Habits Archives - FocusMe

Dopamine Fast – Why you should start one today

Havard Mela — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 13:14:07 +0000

Why You Should Do A “Dopamine Fast” Today

The value of stillness in today’s world is underrated. It might be time for a dopamine fast.

It is simply astonishing how helpful it can be to unplug from the constant distractions we encounter online.

The big tech platforms have both a “tool component” and a “drug component”. To overcome the “drug component” that makes us addicted and waste a lot of time, we need conscious strategies.

The benefits of being conscious of our digital use are immense. If we limit our exposure, we will avoid the constant dopamine spikes we get from scrolling and overstimulation in general. Adding a few more tweaks will help us optimize our dopamine levels.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that motivates us to do stuff and gives us pleasure when reaching rewards such as sex, food, and money.

By optimizing your dopamine levels, you will experience:

Excitement
Increased motivation
Confidence and drive
Becoming more goal-oriented

Everything will feel much more exciting, and you will have much more energy to get things done.

Dopamine will give you the ability to work hard towards your goals. Without it, you will be lazy and unmotivated. I remember the days when I used the internet in an unfocused, limitless way. It turned into a couch potato, and the reason was that all the easy pleasure I got online had a really bad effect on my dopamine system.

Anything that harms your dopamine system will make you less willing to work hard and be

disciplined. As we all know, to become successful or even live happy and meaningful lives, we have to make an effort and show up every day. And that becomes easier if your dopamine system works in your favor.

So, how do we prepare for a “dopamine fast”? Here are two necessary steps:

1. Become conscious of your digital life

Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous (ITAA) has developed some great tools. However, you don’t have to be addicted to benefit from their models.

ITAA has a framework to classify different online behaviors. Determining what kinds of digital activities you need to be careful with, what are beneficial uses, and what is not an issue for you can be very useful. Using their framework made a big difference for me.

Their system is divided into bottom, middle, and top lines:

1. Bottom lines: We should abstain from digital activities at all costs.

These are our digital compulsions or addictions. When we engage in these activities, we cannot stop and we get lost in them. We lose self-esteem every time we spend time on our bottom lines. I recommend using Focusme to block your bottom lines.

2. Middle lines: These digital activities can trigger us.

Knowing what can trigger us to access our bottom lines is very important. Personally, I used to struggle with porn addiction, and for me watching porn is a bottom line. I am very conscious about anything that can trigger that unwanted behaviour, such as scrolling through Instagram or watching certain movies. Middle lines are digital activities that can lead us down the slippery slope to our bottom lines by triggering us by showing pictures and videos or evoking emotional states that make us vulnerable.

3. Top lines: These are healthy activities offline or with screens that empower us and improve how we feel about ourselves.

These kinds of activities keep us satisfied and happy and are beneficial to our lives. Top lines can be beneficial uses of technology, such as researching things, watching video lectures, recording music, and so on. Our top lines encompass healthy hobbies and activities we engage with outside tech that make our lives better.

Everyone’s bottom, middle, and top lines are different. We use different apps and digital activities online, and we have different interests and triggers. So, figuring out your bottom, middle, and top lines is a very useful exercise to gain some clarity.

By consciously thinking about what can trigger you, you are in a much better position to manage your digital use. That will help you become more aware and disciplined in your life.

2. Identify other ways you go for instant gratification

Here are some other typical ways to go for easy pleasure:

“Doomscrolling”
Playing video games
Excessive procrastination
Online gambling
And so on…

You are set when you have identified the other typical ways you go for instant gratification online.

The big benefits of a dopamine fast.

You don’t have to become a monk. Simply having some small habits you do every day can make a huge difference and reset your dopamine levels.

Fasting from dopamine isn’t possible and not desirable. After all, we need dopamine to get motivated, and it is technically impossible.

Instead, “dopamine fasting” is about minimizing exposure to cheap dopamine from social media, online porn, and so on.

Here are some examples that I have used:

No social media use for the first hour after waking
No social media use for the last hour before
Avoiding bottom lines (your problematic internet habits).
Going to the gym and leaving your phone at
Putting your phone in a different room for two hours while

If you avoid your bottom lines and also limit how much you go for instant gratification, your dopamine system will thank you.

Final thoughts

What matters most is that we limit the cheap pleasures in our lives. Otherwise, our brain’s reward system will become desensitized to the smaller pleasures in life. And your ability to work hard will disappear since your dopamine system is desensitized.

If you have too many easy pleasures in your life, the things you do to give you pleasure will produce pain.

It might not seem like fun to place restrictions on ourselves, but it will actually cause you to enjoy life a lot more and make the smaller things more enjoyable.

My life has improved by being more conscious about easy online pleasures. Having a healthy

dopamine system has also skyrocketed my ability to work hard. And the same can happen to you, too. Havard Mela is an author, coach, and digital minimalist. You can check out his website here.

If you feel it’s time for a dopamine fast, why not try FocusMe? Our FREE trial will get you on track for more productivity guaranteed! Click the button below to start a free trial today.

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ADHD-Friendly Ways to get Organised

Jon Rumens — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 10:00:14 +0000

Living with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can be challenging: daily activities can be a struggle to complete, and it can be hard to stay focused and manage distractions, making everything a bit overwhelming. Learn in the following article ADHD-friendly ways to get organised.

Although ADHD can be a very unique disorder from person to person, commonly those with ADHD struggle with hyperactivity and difficulty paying attention. Fortunately, medical advancements in understanding ADHD have led to effective strategies for managing its day-to-day challenges.

Whether you are a professional, a student or a working from-home parent with ADHD, adopting ADHD-friendly organisational tips can significantly enhance your productivity and daily life. Read our tips about ADHD-friendly ways to get organised:

Break down your tasks into smaller, manageable chunks

The key to completing your tasks is to break them down into smaller, manageable bits. Prioritise your daily tasks and break them down into only a few each day, not a million tasks that will most definitely overwhelm you.

For example, don’t add the task read through all your unread emails today, break it down into a smaller step that is more achievable, read through 10 unread emails today, 10 tomorrow, and so on. You can further break down your tasks into personal and work-related tasks and the ones that are top priority.

This approach prevents burnout and fosters a sense of accomplishment that will motivate you even more.

Use a content blocker to limit digital distractions

In our digital-driven world, distractions are just a click away, making it particularly challenging for those with ADHD. Customisable content blockers, like FocusMe, are invaluable tools for creating a distraction-free environment before you take on your daily tasks.

On days that you know you will have a list of tasks to complete, before anything else, we would suggest you disconnect from the digital world. By limiting access to distracting apps and websites, you get to maintain your focus on the task at hand.

