Using pykeylogger for other things than keylogging

I have recently come up with two ideas that would need the computer to check what is done on the computer and take some action. One use case is to log what I am working on and for how long, without actually logging exactly what I am doing. The other use case is to control the volume of the computer's sound output with the scroll wheel of a mouse. This should be done on Linux.

In both use cases I would need to globally monitor what goes on with the UI on the computer. I have tried out pykeylogger and I am confident that it would work as a work logger, and I wonder if it also in an even more pared down form could be used for monitoring scroll wheel events, and from that data adjust the sound volume.

It is primarily designed for personal backup purposes, rather than stealth keylogging. Thus, it does not make explicit attempts to hide its presence from the operating system or the user. That said, the only way it is visible is that the process name shows up in the task list, so it is not immediately apparent that there is a keylogger on the system.