Hi there! I’m [author name], and I’m here to help you find apps that will help you focus, concentrate, and keep your mind in top form.
If you’re like me, juggling family life, work, and all of the different things that make up your daily routine can be daunting. In the moment, it’s easy to feel under-appreciated and stressed, but it’s not until later that you realize just how much you have done. Sometimes—like when you’re trying to work on a task that requires mental effort—it can be hard to get going because of all the other stuff that’s weighing on your mind.
I’ve been having these problems for years now, and it wasn’t until recently when I decided to try an app that helps me focus that I realized: there are a lot of apps out there designed to help busy people like us push through the “fog” and keep our minds sharp. And in this blog series, I’ll be reviewing those apps so that you can find the best one for your needs!
Best Apps For Focus And Concentration
Best focus app for scheduled system-wide blocking
Cold Turkey Blocker (Windows, macOS)
Cold Turkey screenshot
Cold Turkey Blocker is, in a word, customizable. Install this site-blocking app, and you can create lists of websites and desktop apps to block, then set a schedule for blocking. You could, for example, block social media and video sites during every work day. You could also block work apps, like Slack, when the work day ends. It’s all up to you. Or, if you prefer, you can turn blocking on and off manually. There’s even a mode called Frozen Turkey, which prevents you from accessing your computer entirely: turn it on, and you’ll see a blank screen until your scheduled outage is over.
Because this is a system-wide tool and not just a browser extension, you can’t work around it by changing browsers. But it goes further than that—there are all kinds of settings that thwart future versions of yourself from working around your current intentions.
You can block the Time & Language settings, stopping you from working around a scheduled block by changing your computer’s time. You can stop yourself from accessing the Chromium Task Manager, which you could, in theory, use to disable the blocking extension. You can even make it impossible to uninstall Cold Turkey Blocker until your scheduled blocking is complete. I could go on, but the basic point is that you can stop yourself from working around your block. Try this out if you’re the self-sabotaging sort.
Cold Turkey pricing: $39 Pro plan with unlimited blocking, scheduling, and the ability to block desktop apps as well as websites.
Best free browser-based website blocker
LeechBlock NG (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera)
LeechBlock screenshot
LeechBlock NG (the NG stands for “next generation”) works on most major browsers, is free, and gives you a bunch of options for blocking distractions. You can make lists of sites to block, then restrict them in all kinds of ways.
You can schedule times for apps to be blocked outright, which is very straightforward. Alternatively, you can limit your time on distracting apps by setting up rules. For example: you could give yourself 20 minutes of YouTube time every day, or four minutes of Twitter every hour. You can get even more specific, if you want, combining time limits with a schedule—think five minutes of Instagram every hour between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Or, if you don’t want to mess with schedules, you can trigger a one-off “lockdown” schedule.
It’s a lot of power, particularly for a free tool, and you can even lock down the settings during block sessions if you want. The only downside: this is a browser extension, not an app, so you can work around it by switching browsers. If you can avoid that temptation, though, LeechBlock should work nicely.
LeechBlock pricing: Free
Best focus app for time tracking with built-in website blocking
RescueTime (Windows, macOS, Android)
RescueTime screenshot
RescueTime isn’t, primarily, a distraction blocker—it’s one of the best time tracking apps. But it does include a distraction blocking feature called FocusTime, which allows you to block distractions using your time tracking history.
This works using data you’re already providing RescueTime, which allows you to designate apps and websites as productive, distracting, or very distracting. In FocusTime, you can choose to block distracting apps or even just anything you haven’t specifically tagged as productive. It’s a great way to block distractions without having to build a separate block list, particularly if you’re looking for a time tracking app anyway.
You can block distractions automatically using RescueTime’s Zapier integrations, which allow you to do things like schedule a daily FocusTime session.
Schedule daily FocusTime sessions
RescueTime + Schedule by Zapier
Use this Zap
RescueTime pricing: $12/month. Note that the free version of RescueTime does not include distraction blocking.