Block, limit, or ration yourself off certain apps, websites, social media platforms, games, and more. Set time limits that only allow you to open your email a certain number of times per day or use our forced mode to say goodbye to scrolling altogether.

Our users have praised our tool for its flexibility and effectiveness:

“Probably the best software I’ve purchased. If you want to have more control over your digital environment, get FocusMe. Seriously, it’s the best app out there. It can do anything you want it to with unlimited customizability and if setup properly is nearly impossible to workaround. The value added to your life and mental well-being is worth 50x the asking price.”

Strategically schedule your time

As we mentioned previously, your tasks need to be manageable, so instead of attempting to conquer your entire to-do list in one go, allocate specific times for each task.

Organisational apps and calendars can help you schedule these tasks. Set reminders for short periods of time to address certain tasks and break up your day with clear time blocks for those specific chores.

Use sticky notes

We know sticky notes are not the most aesthetically pleasing options, but their use can keep you on track when you find yourself sidetracked. There is no shame in recognising that you need all types of reminders – what is important is to make organising as easy as possible.

Use them to mark where you left off or to remind yourself of the next steps. This is such a simple tactic that also reduces your cognitive load of having to remember.

Reflect on your day

At the end of the day, either when you are in bed or when you are relaxing on the sofa, make a mental rewind of your day. Reflect on the tasks accomplished, congratulate yourself and take note of any pending tasks.

This practice not only helps you plan the next day and organise your tasks but also provides you with a moment to acknowledge your progress and efforts. We hope

Remember, small progress is still progress!

Download the free trial and see the difference our website blocker can make!

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Goal-Setting 2023: Is Skipping New Year’s Resolutions A Big Mistake?

Jon Rumens — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 07:00:17 +0000

Well, there went your hopes for New Year’s Resolutions…

Nearly two weeks gone by already since people all over the world and vowed to never do “THIS” again… or to finally get down to doing “THAT”…

And no doubt after a couple weeks, the gyms are already emptying out again… as life transformation hopefuls everywhere start to get more “realistic.” Typical, right?

On the other hand, it’s possible you didn’t set a New Year’s resolutions this year at all.

With a growing cynicism around new year’s resolutions failure rates, many of us just shrug them off as an exercise in futility. And then plenty just procrastinate until January slips off into the distance and yet another chance at life renewal passes by…

But Look, January Isn’t Over Yet!

And if there’s one thing the cynics DO get right about New Year’s Resolutions, it’s this – there’s no magic power tied to the specific date of January 1st. So if you’re kicking yourself already, wondering if you should have jumped on the self-improvement train before it was gone, it’s not too late to set goals for 2023 at all.

Here’s something to keep in mind.

All these studies regarding the resolution failure rate are all over the place! They make great headlines, but do a quick Google search and you immediately see articles from various sources claiming anything from around 40% all the way up to 80% of people fail their resolutions.

Perhaps a more important question is this: how often do people fail their attempts at life change OTHER times of the year? I think we all know the answer — a lot, right?

Because change is ALWAYS a challenge.

Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean you should stop trying to improve your life.

So Are There Actual Benefits To Setting Goals Around The New Year?

Or is this custom just as silly as hoping the Easter bunny drops off colored eggs in April?

LiveScience writes: “A 2002 study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology found that those who made a New Year’s resolution were 44% more likely to succeed in that goal after six months than those who did not make a resolution but were interested in changing a problem later.” So yes, embracing the tradition of renewal pinned to the start of the New Year may actually be a great way to get your life on track, no matter what the cynics say.

Reporters love a controversial headline. But mentioning high failure rates of resolutions without mentioning the higher failure rates of goals in other times of the year paints an incomplete picture.

Everything about the world we evolved in moves in cycles.

So whether or not the exact date of January 1st “means anything,” per se, syncing yourself up with cycles aligns perfectly with the human tendency to follow seasons of birth, death, and renewal as we move through life. Instead of getting cynical about it, why not embrace the fact that this is how human individuals and societies have functioned as long as we’ve existed?

By taking it seriously, you can leverage it as a source of motivation and enthusiasm, an opportunity to think about how things went last year and set out some ways you want to improve coming into 2023 (even if it’s not the 1st anymore).

Add in the power of rituals and placebos to change your results in life, across the board, and there’s really no reason NOT to take the tradition very seriously.

Also, keep this in mind…

Starting Late Offers A Chance To Avoid Common Resolution Mistakes

Instead of beating yourself up for procrastination, let’s look at the bright side.

Many 2023 goal-setters have already begun to give up and fail…

But by starting now, you have an opportunity to sit down and get more intentional – rather than just making a knee-jerk resolution because it seems culturally appropriate or because a couple of your friends thought it would be a good idea.

Some of the common mistakes people make in their resolutions include:

Being Too Ambitious (Or Too Conservative) With Your Goals – Overly-ambitious or unrealistic goals can create excitement, but it’s also a great way to set yourself up for failure. On the other hand, goals that are too small and easy can feel pointless. Some experts will warn you away from audacious goals completely, but think about it this way: not quite reaching something huge is a whole lot better than crushing it at something insignificant. You may very well end up a lot further ahead in life by “failing” at the former. Plus, if you consider the let-down many high achievers report when they do get to their own finish line, it doesn’t hurt to always leave yourself something to strive for. My advice? Set goals that light your fire but then break these bigger goals down into milestones so you can create a little momentum starting out and yet still have something left over to work towards.
Failing To Engage In Systems Thinking – Another pitfall when people strive for change, regardless of the time of year, is their goals are focused more on outcomes than the system or process that produces said outcome. Yes, failing to plan or create a roadmap that gets you from A to Z is a great way to strike out with your new year’s resolutions in 2023. Whether you’re trying to achieve something or stop doing something, define exactly what that looks like, and then define exact steps that will get you there. Finally, define times when you will implement these steps. The process of change doesn’t happen with good intentions alone — you need ACTION. (Read my “27 Mind Hacks” article for how-to advice on systemizing behavioral change.)

