3 apps I use to stay focused & productive

No, I'm not talking about ChatGPT

#045

The modern employee is expected to be “Always On”.

It’s 9-5 on paper. But in reality, it could easily be 6-6 or 6 am to 12 midnight or “Always On”

You’re expected to respond whenever someone reaches out to you. It doesn't matter if you’re on vacation or if it’s past your working hours. Since your colleagues always respond, you won’t want to be the only employee who doesn't respond once it’s past working hours.

This expectation creates a vicious cycle of distraction.

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A team of researchers from the University of California found that it takes about 23 minutes to recover your attention once distracted.

Do the math for the number of times you receive unsolicited messages in a day or colleagues stop by your desk to talk about the Man Utd vs Crystal Palace game. You have to fight for yourself if you want to get anything done.

While technology is at the root of our distractions, it can also be the solution.

Here are my top 3 apps to stay focused & productive.

1. Focus To-Do: Focus Timer & Tasks

It’s a FREE Pomodoro app.

Pomodoro Technique is a time management technique developed in the 80s by Francesco Cirillo. The beauty of this time management technique is in its simplicity. You pick a task to focus on.

• You work for a 25-minute time block, then

• Take a 5-minute break.

• Repeat for 4 times, then

• Take a longer 15-30-minute break.

That’s it. That’s all.

If you want to learn more about the Pomodoro Technique check out this post.

2. Breathwrk

In this post on handling stress, I mentioned that I’m learning to breathe. While it’s still early days, I’m seeing the benefits of conscious breathing on my focus, calmness, and productivity.

I use a couple of apps for this but Breathwrk is my fav. It has short exercises for staying calm, relaxing, or falling asleep.

©Breathwrk Appstore image

3. Refocus

This is easily the best app I discovered this year!

In Feb of this year, I wrote about my experiment of staying off social media for 30 days and what I learned. A regular reader of this newsletter,

Orimitete

commented on the post sharing how Refocus has been helpful to him. That was the first time I heard of the app but I’ve fallen in love since then.

Refocus lets you block other apps & websites that cause you distraction so you can focus on what matters. Every weekday from midnight to 5 pm, Refocus automatically blocks the apps I selected.

You know how a quick scroll on Instagram can turn into 2 hours of mindless scrolling? Refocus helps you avoid that.

If you found this useful, don’t forget to…

Until Next Week,

Azodo.