Focus Keeper: Timer & Planner 4+

Wow! Never in a million years would I have thought that I would gain effective productivity with an app, such as this one! I suffer from anxiety and uncontrollable ADD and my medication to control this challenge, lately, has been effective for my energy (caffeine boost), but I needed something to support me, in addition, to my focus concerns. I have been extremely behind on my work assignments which increases the negative behaviors through my anxiety. I find that I do well, with my medications, combined with a simple tool or self-challenge to hold myself more accountable toward my efforts (or ability) to complete my massive load!!! This app is beyond simple and user friendly and that’s all you need to get your task DONE!!!! I love the fact that I have the ability to change the countdown times, however I see fit for myself in the moment of. I have literally been more productive in my very first time of using this app, that I have in MONTHS! This is my new life saver and I would totally recommend this to ANYONE with ADD/ ADHD. I feel more accomplished and at ease because I am getting my work caught up in long sittings!!! The routine breaks are perfect!!! Prior to the app, I had my life coach advise this on and off rotation for my condition, but it’s not as beneficial or effective as an app that can track your progress! I’m grateful! I think this app saved my job as a director!!! Wow.

Trust me I’ve scoped them all, even written a couple myself (via Shortcuts), but this is the best app on the AppStore if you’re often distracted, unmotivated, or suffer from adult ADHD. I definitely upgraded to pro, worth it to customize my chimes (Pavlov conditioning myself haha), and set the background colors to something I enjoy glancing at all day. The main benefit of this app in my opinion is the tracking/data analytic aspect they perfectly built in. The only thing I wish this app had was a text box you could enter your current task into so that it was present on-screen while the work-session timer is counting down. All in all this is my favorite and most used app whenever I have big tasks to work on or if I ever feel my productivity isn’t at the level where I know it can be. Highly recommend my friends!

Edit: One other note, seems the chime settings are a bit backwards. I guess I expect to set the chime sound that would start the session. For example when setting the Focus Alarm to News Is expect that sound to play when I’m going into a new Focus session however I have to set this sound to the other two breaks to get this to play how I intend since the sound for Focus Alarm actually plays when that session is over.

If I have a day of intense productivity (aka hyperfocus), I suffer from brain fog for the next few days, sometimes even a whole week. Today is one those days. I was struggling through the most basic tasks. I couldn’t even focus for a 5 minute stretch in order to answer my work emails.

This app is a lifesaver for my ADHD brain. I turned on the White Noise app and set the timer for 10 minutes. So far I’ve been able to complete 3 cycles of 10 minutes each. I’ve now bumped it up to 15 minutes. Hopefully the apps will carry me through the day.

Update 10/6 - I have one complaint about the way the app functions. I have it installed on my iPhone. It seems to stop randomly and it doesn’t restart itself or even alert me to let me know that I need to restart it. I don’t know if it stops when I get a text message or a phone call or if a calendar alert pops up. I’m so focused on my work (or trying to be focused re:ADHD). I only realize that the timer has stopped when I switch to it to see how much time is left until my next break. It’s very frustrating.