Leaning On The Social Media Brownie Points – Of course, this is a huge problem in today’s attention-addicted social media society. Perhaps you’ve been told you need to hold yourself accountable to a goal or behavioral change by leaning on support from the community and making a big announcement. But this article from Psychology Today tells us people who publicly share their goals are less likely to follow through on them (and getting compliments on progress makes it even worse!). Why? It’s possible you get an emotional reward from a social media announcement (“Hey, look at me and how driven and disciplined I am”), and this may dampen the allure of actually working toward that goal and achieving it. So forget the social media brownie points, or at least save them until you’ve actually earned them!
Not Getting Specific Enough With Your New Year’s Resolutions – Again, it’s about setting clear, measurable goals – not making some broad, vague intention. “I will lose X pounds in X months” is way more powerful than “I will get slim again.” Write down exactly what you want to accomplish, and if possible, attach it to a specific time-frame or deadline so there’s zero question at all when you finally hit your target. Some other examples include “I will increase sales revenue by X in the first 3 months of 2023,” or “I will put $X in a savings account every single month in 2023.” (Here’s another article on how to create clearly defined goals.)
Trying To Do Too Many Things At Once – Finally, don’t fall for the trap of shooting for too many big changes at once. Sure, we’d all like to quit drinking, cut down to a 6-pack, seduce an attractive new lover, and build a successful million dollar per year business… all in 2023, please… but let’s pace ourselves here. In his article, “The Scientific Argument For Mastering One Thing At A Time,” James Clear makes a convincing, research-backed argument that even ultra-specific, time-sensitive goals work best when you stick with just one or two. If there are other areas of your life you want to improve in the meanwhile, keep your efforts in these areas small and manageable (perhaps by using the “Tiny Habit” method). You’ve only got to slay one big dragon at a time to create radical life momentum as the years go by. Alternatively, break your year up and focus your entire energy on different pursuits at different times.

Listen, Only YOU Can Decide To Be More Proactive This Year!

The difference between people who succeed at improving their lives…

…Versus those who don’t…

…Often comes down to the power of self-belief. As Henry Ford put it, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”

And what could be more self-defeating than deciding you won’t even try? Just because some article on the internet told you that you’ve only got a 30%, 20%, or 10% chance of success?

After all, they give us a similar line about the business failure rate, and yet there are entrepreneurs all over the world who build their fortunes in business regardless – just like Ford did.

So my advice?

It’s still January and you’ve still got a whole year ahead of you. If you don’t believe there’s any magic in new year’s resolutions, what’s the harm in convincing yourself that there is?

The only thing worse than failing at a well-intended behavioral change…

…Is failing to even try.

Are You Using FocusMe To Defeat Digital Distractions And Achieve Laser Focus?

Click the button to learn more about how this attention-saving software can help you implement practical behavioral change in 2023 and beyond!

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6 Actionable Ways To Unlock Your Full Potential

Brendon Cammell — Mon, 21 Feb 2022 10:06:41 +0000

What could you do if you managed to unlock your full potential, or even just a fraction of it?

The only way to know for sure is to try and find out...

We’ve all heard some (more likely many) variations of the “if humans could use 100% of the brain” hypothesis, and there are no shortage of quacks offering to help you “unlock your full potential”. The thing is, we already use 100% of our brains, while the idea of unlocking your full potential is so loaded with questions and contradictions as to barely be worth discussing.

For starters:

What exactly does someone at their full potential look like?
Is it even possible to unlock your full potential in every conceivable way?
And if not, does improving in specific areas count towards some kind of overall score?

You may be starting to think that you were lured here under false pretenses…

That us folks at FocusMe don’t even really believe it’s possible for you to unlock your full potential.

You should listen to your gut more often, it knows its stuff.

Believe it or not, for the most part, so do we.

And in our experience, when people set their minds on hard-to-define goals and godly ambitions, they miss the real opportunity.

Instead of trying to unlock your full potential, why not just focus on unlocking as much of it as possible?

Rather than aspiring to be the best you that you can be, why not just try to be a little bit better every day?

In short, don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.

Here are a few good places to start:

Focus on what you can do rather than what you can't

This is one of the most powerful shifts in mindset that you will ever make.

It’s also a super simple concept to understand, even if it is a little trickier to put into practice.

That’s because it’s all too easy to find reasons why things are impossible, or at least not available to us right now.

Worse yet, these myriad reasons also form the perfect excuse – cover for us to hide behind as we wallow in mediocrity.

It’s also natural for us as human beings to compare ourselves to others. In fact, making comparisons is part of what makes us human and is often a good thing.

Except when it’s not, and that happens a lot.

So, instead of spending the extremely valuable time you have (also known as your life) making excuses and comparisons, why not start focusing on things you CAN DO.

Start today: What one small thing can you do before you go to sleep tonight that will improve your overall wellbeing? Maybe it’s half an hour of exercise, or finally finding the time to video call that important yet almost estranged person in your life?

Then imagine what you can do this week, this month, this year or even in a decade or two if you really manage to adopt this attitude.

It really is that simple.

Become a master goal setter to reach your full potential

Goals are tricky things. We tend to think of any kind of goal setting as a positive, yet not goals are created equal and some can even be detrimental to your progress.

We laid out our ideas on this and how you can set achievable goals that truly enrich your life in our article on New Year’s Resolutions vs Goals, but the long and short of it is that setting airy, ill-defined goals that amount to little more than daydreaming is going to take you directly to the Square Root Of Nowhere, which is right down the road from The Sum Total Of Nothingville.

Instead, we suggest following our patented (maybe one day) and extremely simple three-step formula for setting goals that actually lead to successful outcomes and a better life for you, the setter:

1) Identify your true needs
2) Figure out what meeting them would look like
3) Employ micro-goals to guide you along the way

Like every other item on this list, it’s not rocket science – although it will take time, practice and probably a few failed attempts to truly reap the benefits.

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Get out of your comfort zone more often

Being the thoughtful and well-read person that you are, you’re almost certainly thinking right about now that this is the kind of advice that wins people Darwin Awards, and there may well be a grain of truth in that.

But you know what they say: nothing ventured, nothing gained.

And no, we’re not talking about free soloing El Capitan, joining a cult or becoming a handler of venomous animals, although if any of those things is what you’ve always dreamed of doing, who are we to stand in your way?

Courting death and becoming a menace to society and/or the natural world aside, trying new things and approaching your discomfort head on is a good thing.

You’ll never meet that special someone if you don’t actually put yourself into social situations and exchange words with flesh and blood people, or at very least switch from Tinder to a real dating app.

Everybody and everything starts from scratch, meaning that doing so should be the least intimidating thing in the world.

And as for finding your life’s purpose (or even something worth doing on a Saturday night), if you don’t go out and explore the world in all it’s depravity and wonder then why bother wondering why it seems to have nothing for you?

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Don't be an island

Of all the things that may or may not have contributed to humanity becoming by far and away the dominant species on planet Earth, one stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Hint: it’s not apposable thumbs, nor the mastery of fire, learning to use tools or our evolution into a bipedal species. Yes, you guess it! Our greatest strength and most valuable asset is our ability to communicate and thus cooperate on an unprecedented scale.

We’ve all heard the cliche that cliches are cliches for a reason, and one of the sayings that makes this true is that old gem no man is an island.

More accurately, and in line with 21st-century norms regarding language and equality, we might say that no person is an island (and everybody is a person).

