LIFE HACK
Improve your focus when working from home
When you have deadlines looming and the stress is building, your brain gets frazzled and your focus wanes.
Soon you’re staring at a screen doing nothing, answering messages on your phone and having your eighth coffee. You’re present, but unproductive. We’ve all been there, and these apps are designed to help you refresh and refocus, so you can work with renewed vigour. Here’s how:
Sounds for stress-relief
Soundscapes app Portal is designed specifically to help you sleep, relax or focus. Choose one of the “portals” which will take you to a setting from around the world – a log fire in Switzerland perhaps, or a summer thunderstorm in the great plains of the USA.
Within the Focus tab, write down a task you’re aiming to concentrate on, and set a timer. The soothing sounds will help keep your mind on track as you listen and work at the same time.
Pause for productivity
Popular meditation app Headspace will teach you daily mindfulness techniques that will help you tackle all manner of life’s challenges.
It has a specific section for work and productivity, in which you can find whole meditation courses on identifying priorities or finding focus. There are also short sessions for taking a break or facing up to difficult situations. Alternatively, search in the app for “focus” and a wealth of helpful content for resetting will be right there for you.
Growth for reaching goals
With Forest, plant a virtual tree and the more you focus, the more your tree will grow. Set a timer to start a session, turn on deep focus mode and leaving the app to use anything else on your phone will cause your tree to die.
If you’re someone who needs additional accountability to stay on track, set up a focus group with friends or colleagues and then anyone who breaks their concentration will cause everyone’s plants to wilt. As you achieve goals you will get rewards which you can use to fund the planting of real trees.
Rhythms for resetting
Endel is a personalised soundscapes app. It draws on data from your environment and your body to create a sound that should reflect your personal need – helping to reset your circadian rhythms.
For example, give it access to your HealthKit data and it will adjust the beat of the sounds to make them match up with your resting heart rate. Variations are also made depending on the time of year and amount of daily light or the current weather conditions in your locale.
So, when you need a moment to focus, tap on the appropriate soundscape and a few minutes of listening should help you re-sync with your natural alertness.