Hocus-Pocus? Focus!

Want to grow plants? Want to play games? Want to be productive? With Hocus-Pocus-Focus (HPF), you can do it all. HPF makes being productive not only easier but more enjoyable.

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About Hocus-Pocus-Focus

HPF is a multi-layer software that combines gamification and the Pomodoro Technique to make productivity fun. The pomodoro technique suggests a period of 25 minutes working followed by a 5 minute break, a process that is automatically implemented by HPF.

Here's the game:
You are among one of the first humans to be living on Mars! However, this life of adventure comes with its own struggles. Your mission on Mars involves growing a garden and gathering samples while also keeping yourself healthy. How does it work? Well, it's simple:

  • During the 5 minute break, you will play a mini-game. The goal of the game is to catch as many of the moving samples as possible before the five minutes run out! Doing so helps you gain EXP (experience points) that you need to reach the next level. However, this is hard labor, and it drains you health.
  • You can regain lost health by focusing during the 25 minute work period.
  • Everytime you reach a new level, you will grow one new fruit!

The Technicalities-- How it was made

HPF was made through a combination of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. For this software, I took advantage of the p5.js library (link) and the p5.collide2D library (link).

Challenges

I just started learning JavaScript a couple weeks back, so I'm not as familiar with this language. However, I wanted to grow as a programmer, so I choose to use this language for today's hackathon. Due to my inexperience with JavaScript, I definitely ran into many challenges. One of the biggest challenges I encountered was when I was creating the timer function. I had to learn many new things before I was able to complete this integral part of the software. Another challenge I faced was making my code aesthically appealing. To achieve this, I ended up learning about CSS, which I really haven't dabbled with at all before this. I also faced technical difficulties during the 24-hour period. A storm came by last night and has damaged some cables, causing network connectivity issues for a large part of the day.

Inspiration

I know only too well how difficult it is to feel motivated to be productive and avoid procrastination. It was my own struggles with this topic that lead me to do more research on it, and I learned about the Pomodoro Technique. I wanted to create something that would bring what I learned about productivity and time management to others. This is especially valuable now. Due to COVID-19, the majority of students are learning remotely and many people are working from home. It can be hard to remain productive without the structure provided by going to school or to work. An app such as this can help make the transition to learning/working at home more smooth.

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