In other words, don’t try to go it alone when there are a whole bunch of other people out there who can and are standing by to help.

You might not know them yet, but they exist and finding them should be high up on your priority list.

After all, it may not be possible to truly unlock your full potential, but when we work together doing so simply isn’t necessary.

Think holistically

Nothing exists in a vacuum. Everything in your life and in existence depends on other things.

Nothing functions without input and no single thing has meaning without relativity to other things.

If that’s too philosophical for you, think healthy body – healthy mind or a team is only as strong as its weakest link, etc.

The point is that it’s nigh on impossible to optimize just a single area of your life.

If you want to improve your memory, training your brain won’t get you there by itself. You’ll need sufficient sleep, good nutrition and low stress levels as well. If you want to create a successful business you’ll need more than just some startup capital and a few Richard Branson books. You’ll need stamina, discipline, leadership skills and the right support structures in your personal life.

A good example of how this works is the 10 000 hour rule (actually a myth), which has been called “the magic number of greatness”. It sounds logical enough that with enough practice you can master anything, and it’s undoubtedly true that practice and repetition help, but it turns out that people who start as generalists tend to match or even outperform those who specialize from a young age. This rings true from professional sports and the arts to academics and business.

In other words, it’s all about getting a balanced set of inputs and ensuring that you nurture body, mind and spirit. Who would have guessed right?

Make technology work for you, not against you

Technology plays an outsized role in humanity’s attempt to reach our full potential.

It already allows us to do things that our ancestors could not have imagined, and if we are to outlive our solar system and solve some of our more immediate existential crises we are going to need a lot more of it.

Yet in many cases, the hours of manual labor that our technology saves us from just end up in the hands of social media platforms.

For every useful app there is another that is trying to steal your time and attention.

FocusMe was created to solve this paradox, to make your tech work for you rather than against you.
How? It’s simple, the app employs powerful code that forces you to stay within the digital boundaries you set for yourself.

If you’re serious about improving your productivity while working online, this is the tool that you need. Of course, we don’t expect you to take our word for it, but maybe reliable third-party reviews by our many satisfied users will do the trick. So, if you’re ready to start unlocking your full potential by avoiding digital distraction, simply click the big shiny button below and we’ll guide you every step of the way!

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5 Ways To Truly Work Smarter Not Harder

Brendon Cammell — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 10:02:22 +0000

Many of us claim to work smarter not harder, but are we really practicing what we preach?

We’ve all done it – someone compliments us for completing a task in an simpler or less taxing way than the one they were aware of and we respond with something along the lines of “I prefer to work smarter not harder!”

But is that really the case?

Are you really doing everything you can to make your own life easier and ensure that your future is as bright as you like to imagine it?

If you can honestly answer that question in the affirmative, what are you doing reading an article like this one? Get out of here and go back to hanging out with the other perfect people in whatever alternate reality you came from.

For everybody else, here are some ideas about how to make work work for you:

1. Work less

It may sound too good to be true, but deciding to work less total hours each day, week or month is actually a viable strategy in the battle to work smarter not harder.

Concepts such as the four-day workweek, reduced office hours and other hybrid work models that allow employees greater flexibility are begging to gain traction. A cynic might conclude that any idea purporting to help people work less would obviously be popular, yet scientists are coming to the same conclusions.

It turns out that people really do tend to be just as productive or even more so than usual when offered the opportunity to gain additional free time if they can complete tasks faster. Nor does the quality of the work suffer. In fact, it tends to improve.

In other words, the carrot really is better than the stick. Wow, who would have guessed?

If you doubt that your job could be done in less time than it currently takes, try to take take a leaf out of the book of the growing number of ‘overemployed’ white collar workers who have found a way to hold down two, three, and in some cases even four full-time jobs at the same time (normally without the knowledge of their employers, of course).

If they can handle that, you can probably do just one job in less time if you really set your mind to it. If that really is impossible, either because your boss is a jerk who starts sentences with phrases like “Those millennial snowflakes” and “Back when I started out in this industry” or because the type of work you do simply can’t be done faster then you’ll need to consider some other options.

2. Invest in yourself

Investing valuable time and money into further education may not sound like a way to work smarter not harder, especially if you already have a lot on your plate and are looking for ways to lessen your load and not increase it. But sometimes you need to play the long game.

If you’re serious about creating a truly comfortable and sustainable life for yourself and your family, you need either substantial financial resources or a heck of a lot of knowledge – more realistically, you’ll likely be aiming for solid mixture of both.

To succeed in a hyper-competitive global economy you need an edge. Whether it’s mastering SEO, learning a new skill set that is in high demand or becoming a true expert in your current field, setting yourself apart from the crowd is the best way to shorten the otherwise long hard slog to rise above it.

On the other end of the spectrum, you could save up enough cash to buy a piece of land in a remote location and become a master of permaculture, natural building and fungi identification. Sure, you’ll spend just as many hours or more of each day ‘working’ to support your needs, but the type of work you do, where you do it, who you do it with and most of all your perception of it all play a massive role in determining whether it enriches your life or drains your vital energy.

Similarly, investing in your health and personal/spiritual growth will lead to all kinds of improvements in your life, state of mind and even your bank balance. Unfortunately, health and personal development often end up below what we consider more pressing concerns. Yes, it’s true that you need to make sure the bills are paid and get the kids to soccer practice, but perhaps the next time you’re about to turn on Netflix, play a sneaky round of Candy Crush or manage your Fantasy Football team you might want to ask yourself if that time could be better spent?

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3. Consider going freelance

Another increasingly popular option among those determined to work smarter not harder is to switch to freelancing. While leaving the security of contracted full-time employment behind may be daunting, what you give up in certainty you gain back in opportunity. You know, nothing ventured nothing gained, no risk no reward, and all that jazz.

There are more and more fields where this is becoming possible or even the norm, while there are no shortage of websites offering to connect freelancers of all levels with an entire world of employers.

It can take time to establish yourself as a freelancer if you’re not already well-connected within your industry and there can be ups and downs, especially in the beginning. Yet this way of life also allows you the kind of flexibility that single-employer jobs cannot. Better yet, if you can deliver results for your clients, your income and reputation will grow exponentially quicker than if you were stuck in long-term contract with a single company.

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4. Improve your time management

While the idea of switching to a four-day workweek, going freelance or retraining to become a data scientist or get a future-proof job in the green economy may sound great in theory, these strategies are not always achievable in practice or can take some time to pay dividends. If you need solutions RIGHT NOW, one of the best places to start is with good old-fashioned time management.

This route is neither glamorous nor particularly easy, but it works.

