The endless flow of information has become for modern citizens. Every day, while at university, at work, on the road, or on vacation, we constantly exchange information that we simply do not have time to digest. Information overflow lowers the concentration and negatively affects studying.
There comes a time when it is difficult for us to focus on what is important at the moment, whether it is school, work, or something else. Then the weapon of the modern world comes to the rescue-applications that make us work and not be distracted by all sorts of nonsense.
1. Noizio
Are you overwhelmed by the noise of the big city? Just turn on the sound and let yourself enjoy the peaceful sounds of nature. A minute later, you were walking along a central city street, and now it’s like sitting by a cozy fireplace or meditating on the seashore, feeling the gusts of wind ruffling your hair…
The app allows you to focus on your workflow through audio accompaniment. In the Noizio menu, you can enable completely different sound effects. The interface and settings are simple and clear. You can experiment and run several sounds at once, especially since the volume level is adjusted for each one separately. It is possible to configure the application to start automatically when you log in. The only thing is that it is now available only for IOS.
2. Forest
The site greets visitors with the words: “The Forest app will help you put down your phone and focus on something more important.” Although it is worth noting that it works both on a mobile device and in the browser. Forest helps you not get distracted by other apps and sites. Before starting the work, the user selects the time planned for its implementation — from 25 to 120 minutes. For example, you need to finish your thesis project and prepare for the final presentation. After that, a tree starts growing in the app. You work — it grows. But if you get distracted and go to another application or website, the tree will immediately die.
Moreover, Forest will ask you before this: “Do you really give up?» Then he will clarify: “Are you ready to kill this ‘cute little tree’? And only after all the affirmative answers, the application will say that you did it – it was killed. As practice shows, after the first such “crime”, it is difficult to convince yourself that this is just an app. It is important that answering an incoming call will not be considered a disruption. You can grow a whole forest and share your achievements on social media.
Unsurprisingly, The Huffington Post ranked Forest among the top five productivity apps of the year. The app is available for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone, there are extensions for Chrome and Firefox.
3. PomoDone App
The developer of this application (an Italian student) called his way of concentrating on work – “the tomato principle”. All this is in honor of the kitchen timer, which often looks like a tomato. The idea is to break the half-hour work into periods of active activity (25 minutes) and rest (5 minutes). This perfect combination of time will allow your brain activity to stay active all day. I used four “tomatoes” — you can rest for 20-30 minutes. The main thing here is not to be distracted. If this happens, the timer must be reset and start all over again.
The app starts with a vigorous ticking and finishes with a given time interval when the gong is struck. It is available for iOS, Windows Phone, Mac, Linux, and there is an extension for Chrome. There is a free trial version for three months, the full version will be released at about $5 in the App Store.
4. Escape
A very useful app that allows you to track the time you spend on various sites such as social media and other similar apps. Escape marks such transitions and converts them into dry, sobering statistics. Impulsively visiting these apps, we do not notice the wasted time. And the app will allow you to see how many transitions there were and how long they lasted.
You can install Escape for free, but it is only available for Mac. Another significant drawback is that you can’t configure blacklists manually. For example, you can’t exclude Facebook from the statistics, which is a part of their job for someone.
5. One Big Thing
A very useful application for not missing a single scheduled task during the day. It has a “1-3-5” rule. This means that every day a person can do one big task (for 120 minutes), three smaller tasks (for 60 minutes), and five very small ones (for 15 minutes). Before planning, you need to set your priorities correctly. Color stickers allow you to keep everything in focus.
In the morning, you should write in One Big Thing one big task, and three-second plans, which the user will return to during the day. As practice shows, all this works even without reminders and pop-ups. It is enough to enter the tasks and return to them several times, so as not to forget anything. The app has several different themes and fun stickers for decoration. However, it is currently only available for iOS.
6. Streaks
The app helps you form good habits. The user needs to choose six actions that he would like to develop: hiking, learning a foreign language, reading, walking a pet – anything. The idea is to repeat these actions for a long period (20-30 days), after which they will become a really good habit, and the application will no longer be needed. This means that you can enter new activities. It is worth noting that for some tasks, you can set a repetition period not every day, but, for example, go to the gym every three days, etc.
The app has notifications about outstanding tasks, as well as a calendar that tells you about the progress in the future. It is available in the AppStore, as well as for Android.
7. Go Fucking Work
This extension blocks unwanted activity while talking to the user. It is only necessary to try to go to the “forbidden” website, as Go Fucking Work displays messages like ” You’re Dying Soon. Work” or “Go fucking work”. Practice shows that such “communication” gives its results. There is an opinion that your work is closely monitored by someone very strict. The blacklist is compiled by the user. Do you want to take a break? You can put the app on pause, but you will also listen to a lot of things. You can set a rest schedule. The extension is free for Chrome.