

But that's not all the plugin offers. You can also:

• Display various WhatPulse statistics right on your Stream Deck
• Open the WhatPulse window with a single tap
• Trigger a manual pulse whenever you want

Version 2.0 of the WhatPulse Stream Deck plugin is all about giving you more control and visibility over your productivity tracking. It's the perfect companion for anyone serious about understanding and optimizing their computer usage. Head over to our Help Center for detailed instructions on how to install and set up the latest version of the WhatPulse Stream Deck plugin.

Don't have a Stream Deck yet? This might just be the perfect excuse to get one. 😉

Happy tracking!

No matter how productive and successful we are at work, we all have those moments where procrastination rears its nasty head and tempts you into the realms of doom-scrolling or simply focusing on a task that gives you a dopamine fix but doesn't really push the business needle forward.

If you are the kind of person who is motivated by gaming, or the dopamine fixes provided by gamification, then you may find gamifying your high-priority tasks can make work more fun, and let you leave the office at the end of the day feeling like you've made great progress – and that feeling can be invaluable.

WhatPulse Gamification​

WhatPulse has a range of different ways to help you gamify your productivity at work. The software itself tracks how many keys you type, so simply by doing your work you are contributing towards your online profile and climbing those global leaderboards. This alone could give you the motivation to type more and complete that task you've been putting off because that progress converts into WhatPulse progress.

In addition to this, you can enable the WhatPulse Geek Window to get a live snapshot of how your day is going. There are Geek Window options to show not only your overall rankings and progress but also how much you have progressed today. You could have a Geek Window open that shows your current global ranking for keystrokes and how many keys you have typed today so far. You can then give yourself a daily goal based on something that is achievable but means you have done a considerable amount of work, and that can give you the additional motivation to type just one more email or finish one more report so you hit that 50,000 keys daily target! The more often you hit your daily goal, the quicker you'll climb up those global rankings, too.

You can also set up Milestones within the WhatPulse client which notify you when you reach it, for example when you reach 1,000,000 keystrokes. This can provide you with an additional sense of achievement.

You can join the WhatPulse Discord to join a community of like-minded individuals who enjoy increasing the statistics and hold yourself accountable for achieving a certain threshold per day or per week. The community can then keep you motivated and this social gamification can help you to achieve more at work as you'll have a sense of not wanting to let people down. It's powerful and holding yourself publicly and socially accountable in this way can also be a powerful way to overcome certain addictions and procrastination issues. The WhatPulse Weekly Report is also a great way to compete with yourself week-on-week. Did you manage to type more this week than last week? The report will show you the difference between the week for your stats and rankings, giving you the opportunity to constantly challenge yourself.

Finally, WhatPulse has a range of achievement badges you can unlock while progressing your various statistics. Every key you type and click with your mouse gets you one step closer to unlocking your next achievement badge to proudly show off on your WhatPulse profile.

Timers & Rewards​

Clever use of timers and rewards can be a great way to gamify your productivity and make work more fun. Power hours are a classic way to focus in on what needs to be done for a full 60 minutes, and the reward can be something as simple as a cup of coffee or a chocolate bar.

If the power hour seems a bit too long for you to remain focused, then other techniques may work well for you. The popular Pomodoro technique sees you work in 25-minute intervals followed by a 5-minute break. You repeat this 3-4 times and then take a longer break for around 30 minutes. This can help keep your focus heightened and allows you to save those procrastinating moments for the break time at the correct time without interrupting your flow.

Generally just having regular breaks can help to avoid burnout, so something like a mid-morning snack (which is often referred to as ‘elevensies') can help break up the first half of the day before lunch and then something similar in the afternoon. Looking forward to those break times set in stone can help you stay motivated until those times, resulting in increased productivity.

If you think you can get away with it at your job then there is also the so-called 30/30 approach. This simply means doing 30 minutes of focused work and then taking a 30-minute break to do something non-work related. We don't think this works for all types of projects you may be working on and your boss may not take too kindly to you having a break every half hour! But it's reported that this method can keep the mind fresh and help to spur on more creative thinking and reduce brain fog.

Gamified Task Managers​

There are many different task managers available now on the market. Some are mobile-first and others work best when you are using alongside a desktop PC all day. A trend that has been growing over the last few years is a rise in ‘gamified' task managers or at least gamification within an existing app.

Some examples of task managers that have gamification built in as a feature include Todoist with their Karma points which you earn by creating and completing tasks and generally engaging with the app.

However, some other task managers allow for a full-on gamified experience. The aim of these is to make ticking off tasks from your to-do list more rewarding and fun, which in turn could be the motivation you need to complete more work and be more productive.

One of the top examples of a gamified task manager is Habitica which is an RPG that levels up your character and unlocks new gear and weapons thanks to the tasks you mark as complete. You can also set up habits that are a bit different to tasks and help keep yourself accountable for the good habits you want to do more of and the bad habits you want to eliminate.

Whilst Habitica does have a mobile app it is a desktop/web-based focused application. So if you are primarily on your phone for your task management, you may want to look into an alternative such as LifeUp or Do It Now which are both highly rated and popular options available in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Challenge your colleagues

Finally, if you are someone who is of a competitive nature and motivated by winning, then you could challenge your colleagues in a fun way to see who can be the most productive. This could be who ticks off the most tasks this week on their task manager, with a beer being the prize. Or it could be both of you having an account on a gamified tool like Habitica and seeing who can get to the highest level. For some people, being able to compete against someone they know well and spend lots of time with can help keep you both accountable and highly motivated.

But tread carefully. Some people do not take well to others who have a competitive spirit and may feel alienated by someone trying to achieve more and potentially make them look bad in front of their boss. So be careful with who you choose to challenge should you wish to take this route to competitive productivity.

What are some of your favorite ways to gamify productivity and do more at work? Let us know on X/twitter or Discord!