The first step to improving your time management is to do an honest assessment of your current habits. This will allow you to identify areas of your life where time could be saved and/or efficiency could be increased. This requires brutal honesty and maybe even some consultation with those who know you best.

Once you’ve identified areas that can be improved you’ll be better able to decide on viable solutions. Maybe it’s making better use of your calendar, or perhaps you need to get creative to solve issues unique to you. Here are some time-management skills you can work on and improve if you’re serious about working smarter not harder.

5. Streamline your life using technology

Technology is by definition “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes”. In its purest form, it makes our lives easier by allowing us to do things that would either be impossible using the human body alone or would require many hands, much time and backbreaking labor. It’s our species’ #1 strategy for working smarter not harder.

Of course, you already know all that because you’re reading this on a device that even many alive now wouldn’t have dreamed possible a few decades ago, connected to a world-wide-web of other devices that allow people to send unimaginable amounts of data and communicate in real-time using signals that are invisible to the human eye.

Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence promise to make our jobs so much easier that we are no longer required to do them. Although thankfully we’re still a ways away from that eventuality. For now, they seem to be best at augmenting human work and increasing our creativity.

Like it’s creators technology also has a dark side. With one hand it offers us the promise of unimaginable productivity, while with the other it attempts to steal every moment of our attention by harvesting enough data points to know us better than our loved ones.

That’s where a productivity app like FocusMe comes in. If you struggle to maintain your concentration while working in front of a screen, this is the guardrail you need. It’s simple, really, the app employs powerful code that forces you to stay within the digital boundaries you set for yourself.

If you’re serious about improving your productivity, this is the tool that will help you to do it. Don’t take our word for it though. Check out reliable third-party reviews by our many satisfied users to see what FocusMe can do for you. If you’re ready to get serious about making your tech work for you rather than against you, simply click the big shiny button below and we’ll guide you every step of the way!

Download this article as a PDF

The post 5 Ways To Truly Work Smarter Not Harder appeared first on FocusMe.

Discipline Vs Freedom: 7 Ways To Win the Battle For Your Time When You Work Online

Jon Rumens — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 10:02:19 +0000

Today’s hard-charging entrepreneurs and personal development gurus…

…They’re all about SELF-DISCIPLINE.

Jocko Willink (not a cheesy guru type at all, to be fair) even wrote a book called “Discipline Equals Freedom.” It’s an amazing read, of course, and quite on target. You can’t expect to get far in this world if you don’t develop some level of ability to sit your tail in a chair and just get things done.

Day in and day out.

Well, today I have a confession to make. It might come as a bit of a shock considering I created the most powerful procrastination-beating app on the web (or maybe not, if you really think about it…).

But here it is.

Sometimes I feel like the self-discipline line of hustle culture is a little bit too nailed to the wall.

I Mean Do You Really WANT To Be A Discipline Machine?

After working with thousands of remote workers and online business-folk over the years to beat digital distraction and focus better, I’ve come to realize the struggle between discipline and freedom goes super DEEP. Especially with people like us who’ve purposely chosen to work remotely.

After all, the whole IDEA of becoming a copywriter, a web designer, a software engineer, an online product creator, a blogger…

…Whatever…

…Was to create more freedom in the first place!

And so it’s a cold bucket of water in the face when you realize you actually need MORE discipline to make the whole “mobile lifestyle” thing a reality.

So you implement a laundry list of productivity tricks in an attempt to get it all on track. But you can’t help but fight yourself! Pushing back on these changes (good ole’ “Monkey Mind” in action).

Because bottom line: That freedom “value” is strong within you.

You don’t just think freedom is a “nice idea.” It’s one of the most important priorities you have!

And you probably don’t WANT to let it go, right?

So the question becomes…

How Can You Embrace Self-Discipline While STILL Allowing Room For Spontaneity?

This is the point where those infomercial-type guys would lie to you.

And tell you that, yes, you can have the best of ALL possible worlds.

You can live as free as you’d like, they’d say, wandering around the planet like a beach bum, your hair messed up and your dirty toes poking out at the world. Slosh through mai tais on the beach while closing deals and the money keeps coming in like clockwork…

I won’t feed you that line, I promise.

The truth is that (unless you’re extremely talented and extremely lucky), you probably can’t have it all. There is, however, some room to strike a balance.

And after all these years growing FocusMe to what it is today…

…I’ve stumbled across a few invaluable tricks that allow me to maintain a sense of freedom and spontaneity (even if just a sense of it) while still making the magic happen.

I’ll tell you about 7 of my favorite ways to give yourself that permission in just a moment…

But first let’s get something out of the way.

A Warning About The Psychology Of Procrastination

And How Reframing “Work” In Your Mind Frees You From Your Mental Traps

Before we get into these 7 tricks of work freedom…

…I’d feel a bit irresponsible if I didn’t address the psychology of procrastination first (as it pertains to the desire for “freedom”).

Because just telling a procrastinator they can be as spontaneous as they want with no filter at all… Well, in some ways that’s like telling someone with a history of alcohol abuse that, sure, they can just have “one” drink whenever they want.

After all, experts say one drink is good for you.

Obviously that’s problematic.

So let’s peel back the psychology of procrastination for a sec. And see if we can determine where your hunger for freedom comes in.

Because fair upfront warning here.

Your hunger for freedom may be a big reason you procrastinate in the first place!

Fortunately there are some proven strategies for weakening its grip on your thought processes.

Procrastination As Discomfort Avoidance (And How To Fix It)

Have you ever heard of Rational Emotive Therapy?

(Or its more recent offshoot, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?)

REBT was created by a cranky old man named Albert Ellis as recently as the 1950s. But the foundational principles of REBT go back a lot longer than that.

In fact, Ellis developed this branch of psychology from age-old principles of Asian, Greek, and Roman philosophy before going on to turn it into one of the most successful forms of psychotherapy known to man.

In the “EFTP Psychotherapy Guidebook,” Milos Lazarevic and Vladimir Djuric write, “In general REBT is arguably one of the most investigated theories in the field of psychotherapy and a large amount of clinical experience and a substantial body of modern psychological research have validated and substantiated many of REBTs theoretical assumptions on personality and psychotherapy.”

I’ve often heard it said that REBT is more research-backed and evidence-based than any other form of psychotherapy.

Point being, this isn’t just theory here!

According to Healthline, REBT is particularly effective with a wide range of what we generally think of as psychological disorders, like depression, anxiety, phobias, rage, guilt, aggression, sleep problems, eating disorders, and more.

And yes, it helps with addiction and alcoholism too (bringing our previous analogy into a clearer perspective).

Plus REBT has also been known to help with PROCRASTINATION!

Here’s How REBT Gets You Out Of The Freedom Trap

We often think of these types of conditions as problems with your brain. Or something in your innate nature.

