SwitchDeck
Save state before you switch
Free
Interrupted? Jot a cue before you switch; the top card tells you where to pick up. New: close the day in two minutes, and see your resume point on a widget.
Every interruption costs more than its minutes. When you switch tasks, part of your attention stays behind on the one you left. Psychologists call it attention residue, and it's why getting back into deep work can take so long.
SwitchDeck is a five-card system for leaving a task cleanly and coming back without the fog. It's based on research showing that a quick "ready-to-resume" plan, written before you switch, cuts that residue.
SAVE STATE IN SECONDS
When someone says "got a minute?", write a yellow PAUSE card: the task, and your CUE, the first thing to do when you're back. Add the state of the work, what you were thinking, and any references if there's time. A gentle 90 second timer keeps it short.
RESUME WITHOUT RE-READING EVERYTHING
Interruptions nest, so your yellows form a stack: the attention deck. The top card is always your resume point. Open it and the cue is right there, in large type. Do it first, then mark it resumed or discard it.
SCOPE THE INTERRUPTION
An orange INTERRUPTION card records who pulled you away, what it is and how long it should take. End it with the outcome, and SwitchDeck takes you straight back to the top yellow.
DECKS FOR WORK, SCHOOL AND HOME
Keep separate decks side by side, each with its own cards, day card and wins. School words are written for middle and high school (ASSIGNMENT, a PARKING LOT for stray thoughts, HOMEWORK TIME); Home words for parents keeping a house and kids going (WHO NEEDED ME, REMEMBER, MY QUIET TIME). Switch decks from the title, with a one-tap offer to leave a cue on the deck you're leaving. A home interruption in the middle of work can go on the Home deck, and ending it brings you straight back to your work card.
PARK STRAY THOUGHTS
"Oh, and I also need to…" goes on a pink OPEN LOOP card, one line, so you can keep going instead of acting on it.
KEEP YOUR DAY IN VIEW
A white DAY CARD anchors the deck: your top 3, a protected focus block (with an optional heads-up before it starts) and a simple tally of the day's interruptions. On iPad and Mac it sits beside your cards, so your priorities stay visible mid-interruption.
CLOSE THE DAY
End day takes about two minutes: carry or discard each yellow, turn unfinished Top 3 items into open loops so tomorrow starts fresh, sort stray thoughts, and bundle the day's wins. Every step is optional. Miss a night and SwitchDeck quietly offers to close yesterday the next morning. Old open loops say how long they've waited, so nothing sits forgotten.
REMEMBER WHY YOU DO IT
Green WIN cards record what you finished, who it helped and why it mattered. Each week, flip through them in a short "Why I Do It" review, with the week's day cards alongside. Export any week to Markdown for Obsidian or your notes, or send a day to Apple Journal with Shortcuts.
FAST CAPTURE EVERYWHERE
• Siri and Shortcuts: "Pause in SwitchDeck", "Interruption in SwitchDeck", "I'm back in SwitchDeck", "What's my cue in SwitchDeck", or name a deck: "Pause Home in SwitchDeck"
• Widgets on iPhone, iPad and Mac show the CUE on top of your deck; tap to resume
• Control Center: one tap for a new Pause card
• Mac: a menu bar item and global shortcuts that open a card over whatever you're doing
• Works with the Action button through Shortcuts
QUIETLY HONEST
No streaks, badges, scores or leaderboards. Interruption counts are evidence for protecting your focus time, not a game.
PRIVATE BY DESIGN
Your cards stay on your devices and sync through your own private iCloud. No accounts, no analytics, no tracking.
PREFER PAPER?
SwitchDeck began as five colours of index cards, and it still works that way. Settings → Analog Deck has free printable cards for work, school and home, and a guide to running the deck by hand.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
Fixed: Top 3 items ticked on the day card could show up unticked again, and End day offered them as unfinished. Ticks now stay put across your devices. • End day: tick a Top 3 item done right there, park it in Open Loops, or leave it. Closing the day never needs anything parked. • With nothing on your attention deck, the widget shows today's Top 3, with done items struck through.
1.1
Close the day, and keep your resume point in sight.
• End day: carry or discard yellows, turn unfinished Top 3 items into open loops, sort stray thoughts and bundle the day's wins. About two minutes; every step optional. • Missed a night? A quiet "Close yesterday?" waits above your hand the next morning. "Not now" hides it. • The day card moves to a fresh one at midnight by itself. • Open loops: tap one to sort it. Old ones say how long they've waited, and a big pile offers a quick sort. Parking a thought is never blocked. • Past day cards are filed with their week in Wins and the "Why I Do It" review, and in the Markdown export. • Send a day to Apple Journal: Share day on the End day screen, or the new Get Day Summary shortcut. • Widgets for iPhone, iPad and Mac show the CUE on top of your deck, any open interruption and today's Top 3. Tap to resume. • Control Center: a Pause button opens a new yellow card (iOS 18 and later). • The Pause card now follows the printed card: TIME and TASK first, then CUE. • Fixes: the deck no longer shows the wrong card on the Mac when it opens.
1.0
Decks for work, school and home.
Decks for work, school and home.
• Keep separate decks side by side. Each has its own attention deck, oranges, stray thoughts, day card and wins. • School and Home words: the same five cards, with labels for homework or running a house. Make as many decks as you like, rename them, change their words, or archive them. • Switch decks from the title. SwitchDeck offers to leave a cue on the deck you're leaving; skip it in one tap. • A home interruption at work? Put the orange on your Home deck. Ending it brings you back to your work card. • Wins, the weekly review and Markdown export are per deck. • Siri and Shortcuts can name a deck: "Pause Home in SwitchDeck". • Printable cards for School and Home, in 3x5, 4x6 and 5x8.
First release (0.1.0)
The first release of SwitchDeck: yellow, orange, pink, green and white cards; the hand stack and resume view; weekly "Why I Do It" review; focus block alerts; Siri, Shortcuts and Mac global shortcuts; printable analog cards.
The developer, JEFFREY ALAN HESTER, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- JEFFREY ALAN HESTER
- Size
- 3.5 MB
- Category
- Productivity
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 17.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 17.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 14.0 or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 Jeff Hester. All rights reserved.