
Show HN: Stressed and burned out, so I created my first app – Remember Win - entangld
http://rememberwinapp.com/
======
ErikRogneby
I love the concept. +1 for an android version.

One feature to add might be a view for one year ago today. There are journals
that have 365 pages and you write a line for each year of the highlights of
the day. As you write the new year's line you end up reviewing what you were
doing in previous years. It seems like you have most of the pieces to do this.

~~~
Pyrodogg
I use Oh Life for daily email journaling. One feature I really like is the "Oh
snap, remember this? X days ago you wrote..." prompt, where X doesn't always
equal 365. The random retrospective glances are great. For example, when it's
Christmas, I don't necessarily want to be prompted to compare it to the last
one...

~~~
Shizka
Didn't know about that one! What an absolutely great thing. I keep a log over
the work I do and being able to look back at the work I have done and examine
the thoughts I had say a year ago is incredibly valuable. I wouldn't be
surprised if you can get the same benefits from this.

Thanks for sharing!

------
elwell
120 points in 1 hour is a nice start. I think you can add a self-referencing
entry to your achievement list: "Launched _Remember Win_ App"

~~~
entangld
!!!

------
Lambdanaut
I love the sentiment and inspiration. I think this is great for fighting
burnout and getting back in the game. The design of the app is really clean
and it looks great.

That being said, I feel like the replies here are a bit of a hugbox. As far as
the app's value itself goes, I don't see any benefit of this compared to an
accomplished.txt file. In fact, a txt file is better because it covers more
use cases and has a simpler interface(just start typing).

Why should I use this rather than a notepad? Look for features you can add
that would be useful for manipulating data about accomplishments. Find ways to
set the app apart.

Accomplishment ranking could be one useful feature. Then you could list even
the tiny accomplishments, but if you want to just look at the big
accomplishments you can always sort based on ranking to clear out the noise.

~~~
__m
I don't know, keeping track of accomplishments in retrospect seems to be
rather an additional burden. I'd rather change the app so it helps you to
pursue current goals (todos for a goal, notes etc.) and reminds you of goals
you have accomplished.

~~~
jamesisaac
I'm working on a platform which does just that. Don't really want to detract
from the thread (as I appreciate the simplicity of this app in just focusing
on one aspect), but the link is in my profile if you're interested.

------
zeratul
Entangld, this is a great app. I hope you will find some time for healing.

Stress burns the mind in the same way as physical activity burns the muscle.
At some point you need to give your mind a rest. I suggest this book:

[http://www.amazon.com/Full-Catastrophe-Living-Wisdom-
Illness...](http://www.amazon.com/Full-Catastrophe-Living-Wisdom-
Illness/dp/0739358588)

or this one:

[http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-Go-There-
Are/dp/140130778...](http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-Go-There-
Are/dp/1401307787)

This should help you keep your strengths intact regardless of your current
situations ... who is to say that next endeavor will be better than the
previous one.

------
ph0rque
Looks neat... do you plan to make an Android version?

------
xmmx
Is the information stored on the device or on your servers somewhere? I like
the idea but I'd also like to keep this data for longer than a company may be
around for.

~~~
entangld
Thank you for the feedback! I was nervous about posting to HN.

Info is saved on the device.

~~~
sushid
Haven't had the chance to use the app yet, but does this mean that it's
locally stored/backed up on iCloud?

~~~
entangld
Not backed up on iCloud yet. It's a very simple app right now.

------
anishkothari
Great job! I started writing down my daily "wins" after reading about Marc
Andreeessen and his anti-todo list. [http://blog.idonethis.com/marc-
andreessen-productivity-trick...](http://blog.idonethis.com/marc-andreessen-
productivity-trick/)

------
Bjorkbat
This is super rad! +1 for android as well. No pressure though. If anything I
might just create a personal clone for myself.

~~~
bleakcabal
If you do create and android version let us know. I would be interested in
using this on android.

------
kenrikm
I like the concept, good job on getting it out there! However the choice of
font (Lobster) pains me, there was a period where it was so overused that it's
almost on the level of Comic Sans at this point. #sadface

~~~
momchenr
Came here to say this. I see it everywhere, it's just overused at this point.

------
jsingh
This concept is powerful, wrote about it recently :)

[https://medium.com/@jasdev/small-
moments-159df5db89a5](https://medium.com/@jasdev/small-moments-159df5db89a5)

------
tangen9000
This looks awesome, another +1 for Android. Definitely an app to be proud of,
and a really cool idea.

------
oddevan
Thanks for this. I do need to remind myself about victories, even small ones.
Especially when it comes time for annual performance reviews. :D

------
anvarik
What went well today? got #1 on HN.

