Pongo

Inspiration

Everyone at some point in their lives has struggled with time management. Poor time management can be seen in almost every form of daily life. It could have been that one essay due in a couple of weeks, being left days to be done days before it was due. Or maybe it was not knowing where to start. That one chore out of so many to do that was put off because it was too hard to decide. Trying to complete assignments can be overwhelming.

That is why our team, the Pi Musketeers, created Pongo: The Ultimate Organizational Experience. We wanted to offer people the opportunity to improve themselves by creating a welcoming work environment. We know that time management is hard; only 18% of people have a healthy, working system! But with this website we programmed select tools that can aid anyone who is inspired to bettering themselves and their work-life balance.

What it does

Pongo is a website designed to keep users motivated and focused on their task at hand. Pongo offers three main features: the Task Generator, three timers, and Inspirational quotes.

The Task Generator scrambles a list of tasks that you enter into the website and picks ones at random according to date and section. For example, if you were to implement a task due today, it would pick it over one that’s due a week from now. That way, if you have multiple tasks due today, you won't find difficulty in having to choose a starting point.

The timers can help with the chosen task by giving you a set time-frame to finish it. There are three options: a twenty five-minute timer, a ten-minute timer, and a five-minute timer. Some tasks might take longer than others, so variety in timers is necessary for a variety of assignments. The final use for timers are resting periods. After completing a twenty five-minute task, it’s good to give yourself a break.

According to the Pomodoro Method, it’s best to separate large chunks of work with mini resting periods. Using a five-minute timer can make sure that you have a break while also keeping you focused on what you need to accomplish.

The last tools that we provide for users are inspirational quotes! We have both general quotes for anti-procrastination and quotes from our instructors here at NCSSM. The general quotes increase success and contentment by dissing the act of procrastination while NCSSM quotes are quirky, and are a unique perspective into life at our school. Overall, this website gives easy access to tools that manage time, resources, and energy to be the best you.

How we built it

Our team programmed code to generate lists and produce timers to help our users with their tasks. We used Google Sites to compile the code into an easily accessible location that anyone at (currently) NCSSM can access. There were also inspirational quotes that we ourselves designed, taken from professors at school.

Challenges we ran into

Some challenges that we faced were deciding on a idea, programming the timer and other aspects of the website, and, ironically, managing our time. Maybe we can use Pongo to help us in the future!

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We (The Pi Musketeers) were very excited to make this website. Even though we haven't completely finished, we are proud what we have worked on this far. We had struggled a lot throughout this process, but here we are presenting this to you with confidence. Our project is something special and are happy that hackathon can experience it.

What we learned

The most important thing we learned was how to work as a team. Two of us had zero coding knowledge, one of us some, and the last of us had the most. It was interesting having to separate tasks and manage exactly what we wanted to do. At times, we felt worried that what we had wouldn't be enough. However, in the end, we came together as a team and are here to show what unlikely teamwork can do.

What's next for Pongo

I have said before that we are proud of what he created. This is mostly true! But, there are definitely things that we wanted to add of which we ran out of time to complete. In the hopefully near future, The Pi Musketeers want to add in new features like goal setting, cute decals, and the choice for calming music. We want to take this idea and make it a reality by doing what it's supposed to: help busy people find a system that works for busy lives.