Pylot: A Wearable Designed to Boost Your Productivity
Pylot is the first-ever wearable device designed to track your productivity in order to help you work smarter. In this edition of our Tools for Thought series, we interview Ben Wisbey, co-founder of Pylot, to discuss how he believes optimizing energy management, rather than time management, is key to unlocking your potential and revolutionizing the way we think about productivity.
Why Energy Management Matters
According to Wisbey, deep, focused work is far more effective than grinding through tasks when we are not “in the zone”. He explains that managing energy is more important than managing time, and could lead to better-quality work produced in less time. By monitoring brain wave activity and physiological responses during mentally challenging tasks, Wisbey and his team identified flow and mental fatigue as key factors that impact performance. Flow is a state of relaxed concentration where one is fully immersed in their work and not easily distracted. Mental fatigue can make it difficult to maintain a flow state and can influence when we need a break or how long our deep work sessions should be.
Meet Pylot: The Wearable for Productivity
Pylot, Wisbey’s latest project, is a wearable that tracks productivity through a lightweight and comfortable headband. The headband gathers EEG and HRV data to assess mental fatigue and flow. The app then provides real-time feedback and recommendations for deep work, shallow tasks, or taking a break. As Pylot continues to learn from patterns, it suggests the best times of day for deep work sessions and their ideal duration.
Challenges in Developing Pylot
Developing hardware is never easy, especially when it comes to creating devices that collect scientific data accurately. Wisbey and his team experienced their fair share of trial and error, leading to prototypes that were uncomfortable and unappealing. They had to ensure the device was compatible with glasses and headsets, and design a device that was lightweight and flexible. After multiple iterations, Pylot boasts a ten-hour battery life, a design that is both comfortable and attractive, and compatibility with glasses and headsets.
User-Friendly and Straightforward
Despite the complexity of brain wave activity and HRV, Pylot is designed to be user-friendly and easy to use. Users simply turn on the headband and wear it. An overlay on Windows/Mac devices provides live feedback, while the app gives a summary of each work session and each day’s trends.
Who Can Benefit from Pylot?
Pylot is designed for people looking to maximize the quality of their workday. It emphasizes doing one’s best work rather than just doing more work. For founders, developers, designers, writers, and other knowledge workers, Pylot can help adjust their daily routine and adapt their work hours based on the app’s recommendations. Pylot can help users identify when they need a break, when to engage in shallow tasks, or when to get into deep work for optimal productivity.
Conclusion
Pylot represents a new approach to productivity, focusing on energy management instead of time management. By optimizing our energy levels and maintaining flow states, we can achieve better-quality work in less time. With Pylot’s wearable technology, tracking productivity has never been easier or more user-friendly. From founders to writers, Pylot offers insights and recommendations to help individuals achieve their best work and unlock their true potential.
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