Like people with depression who try to medicate their way out of it instead of addressing lifestyle causes that likely contribute. Or addiction recovery programs that teach their “patients” that they have a disease they can never really be cured of.

And procrastinators who just assume it’s a part of their nature that’ll never change.

(Some of these statements are controversial, I know, but REBT has had great success in practice.)

One of the core tenets of REBT is that your self-sabotaging emotions are instead caused by irrational beliefs you hold in your mind. While emotion can be analyzed as a chemical response, the way you STRUCTURE your thoughts, i.e. the things you tell yourself, are what trigger the emotions you feel to begin with.

And emotions are hard to fight, so they lead to repeating behaviors you don’t want. Even when you intend the opposite.

REBT teaches you to work on the belief, or the thought first. And then the emotion will correct itself.

Where Does "Freedom" Come In?

A major source of procrastination is an innate desire to rebel against the discomfort of having to do something against your will.

REBT has a term for this inability to handle discomfort. They call it “low frustration tolerance” — an alternative name that might click with us freedom-seekers is “short-term hedonism.”

And often that’s all it really is when you tell yourself something limits your freedom.

You get a new job or start a new business, and at first, you’re killing it. But after some time goes by, you secretly start to resent the work. You resent the clients hitting you up with their demands. You resent your boss. You resent your co-workers. You resent even the very thought of clocking in.

Because in your mind, you believe, “Well, I SHOULD be able to do whatever I want to do.”

“No one SHOULD have control over my time and focus but me.”

And because these work demands require what feels like a limitation on freedom, you rebel against them and fall off the rails. And start procrastinating.

Because work is uncomfortable and your brain doesn’t like discomfort. Until everyone gets burnt out on your behavior, and even if they keep you around, the work relationships deteriorate and your results suffer.

Rational Emotive Therapy teaches you that you can control your feelings by controlling how you frame work in your mind.

All You Have To Do Is Change The Way You “Talk To Yourself” About Work

The actual words you use when you “talk to yourself” CREATE the feelings you have. By rewording those thoughts intentionally you can change the way you feel.

So while I still think you CAN entertain some of your hunger for freedom, it also helps to redefine the idea stuck in your head that says work somehow imposes upon freedom. Or that it isn’t “fair” to have to work because it feels uncomfortable.

You feel bad when you say to yourself:

“I hate this because it makes me feel uncomfortable and trapped.”

Statements Albert Ellise might prescribe include (yes, for when you talk to yourself):

“My work actually CREATES freedom because it provides the income to take uninterrupted time off work and do the things I actually want to do in life. By focusing more now I can buy more free time later.”

Or even questioning your feeling that you “deserve” to not have your freedom imposed upon. Or that you “deserve” to never feel uncomfortable.

Albet Ellis would have you tell yourself:

“Who am I to deserve to never feel uncomfortable? No human in the history of the world has been able to completely escape discomfort… So of course I’ll be uncomfortable sometimes, and that’s fine.”

And:

“Who am I to deserve to feel completely free of work or any responsibilities at all times? No one in the history of the world has ever been so free, so what makes me so special? Since there’s no reason I should be free of all restrictions and limitations, I can just accept that this is part of life.”

If any of this sounds confusing, over-simplistic, or airy, I get it. Rational Emotive Therapy is a fascinating field of thought, and you could spend years digging into it. But it’s well worth the journey if you want to break your stickiest mental traps.

Start learning more here.

Meanwhile, I did promise, so…

Here Are 7 Freedom Tricks For Embracing A Flexible Lifestyle When Working Online

Freedom Trick #1: Keep A Flexible Weekly Schedule

Just because you’re learning to reframe your desire to be free…

…Doesn’t mean some of the aspects of living spontaneously aren’t worth enjoying. So I’ll just say this.

While it works well for some people, there’s no law on the books that says you HAVE to work the same days every week. And of course, you don’t have to work full weeks at all.

There are some real freedom-friendly benefits to living on your toes too.

Again, isn’t this why most of us decided to work for ourselves anyhow?

If you can afford it in your job or business, for example, work for three days really hard one week, and then take the rest of the week off. Work a week straight (if nothing else is really going on anyways) to buy some time for a longer break in the future. Mix it up to roll with the punches in life — or just to keep things interesting.

I even know some guys who work every single day for a while (against all advice to the contrary). Because they know a week will come where they just want to break loose and put it all aside.

Kind of like banking up your time off until you need it…

Another cool idea would be to travel around the world or country, working for a few days at a time at every destination before hitting the road again. Believe it or not, yes, some people do pull this off and build successful businesses in the process.

Not everyone can do stuff like this, of course.

But in a few other professions it’s the norm. Consider oil workers — some work for three whole months straight and then take three months off. Wilderness firefighters. Alaskan fisherman. And hey, if a guy can pull nets from the water with frozen fingers for weeks on end, why can’t a knowledge worker bring a little bit of this element to work in order to take longer breaks?

Even as the founder of a growing software company, I try to finish my weeks on Thursday. Hey, I still struggle to make it happen every week, but it’s sure worth trying. The point is it’s all up to you!

Freedom Trick #2: You Don’t HAVE to Work Specific Hours Either

It flies against everything time management experts tell you. And I’m probably contradicting advice I myself have given a million times.

But there’s a certain “freedom” magic retained when your days start as a blank slate.

Meaning, you commit to getting X many hours in (let’s say 6, so we can put some numbers to this) by the end of the day, and you will. And you have your 6 top things you absolutely need to get done.

However, there’s no perimeter staking your schedule to the ground.

And other than meetings, most of your work isn’t attached to specific times.

Maybe you have a rough schedule from 8 am to 3 pm, and during those hours you usually knock out your day before enjoying the afternoon and evening.

But one day you’re just not feeling it. So you decide to jump and head out for an adventure. Hey, sometimes a creative brain NEEDS that (and the work often comes out shoddy if you power through those moments).

Go for a hike, hit the gym, take a friend up on an offer to meet for lunch. Come back and finish up your last few hours in the early evening this time.

If you have this kind of control over your schedule, why not use it?

Freedom Trick #3: Build the Right Systems To Step Away More Often

You’ll probably never reach a point where your business is completely hands-off.

Unless, I suppose, you grow a large enough team to completely step outside and treat it like an asset (“Built to Sell,” anyone?).

That doesn’t mean you don’t stand to benefit from smart systems — even in your job, if you’re a freelancer or employee.

Work ON your business, not in it, as they say.

- - If you’re a freelancer, outsource your cold emails or hire a researcher.
  - Automate client appointment bookings with Calendly.
  - Some entrepreneurs hire someone to handle their email management (no different than a secretary, really).
  - Are you losing your days to marketing processes that would be handed off to a pro?
  - Can you record and use a transcription service instead of taking notes on important videos?
  - What else can you SYSTEMIZE?