Best focus app for motivating you to put down your phone
Forest (Android, iOS, Chrome)
Forest for Chrome screenshot
Your phone is a time machine, but not in a useful way. It’s way too easy to pick it up and then notice a couple of hours have disappeared. Forest is an adorable app designed to help you with that.
The idea is simple: you open the app and say you want to plant a tree. Then you put your phone down. If you pick up your phone and switch to another app, your tree will die. Last 25 minutes, and your tree will live. Over time, you’ll grow an entire forest of trees, a reminder of all the time you intentionally spent getting things done instead of scrolling through Twitter. Plus, if you use a paid version of the app, your focus time could help fund real trees via a partnership with Trees for the Future.
Forest also offers a Chrome extension, meaning you can grow trees on your computer as well. This one works more like the other apps in this list but with an option to load distracting sites if you want to. The downside to overriding the block: you’ll have to deal with delightfully twisted copy. “This will kill your cute, little tree,” you’re warned. It gets worse: try to look at a distracting site and you’re told, “your tree is dead.” It’s manipulative, sure, but it’s manipulating you to spend your time wisely. Better than the reasons most apps manipulate you.
Forest pricing: Free on Chrome and Android, $1.99 for iPhone. Android Pro version costs $1.99, one-time, and offers syncing across devices and more tree varieties.
Best focus app for a nuclear option for Mac users
SelfControl (Mac)
SelfControl for Mac screenshot
SelfControl looks spartan: there’s a blocklist, a dial for setting how long your block period should be, and a start button. That’s it. But it stands out for one key reason: it’s impossible to undo.
Seriously, this app is hardcore. Closing the app does nothing—all of your distractions are still blocked. Deleting the app doesn’t do anything, and neither does rebooting your computer. The only way to disable blocking, once you set the timer, is to reinstall macOS entirely (which would delete all of your apps, settings, and documents).
It is truly the nuclear option for blocking distractions—none of the other apps on this list come close to this level of permanence. If you’re the sort of person who starts blocking, then caves, this app is for you.
best focus apps for students free
1 Break work into chunks
Clockwork Tomatio logo from app storeApp: Clockwork Tomato
A timer and activity logger which aims to boost productivity by breaking down work periods into 25-minute slices, separated by short breaks. The idea is to move away from your desk and do something completely different, perhaps fun, active or relaxing. After four Pomodoros, you get a longer break of 15-25 minutes but you can set work slots and breaks times in whatever way you want.
Lifewire.com has a good piece here on Clockwork Tomato and other similar apps using the Pomodoro Technique.
2 The morning motivation alarm
App: Alar.my
Billed as the app that will make your roommates hate you, Alarmy can be set up to not switch off until you take a photo of something specific – ie the front of your house – which ideally encourages you away from the duvet and into study mode.
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3 Work hard, get a kitten
App: Written? Kitten!
We bet the makers of this app have a few dollars in the kitty, after creating this genuis idea. Struggling to write that essay or novel? How about a cute kitten picture reward every time you write 100 words? Written? Kitten! offers just that.
4 Block distractions
App: Cold Turkey
COld Turkey app logoSo obsessed we are with distracting ourselves with random web browsing that there are, of course, countless apps which now allow you to block websites that you find divert your work. You can look forward to receiving a joyful message of encouragement when you try to click on one of your banned sites. To feel super smug, you can tally up the time you would have wasted over the course of a day/ week/ month.
You can create various blocked website lists for different times / occasions/ situations or a white list just allowing yourself access to specific sites, such as your university research pages (not Bake Off). You can also completely freeze yourself out of your computer to ensure you take some time out.
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5 Habit hacker
App: Habitbull
Need to finish a text book or get fitter? Want to stop a bad habit? Set tiny goals – such as read two pages a day, do three sit ups a week and call an old friend once a month and chart your increments. It’s inspiring and motivating to see your progress, no matter how tiny.
Conclusion
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