Time · DoppiNow feature

Time guess

Time guess is DoppiNow's optional "How long?" question before a session. The recap compares your guess with how long the task really took. After three guesses, DoppiNow shows your usual multiplier, like "You usually need about 1.3× your guess".

Last updated

Key facts

Category
Time
Where to find it
Settings → Time you can see → "Ask how long it will take", on by default. Turning it off hides the pill.
Availability
In the DoppiNow Chrome extension: a 7-day free trial, then $3.99/month or $29.99/year. Desktop Chrome 120 or newer (other Chromium browsers such as Edge or Brave may also work).
Status
Available now.

How it works

  1. Make a guess

    Tap “⏱️ How long?” and pick ~10m, ~20m, ~30m, ~45m, ~1h or ~1.5h.

  2. Separate from the timer

    Your guess doesn’t change the session length.

  3. Compare

    The recap says, for example, “You guessed 20 min · it took 27 min”, breaks left out.

  4. Your multiplier

    After 3 guesses: “You usually need about 1.3× your guess”.

All the details
  1. Once you type a goal, "⏱️ How long?" offers ~10m, ~20m, ~30m, ~45m, ~1h and ~1.5h. One tap picks a guess and folds the list away. Tapping the same guess again clears it. The pill then reads, for example, "About 30 min".

  2. The guess is separate from the session length below it.

  3. The recap says, for example, "You guessed 20 min · it took 27 min", leaving out breaks, also the part of a break spent outside Chrome. If the timer ran out before your guess, it says "this session ran 25 min" instead, and that session doesn't count toward your multiplier. Replaced sessions don't count either. A timed session that is only wrapped up later (the computer slept through its end, or the browser was closed) keeps its real end time, so "it took" and the multiplier aren't stretched by the hours in between; the same end time goes to its day, its recap and the dashboard.

  4. Once you have 3 or more usable guesses, taken from your last 30 sessions, the guess panel and the recap show your usual multiplier. It's the middle value of real time divided by guess: "You usually need about 1.3× your guess", or "Your guesses are usually spot on" when you're within 0.1.

Settings: Settings → Time you can see → "Ask how long it will take", on by default. Turning it off hides the pill.

Why it helps with ADHD

In a meta-analysis of 27 studies, children and adolescents with ADHD judged time less accurately and less precisely than their peers (Zheng et al. 2022). Comparing your guesses with the real time is a design choice built on that finding, and it hasn't been tested.

DoppiNow is a productivity tool, not a treatment for ADHD.

Sources

  1. Zheng, Q., Wang, X., Chiu, K. Y., & Shum, K. K. (2022). Time perception deficits in children and adolescents with ADHD: A meta-analysis. Journal of Attention Disorders, 26(2), 267–281. doi.org/10.1177/1087054720978557

Time guess: common questions

Is the guess the same as the session length?

No. The guess is how long you think the task will take. The session length sets the timer.

How is "1.3×" worked out?

It's the middle value of real time divided by your guess across your recent guesses, once you have at least three.

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