------
travisfischer
I clicked through expecting an app that offered a nostalgic walk down memory
lane with screenshots and features of the Windows operating system. I'm not
sure why that is the first thing that came to mind, but it did.

While that would have been moderately amusing, the actual application is a
much more useful and helpful concept.

Great job on launching something!

------
jbigelow76
Great concept and great name, good luck with it.

How about a Windows Phone version ( _Hey stop laughing! I am too being
serious_ )

~~~
swyphcosmo
I'd love to see a Windows Phone version too! Definitely needed to see this
link today. Thanks.

------
baby
It's a great idea and I can see a lot of people using such an app. But I don't
feel like it's really productive, or even healthy to look too much at the
past. Reminds me a quote "if you spend your day thinking about yesterday, what
will you do tomorrow?"

~~~
nstart
Good point. Just another way of looking at it though. Looking back in life
from a perspective of 'hey things are actually pretty great in my life' is
good for the mind. It actually gives you reason to look forward to the moment.
There is of course the possibility one might look back and say I wish my life
was more awesome like back then. But given that the wins would be like
something from yesterday or the past week, I think the odds of the brain
thinking that way might be microscopic.

------
jmcmahon443
Just downloaded it, great app.

I find critique useful, I hope you do too. I do not like the notifications,
how you set them. I would prefer to wake up to my morning alarm and see a
random awesome thing I did the day or week before, along with a motivational
1-a-day quote.

~~~
entangld
No offense taken whatsoever when it comes to criticism! My inner-perfectionist
thrives on making things better.

Great idea on the alarm. I collect great quotes and I want to use them. I just
thought I couldn't serve them well in this version of a small local app.

I'm hoping to eventually use the app to sprinkle a person's day with things
more positive and substantial than a compliment or two. It might also make
sense to have different features trigger after 25 or so entries.

------
51Cards
Wonderful... another +1 for Android please.

------
samspot
I have been thinking of making an app to help me do regular journaling. The
idea is that it iss quick and easy enough to do in one minute per day and that
it would help me remember notable events in my life. This fills that niche
really well!

One thing I wanted in my app was a timeline view so that I could see an
overview of the most notable events in my life, and drill into certain periods
for more detail. I think you could do that with this app.

Lastly, provide a way to export data. I want to remember these things forever,
even if you decide not to continue supporting the app.

------
datasmash
Neat concept. In my experience its helpful to reset the clock and remember the
mindset you were in when you were happiest to help guide you towards where you
should go next.

------
physcab
The data here would be very useful for performance reviews for employees. For
HR, it would also be helpful for looking at morale at a high level.

~~~
Guvante
Self evaluation which is then evaluated by others is difficult to get right.

This is because everyone's internal lens is different, so comparing "results"
is compounded even more than usual.

------
k-mcgrady
Nice idea. I'm going to try it out over the next few days. One critique:
you've used some non-retina graphics for bar button items.

------
redgrange
Great idea. It seems like something that would be incorporated in Facebook
given it's ostensible goal of documenting your life. Perhaps they'll even hear
about your idea and release a "new Achievements" feature in the coming months.
Have you considered building your own on top of their api/platform to increase
the "virality" of remember win?

~~~
codereflection
Not being integrated with Facebook is a good thing too. :)

------
madaxe_again
Great concept. I'm sat here, having been instructed by our investors to write
up our achievements in the last two years, drawing a total blank. I know we've
achieved lots of stuff, but I can't view anything as an achievement, so so
far, I've managed "not totally failing" \- which I don't think is quite what
they're after.

Ho hum.

------
graup
I like this. Last year I started writing down "one cool thing I've done" every
day and it definitely helps me appreciate my life more. Recently I had a
couple of days where I couldn't come up with anything to note, which reminded
me to check if I'm still doing what I love and not spending too many days with
only tedious work.

------
kator
Reminds me of a gift my father gave my daughter when she recently had her
first child "The Happiness Project One-Sentence Journal for Mothers" [1]

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Project-One-Sentence-
Journal...](http://www.amazon.com/Happiness-Project-One-Sentence-Journal-
Mothers/dp/0385348657/)

------
leftwich
I created a notepad document two weeks ago to track a.) each day that I do not
move my car (bike everywhere instead) and b.) each meal that I prepare myself
and eat in. I have ambitions to start tracking some more day-to-day goals like
these.

I'm giving this app a shot to see if it has benefits over the .txt file.
Thanks!

------
keeptrying
Had a similar idea. But where others give you badges because it means a little
bit more if others give you someting.

Great start.

------
SSilver2k2
Great idea. I've had something like this on the backburner as well. Congrats
on making it a reality!

Looks nice too :)

------
jjudge
Nice app - I just downloaded it and added a few wins this year. Looking
forward to using it.

------
atmosx
A Jobs quote, hmm... A Dostoevsky quote... That's impressive... Nice idea, be
strong!

------
SonicSoul
very nice! I have a few ideas but have never done mobile development and
frankly it seems a bit overwhelming for the 2-5 spare hours in a week. Is the
best way to get started to create a reactive site and port it into an app?

