Eliminating Digital Distractions

In today’s day and age, it is easier than ever to get distracted by the technology around us. Decreasing not only our focus but our productivity. So how can you limit digital distractions in the ever more digital world? Well, you can fight fire with fire. As of today, there are a multitude of great productivity apps out there. Let’s go over some great apps that I found that can help you focus by limiting digital distractions this semester.

Forest: Stay Focused

This app helps to keep you off your phone with a focus timer that locks up your phone, limiting any notification or app distractions. The app also helps you to build good habits by “gamifying” the process by planting digital trees for people that need a little extra push. Stay focused and your tree grows, the more you fiddle with your phone the faster tree dies. The longer you focus over time the thicker your forest grows. 

Dewo

This app uses machine learning to analyze when you’re most productive. Dewo captures your real-time activity to understand how you do your best work. The app also works to automatically trigger “Do Not Disturb” mode across your devices once you reach a workflow state, helping to protect your focus. Dewo’s virtual assistant can also help reschedule badly spaced meetings to construct a more effective work week – freeing up more space for uninterrupted deep work.

Focus me & Leech Block

During our online schooling, it becomes easy to get distracted just by being in class on our computers where we have access to endless information. Luckily, there is a solution to this too. Both Focus Me and Leech Block work similarly to block certain distracting websites for a specified amount of time. This allows you to effectively block yourself from the internet's distractions while you are in your online lecture. 

Digital Wellbeing 

Almost all phones nowadays will come with digital wellbeing settings that allow you to alter all kinds of different controls and settings on your phone to make it less distracting. The most useful of which is the settings that allow you to set timers for how long you can use a particular app each day. For instance, you can determine that you're okay wasting 20 minutes a day on Twitter but no more than that! You can then limit Twitter to 20 mins a day and once you use up your time your phone will block the app until midnight. A great way to make sure you don’t waste too much of your productivity time each day on social media.

 

Sources:

https://hbr.org/2015/06/conquering-digital-distraction

https://memory.ai/timely-blog/anti-distraction-apps

 

By: Josh Klein