What are shifts?

• A distraction shift occurs when you switch from Focus Work or Other Work to a Personal/Distracting Activity.

• A communication shift is when you switch from Focus Work or Other Work to communication apps like chat or email.

• A switch from Focus Work to Other Work or vice versa is also counted as a shift.

NOTE: Shifts are not counted within the same category. For example, shifts from one distraction to another distraction are not counted.

How are shifts calculated?

RescueTime calculates shifts in 5-minute blocks. In each block, the category where you spent the most time decides how that block is classified.

A shift is recorded when your top activity productivity ranking changes from one block to the next.

Examples:

• No shift: From 11:00 to 11:05, you spend 2 minutes in Photoshop and 3 minutes in Terminal. Both are Focus Work, so this block is counted as Focus Work.
• No shift: From 11:05 to 11:10, you spend 3 minutes in Photoshop, 1 minute in Terminal, and 30 seconds on Twitter. Focus Work is still the majority, so no shift is recorded.
• Shift recorded: From 11:10 to 11:15, you spend 4 minutes on Twitter and 1 minute in Photoshop. Now, Personal/Distracting Activities (Twitter) take the lead, so a shift to Distraction is recorded.