~~~
chrisweekly
if you can build a mobile-first website (eg w bootstrap or zurb foundation to
do the css heavy lifting), then you can use trigger.io (or phonegap) to
generate ios and android apps that wrap it...

------
AndyNemmity
I run an online game, and I think I'm going to try this as a notice for
players of positive achievements in the past. Perhaps it makes them all feel
like they are doing better than they feel they are.

Great concept.

~~~
lurkylurk
I think that's a great idea. Team Fortress 2 does things like this after a
death (ex: That was the longest you've stayed alive as the Engineer, That was
the most points you've ever captured with the Scout) and I find that they do
motivate you to keep going even if you're being decimated, because hey at
least you did _something_ better than before.

------
Kronopath
I'd love to hear more about your actual story, how you came to realize you
were burning out and what kind of changes you made in your life to fight it.
Did you leave your job to develop this app?

~~~
entangld
I didn't leave my job, but I just worked on the design on th train ride to
work.

Building something you think might help other people is good for your sanity.

------
himanshuy
Just downloaded and loved it. Great app. Is there a way to include quotes?

------
jere
That's a great idea and good looking app. I had kind of a similar idea: an app
that would preserve nice things said about you by others to counteract all the
negativity.

------
tsax
I'm really impressed by all these polished launch pages that Show HN folks
design. Lack of such is an admittedly lame reason why I refrain from posting
projects on HN.

~~~
e7mac
hey! good point - I felt the same so amy trying to create a template website
that would make polished app pages easy for mobile developers! hope to share
the beta with you soon!

~~~
tsax
Sweet though I'm not a mobile dev.

------
nothiggs
Serious question: Knowing what it's like to feel burned out,I don't understand
how you found the energy to create the app. Did you create it after recovering
?

------
robbyking
Was this influenced by Reddit's "Daily 3?[1]"

[1] [http://www.reddit.com/r/Mydaily3/](http://www.reddit.com/r/Mydaily3/)

~~~
entangld
Influenced by book Flourish by Martin Seligman

------
napolux
Can you tell us something about technologies used for the app?

------
gdiocarez
The quotes really humanize your app. Kudos and Godspeed.

------
nichodges
This is so great. I have a text file named "1000 Things" that I update weekly.
The file has headings "I am an aspiring ____", and I list the things I did
that week to move closer to that goal, counting down from 1000.

So my questions...Is it possible to load up a bunch of existing data in to the
app? And would there be a way to implement a count of the achievements for
each category?

------
bl00djack
This app is great. I really need this.

I'm a recent graduate, in the weird transition of student life and real life.

------
kevando
First I saw the domain and I thought someone was trying to bring back
winamp... Nice job on the app!

------
bobbyongce
This is a great idea! Thank you for creating this. Looking forward to tracking
my daily wins too!

------
ShonM
+1 for Android. Happy to part with $5 for such an application

------
mindtwist
Really nice concept, trying it out right now.

------
victor_mg
Excelent app +1 for one android version.

------
awkwit
damn. saw the url and for a second thought it was to celebrate and remember
winamp =(

------
hooklah
except he used an iPhone4 for all the images on the home page.

------
AwesomeTogether
don't use this quote on your app

[https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10328969/stayhungrystayf...](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10328969/stayhungrystayfoolish.png)

~~~
27182818284
Is there a specific reason why the author shouldn't? Like a
trademark/copyright issue because of the speech or just because it annoys you?

~~~
morganvachon
Not speaking for AwesomeTogether, but it's the title of a book:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay_Hungry_Stay_Foolish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay_Hungry_Stay_Foolish)

edit: And just to be clear, I don't see where it would be an issue using it in
the app, as the title of that book was supposedly inspired by Jobs saying the
phrase, who in turn got it from yet another book. Just wondering if the fact
that it's a book title is what the issue is.

------
nether
seems trendy, hn will love it for a day or two

------
olsn
+1 for android

------
purans
Like it!!

------
abhididdigi
Please an API please.

------
JakeWesorick
there is no blog link on the about page.

------
mountaineer
Will check it out more, have had a similar idea on my back burner for a while
too.

~~~
mountaineer
Comment was simply meant as idea validation.

