I built something similar called "wage clock" that ran in the system tray. The killer feature was you could set sub timers for things like going for coffee or to the bathroom. All of us 20-somethings in our first real job loved it and it was a big reason i quit my big corporate sales job and returned to school to study comp sci.
I too now think it's unhealthy to equate time so directly with rewards, but overall i have fonder memories than you i think...
I think it would be funny if you could have a counter for a meeting i.e. how much is this meeting costing us in salaries. Then keeping the meeting short would be appreciated!
I did that in one place I worked. We had big scrum retrospectives that dragged on a lot. I used to comment how much the meetings cost. Might have made myself a little unpopular. :)
I pointed out how much each individual lecture cost to everyone in college :). That went over well. Especially to those who would skip some lectures.
But just look at the median loan amount in the USA of $31000 then print a repayment schedule of 15yrs at 7% and you get
Cumulative Payments: $50,154.17
Total Interest Paid: $19,154.17
that is like 38% of the original loan amount that needs to be paid in after tax wages in interest to the government. That is a lot if you’re not doing CS/ENG/medicine! IMO it is one of the main things eroding g the financial position of the middle class and lower middle class.
I too now think it's unhealthy to equate time so directly with rewards, but overall i have fonder memories than you i think...