Creating Custom Alerts

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Creating alerts

How alerts differ from goals Creating an alert Alert fields in detail Time filters

Managing alerts

Examples

Alerts fire a real-time notification the moment a time threshold is crossed. Unlike goals, they aren't about tracking long-term progress; they're about getting an immediate nudge when you've spent too much (or enough) time on an activity.

Alerts are a Solo Focus and Solo+ feature. Go to Goals & Alerts → Alerts tab to create and manage them.

Creating alerts

How alerts differ from goals

Goals and alerts both track your time against a threshold, but they serve different purposes:

	Goals	Alerts
Shown on the Dashboard	✓	✗
Fires a real-time notification	Optional	Required
Can trigger a Focus Session	✗	✓
Can open a website when triggered	✗	✓
Can show a custom message	✗	✓
Can repeat multiple times per day	✗	✓

Use goals when you want to track a habit over time and see it in your reports. Use alerts when you want to be interrupted in the moment, especially for limits you're trying to enforce rather than observe.

Creating an alert

Click + New Alert on the Alerts tab. The alert form lets you set a threshold, choose what triggers it, and configure what happens when it fires.

Alert fields in detail

Alert after

Set the time threshold in hours and minutes, choose which activity or category to watch, and set the timeframe. The alert fires once that amount of time has accumulated on the specified activity within the timeframe.

The activity dropdown works the same as in goals. You can target a productivity level, any category or sub-category, a specific app or website, or total logged time.

Notifications

Choose Email, Desktop, or both. At least one must be selected for the alert to fire.

Desktop is required if you want the alert to trigger a Focus Session or open a webpage. Email-only alerts will not support those actions. For desktop notifications to appear, RescueTime notifications must also be enabled in your OS settings. See Enabling Notifications.

Repeatable per day

Controls how many times the alert can fire in a single day. Set to 1 to fire once and stop. Set higher to fire every time the threshold is crossed again. This is useful for cumulative limits where you want a nudge each time you add another increment. For example, an alert set to fire after every 30 minutes of social media would need Repeatable per day set to however many times you want to be notified.

Start Focus Session blocking

When enabled, this automatically starts a Focus Session the moment the alert fires. Set a session duration from the dropdown. This is the most direct way to enforce a limit. Instead of just notifying you, RescueTime immediately starts blocking distractions. Requires desktop notifications to be enabled.

Custom message

An optional message can be displayed in the desktop notification when the alert fires. Use it for a personal reminder, a motivational prompt, or a specific instruction, whatever you want to see in that moment.

Open a web page when triggered

Optionally enter a URL to open automatically in your browser when the alert fires. Useful for redirecting yourself to your task list, a productivity resource, or a specific tool the moment a threshold is hit. Requires desktop notifications.

Start Focus Session blocking and Open a web page are not mutually exclusive. You can use both on the same alert.

Time filters

Like goals, alerts support custom Time Filters in the during dropdown. A time filter scopes the alert to specific days of the week, specific hours, or a combination, so it only watches for the threshold during the windows where that behavior actually matters.

Create and manage time filters at Account Settings → Work Schedule → Time Filters. Once created, they appear by name in the during dropdown on any alert or goal.

Time Filters settings section showing three current filters: Sat-Sun, Morning, and Afternoon, each with edit and delete links, and an Add Time Filter link at the bottom

💡 Time filters are shared between goals and alerts. One filter can be applied to many goals and alerts at once. See Using Goals for details on creating and editing filters.

Managing alerts

Alert cards and actions

Each alert on the Alerts tab shows its current configuration at a glance: threshold, activity, timeframe, how many times it was triggered that day, and notification type. There is no way to disable or pause an alert without deleting it. The same form used to create an alert is used to edit it.

The icons on the right of each alert card:

Edit icon (pencil): Opens the alert form to change any setting
Delete icon (trash): Permanently removes the alert

Examples

Alert ideas to get you started

Hard distraction limit

Alert after 30 minutes on Personal/Distracting during Work Hours, repeatable 1 time, Start Focus Session blocking for 30 minutes. Fires once and immediately enforces a session, no willpower required.

Email time limit

Alert after 1 hour on Communication & Scheduling during Work Hours, desktop notification with a custom message like "You've hit your email limit, time to close your inbox." Repeatable 2 times if you want a second warning later in the day.

Focus Work milestone

Alert after 3 hours on Focus Work during Work Hours, desktop notification with a custom message celebrating the milestone. Use this as a positive reinforcement rather than a limit, something to look forward to hitting each day.

End-of-work redirect

Alert after 8 hours of total logged time during Work Hours, open a web page (a task manager or a daily winddown routine). A cue to wrap up and close out the day intentionally rather than just drifting past your end time.

Weekend overwork warning

Alert after 2 hours of total logged time, using a "Saturday and Sunday" time filter. A gentle signal that you're spending more of your weekend on work than you intended.