Decision. No Tags & Projects

Let’s remind ourselves of Steady Stride’s goal: to give users a feel for the total time invested in a commitment—often over a very, very long period.

• What matters? Consistency. The ability to log time easily, without friction, and stay motivated over the long haul.
• What should be avoided? Anything that complicates logging time.

Considering Tags and Projects

I get it. When I first started using Steady Stride, I instinctively thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice to tag my activities?” Or maybe bundle them into a project so I could see how much time I’ve invested in different things.

But then I took a step back and thought about the trade-offs.

• Would adding tags or projects align with Steady Stride’s mission?
• What actual value would a user get from them?

System Instead of Action

The moment you introduce tags and projects, you trigger a hierarchical way of thinking—one where everything has to fit into a neat parent-child relationship. And what happens when something doesn’t quite fit? You end up wasting time tweaking the structure instead of just logging the time.

• Do I need a new tag for this?
• Should this be a subcategory under another project?
• What if I stop working on this and want to merge it into something else?

Suddenly, you’re spending mental energy trying to organize data instead of just doing the thing you set out to do.

For me, this would be a major distraction. I don’t like having empty tags or unfinished projects hanging around. Even though logically, it’s fine, my brain jumps into “fix it” mode. Maybe I should create a catch-all category? But if I do that, doesn’t that make the label meaningless? And now I’m caught in a loop that has nothing to do with actually making progress.

Would adding tags or projects align with Steady Stride’s mission?

No, it adds complexity that doesn’t help with logging activities over a very, very long period.

No to a Work Mindset, Yes to Progress with Compassion

If the goal is to see total time invested go up, does it really matter that you spent 30 hours on one specific project? Or are you just getting trapped in a productivity mindset instead of celebrating the act of putting in the time?

This isn’t work, where you need to optimize everything and beat yourself up if you didn’t finish the project in the 30 hours you initially allocated. Knowing whether it was 30 or 35 hours shouldn’t change your attitude toward the excitement of showing up and making progress.

In fact, not having tags and projects can be better. Without the ability to compare against some perfect ideal breakdown, you avoid the trap of thinking anything less is a failure. Instead of stressing over the perfect outcome, you simply see your time go up. Progress is progress—celebrate that instead.

What actual value would a user get from them?

Little. Steady Stride is about the joy of tracking time and seeing progress—not analyzing macro trends or micromanaging the structure of your logs

Tags and Projects Don’t Align With Steady Stride’s Mission

Tags and projects might seem useful, but I believe they are a trap. Steady Stride is built to make tracking as simple as possible so you actually stick with it over time. Log your hours, see your total go up, and stay motivated. That’s it.

Let’s embrace adding logs, not the details of the logs.