How to set the interval so it doesn't drive you insane

The most common way to give up on Whatcha Doing is to set it to ask every fifteen minutes on the first day, get interrupted thirty times, and uninstall it before dinner.

That's a reasonable reaction to an unreasonable setting. Here's a better way in.

Start at ninety minutes

Ninety minutes is long enough that the question feels like a check-in rather than a nag, and short enough that you can still remember what you did. For the first week, that's all you need.

Use Deep Work mode for long runs

When you're in the middle of something that needs a long uninterrupted stretch, turn on Deep Work mode. The app holds its questions until you come back up, then asks once about the whole block.

Tighten it only if the answers get vague

If your entries start to read like "worked on stuff" or "various things", the interval is too long to remember clearly. Drop it to sixty minutes. If you find yourself resenting every prompt, raise it again. The right interval is the one you'll still be using in a month.

• Week one: every 90 minutes, Deep Work mode when you need it.
• Vague answers: shorten to 60.
• Resentment: lengthen, don't quit.

You can always tell it to be quiet. That's a feature, not an apology.