Break down everything you do on a daily basis, and then hunt down software tools or dependable services to make it easier.

Even when scaling is not your aim, the more you outsource or automate pesky things that take up unnecessary time and energy, the more you profit in flexibility and freedom.

Freedom Trick #4: Put Together A Robust “Mobile Work Kit”

You’re probably more productive with a regular home office and a set routine, but spontaneous and freedom-lusting folks like you should at least have the OPTION to move around sometimes. To stuff your office in a backpack and hit the road when the mood strikes.

With the right “toolkit,” you can pack up the bag, jump in the car, and take off on a whim. Not the most efficient use of time, but sometimes it’s the best use of your LIFE.

This might be as simple as driving down to your favorite coffee shop or restaurant for the morning to change your scenery. Or taking a serious road trip and renting a hotel room by the ocean another town over. Maybe flying somewhere for a real vacation (you ARE taking vacations, right?).

What you DON’T want is to get to your destination and realize you can’t get your work done because you can’t get a good internet connection, because you don’t have access to the right files, because you left your good headphones at the house, or because you bought a lousy laptop that sucks to work on.

Put together a “bug out” bag — not for when Armageddon hits but just so you can disappear whenever you feel like it and not fall too far off the work wagon.

What Tools Keep You More Productive On The Go?

Some ideas to consider include:

- - A portable laptop stand, an external keyboard, and an external mouse (just for a more comfy setup in coffee shops).
  - A portable wifi device (if you’re really serious about staying on the move, consider getting more than one for backup).
  - A hi-speed laptop charger.
  - A backup laptop power bank (you could get a power inverter to charge in the car if you plan to be camping or off-roading).
  - Robust tablet computer. Sometimes it’s nice to just be able to check in to work, edit docs, or send emails without pulling everything out. Tablets make that much easier.
  - A good backpack and some organizers for all your cords and chargers. You’ll feel a lot less chaotic on the move if everything in your work arsenal has a “home” in a well-organized backpack. Don’t run yourself ragged constantly guessing where to find the things you need.
  - A high-end headset and mic. Don’t get caught up in a coffee shop or noisy environment unable to have an important conversation. Of course it’s best if you can do these in a hotel room or at home, but flexibility is a strength when you work online.
  - Google Fi and a compatible phone. These days you can get one phone and travel most places in the world without interrupting your service. Google Fi is probably the best option if you don’t mind being stuck with a compatible phone.

Spontaneity Trick #5: Turn Your Phone Into A Work Device

This deserves some special mention outside of your mobile work kit because it can play such an integral role in your everyday business if you do it properly.

Gary Vaynerchuck often says your phone should make you money, not take your money. Spot on!

And hey, I know you probably can’t run your entire business from your phone. But you CAN set your phone up to at least handle some of your workload.

What’s stopping you from parking on the beach and batching your most phone-friendly tasks into an hour or two of work? These tasks need to get done, but maybe they don’t need to get done from the house.

Some Phone-Friendly Tasks You Can Get Done From Anywhere?

- - Manage your daily emails.
  - Conduct research via online articles, Kindle books, or YouTube videos.
  - Edit Google Docs.
  - Brainstorm, take notes, or even scratch pieces of content out in a notes app.
  - Speak your thoughts into a recording app.
  - Post on social media.
  - Conduct Skype or Zoom meetings from the comfy, warm seat of your car.
  - Book meetings and set up reminders in your Calendar.
  - Plan your week, month, or year.
  - Brainstorm your systems improvements.

If you get really good at this, you’ll learn you can get a lot of work done on your computer. I’ll be honest, you might see the costs of mobile data go up if, for example, you’re listening to Youtube videos to study for projects or sharpen skills away from the computer.

But imagine the freedom of knocking out a couple hours of work as you walk across town to the barber shop or to do a little shopping. Getting exercise while still knocking items off your work to-do list.

All these technologies are commonplace these days. So instead of doing what most people do — complaining about how they invade our lives or, even worse, wasting all your down moments chatting on Facebook, embrace this stuff to get more work done from more places.

Warning: Your phone is definitely a pit of distraction, so make sure to streamline it if you don’t already. Delete apps that are likely to drag you off course, or consider using FocusMe to lock yourself out.

Freedom Trick #6: Get Things Done Without Any Digital Tech At All

- - Bring a notebook along and you can sit anywhere, set aside the phone completely, and still create content, map out website designs, brainstorm business strategies, whatever… The best material often comes out this way. You might find the pen and paper and a lovely setting really helps you break through creative blocks. Entire articles or even sales pages just spill out in one sitting sometimes when you step away from the screen. Daunting biz obstacles that have been wearing you down can melt away in the blink of an eye.
  - Carrying a smaller notebook in your pocket on long walks and hikes is another great way to brainstorm new ideas for business or for content. And a handy way to multipurpose your time in the gym.
  - Record interviews with clients and other important business contacts. Listen to them on an mp3 player from anywhere. Pack your ipod with business podcasts so you can study anywhere.
  - Sometimes I go sit down at the bay across town and listen to this stuff while taking in the view.
  - In “Million Dollar Productivity,” Kevin J. Anderson even talks about writing books while hiking! He uses Dragon Naturally Speaking software and a headset that records as he goes. The files can be uploaded later and transcribed by Dragon, even sent to an editor to be cleaned up before the next redraft. Of course, a nice recorder paired with a transcribing service can get you halfway there.

Freedom Trick #7: Practice Extreme Focus When It’s Finally Time To Work

If you want more breathing room to wander about the world (or just your local town) sometimes, make sure you’re ultra-productive when you do sit down to work.

Because the best way to gain more free hours?

Do more with the time you’re switched on, something the average worker fails miserably at. A study of nearly 2,000 UK office workers found the average person did less than 3 hours of actual hours of work every day…

What in the world? Why??

Because most people just aren’t efficient on the job. They take twice as much time to do something because they’re multitasking. They’re constantly pulled away from work tasks by distractions, some of which eat up hours at a time.

But imagine if you could get 5 or 6 hours of ACTUAL efficient work done every single day. This might seem minor in the context of an 8-hour workday. But if most people REALLY do less than 3 hours of work, you could be working twice as fast as everyone else…

…And still take more time off!

That’s the real power of using software like FocusMe to get more out of the time you work. It helps create tunnel vision to hurtle towards your goals.

FocusMe introduces a lot of ways to fix that problem.

- - Work in focused blocks using FocusMe’s distraction-blockers, so you can hold off the distractions and hone right in on what needs to get done when you sit in your chair.
  - Use our handy online usage stats to get an accurate view of how much you’re actually doing everyday.
  - Confine yourself with computer restrictions that don’t let you do any work outside of a 6-hour period. According to Parkinson’s Law, work always swells to fill up the time you give it. So if you force yourself to get your workday done within a certain time-frame, you’ll be forced to come up with ingenious ways to get it done faster. Sure, that goes against what I said about not working to a set schedule, but remember, different things work best for different people.
  - Set up a pattern of work and rest blocks using the Pomodoro timer, so you can get up early and crush more out in 6 hours than most people do in 10, then take the rest of the day off.

These things are what helped me finally achieve my 4-day weeks even while running a software company! It’s why I created FocusMe in the first place…

Of course you can start embracing deep work principles now if you really try, but FocusMe does it a whole lot better. Go here if you’d like to try it out for yourself (free trials available)

What It Really Comes Down To Is “Permission”

Yes, you absolutely should implement strategies in your life to become more productive. But you don’t have to implement it all. Sometimes you just need to give that freedom-loving side of you a little permission to breathe too.

As long as you do have an efficient relationship with your work, what can it hurt?

After all, is moving faster always the best use of your time on Earth?

Or can you accept that freedom is important too? Can you keep your schedule open-ended and flexible enough that when you do sit down to work you can be 100% present and focused on what’s right in front of you?

As long as you’re disciplined and focused in the most important ways — like sticking your nose straight to the grindstone when it’s go-time, you can afford to be more care-free and spontaneous in others.

Which is the type of life you meant to live from the beginning of all this…

Consider this. There are probably millions of people all over the planet living in the most remote places, running businesses from tropical islands and quiet mountaintops. Surely you can enjoy some of that yourself from time to time.

Now get to work.

The post Discipline Vs Freedom: 7 Ways To Win the Battle For Your Time When You Work Online appeared first on FocusMe.

5 Easy And Effective Ways To Regulate Screen Time

Jon Rumens — Thu, 11 Nov 2021 08:00:20 +0000

Screen time has become a dirty phrase, but it doesn't have to be this way...

There are easy and effective ways to regulate your and your children's screen time.

How much screen time is too much?

Unless you’re planning on joining an Amish community, recreating Robinson Crusoe or otherwise totally disconnecting from the 21st century, having to spend at least some time in front of screens is fact of life – and let’s be honest, who doesn’t enjoy a good film or a sneaky round of Candy Crush from time to time?

In that sense, the most sensible question to ask is how much screen time is too much?

As most of us already know, the answer to this question is different depending on who you are.

Most experts agree that children under 5 should be exposed to screens as little as possible, and only for educational purposes.

For older children and adults, there are no set guidelines.

Nevertheless, based on the fact that we now know that excessive screen time can lead to weight gain & obesity, sleep problems, chronic neck and back problems, mental health issues such as depression & anxiety, as well as decreases in many metrics of cognitive performance, reducing it wherever possible seems to be the most prudent choice.

Fortunately, cutting down the amount of time you spend in front of screens is not only relatively simple, it also opens up plenty of other options for having fun and has a wide array of secondary benefits.

Here are six ideas for how to better regulate your screen time:

1. Develop your relationship with nature

If you’re trying to reduce your screen time, there is no better way to do it than to head to a place where there are no charging stations and signal is limited or even non-existent.

Yes, the great outdoors is calling your name!

Not only do most of us spend too much time in front of screens, we’re also severely nature deprived.

It may have taken thousands of years and paradigm shifting agricultural, industrial and technological revolutions for us to finally wake up to this fact, but science has now conclusively proven what our ancestors always knew:

Nurturing our connection with the natural world is key to our physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

It’s probably a sign of the dysfunction in our society and the modern condition that we have taken to calling this a ‘dose’ of nature, but that doesn’t diminish the effectiveness of the prescription.

This is just as true (if not more so), for children.

We owe it to younger generations to not only reduce the potential damage done by our over reliance on technology, but also to provide them with the opportunity to connect with nature and understand its intrinsic value – both in terms of our survival as a species and the many wonderful benefits it can provide to us as individuals.

2. Do more exercise and take up low-tech hobbies

Once again, this solution offers benefits far beyond reducing screen time. Next time you’re lazing around and feel yourself reaching for your phone or the remote control for your 8k Smart OLED TV, just don’t.

Instead, why not get up off the couch and do a little exercise?

Sure, you’ve been swearing you’ll do just that every day for years and sometimes you even follow through, but it has never quite turned into a habit… But whose fault is that?

It’s quite simple really.

Use a sticky note to remind yourself to exercise before you start playing, watching or reading.

Ask a family member or friend to help you stay accountable, or be that person for your kids.

Use a focus app to lock yourself out of certain devices or apps at specific times of day and set concrete limits on your children’s tech usage.

Basically, do whatever it takes to help yourself integrate this new behavior into your routine.

If you already feel like you do enough exercise, take up a new (or old, depending on how you look at it) low-tech hobby such as painting, gardening, building models or playing board games.

The truth is that are infinite enjoyable and educational activities that don’t involve screens, meaning the only excuse for spending too much time looking at one is what you might call a good old fashioned lack of discipline.

Download this article as a PDF

3. Reduce your screen time at work whenever possible

The average adult in a developed country or who has consistent access to technology will spend somewhere between 6-19 hours of their day in front of a screen, depending on which studies you want to believe.

Both the upper and lower ends of those estimates can probably be discounted right off the bat, but one thing that is just about certain is that if you’re spending too much time in front of a screen, your work is probably the main culprit.

Unfortunately, screen time at work is also by far the hardest to avoid.

That said, it’s normally possible to at least reduce it a little bit without compromising your ability to fulfill your responsibilities.

There are plenty of tasks that don’t require the use of a screen. These include brainstorming (which can be done outdoors or in a conference room), delivering important messages in person (also a way to team build) and many others.

If your job absolutely requires you to be in front of a screen at all times (or even if it doesn’t), it may be worthwhile to speak to your boss about creating a space and/or time where people can get away from the screens for a while – be it to meditate, socialize or simply disconnect for a few minutes.

There is now ample evidence that taking breaks and reducing screen time at work improves overall productivity and employees’ subjective sense of well-being, meaning this idea makes good business sense as well.

Download this article as a PDF

4. Leave your devices at home whenever possible

It’s a common refrain that our technology is an extension of ourselves. This is certainly true to some degree, but it’s also a dangerous way to think.

At the end of the day, nothing bad will happen if you leave your devices at home.

Sure, there are exceptions to every rule. Nobody is suggesting that you leave your phone at home when you’re expecting a call about how your grandma’s open heart surgery went or while your kids are away at primitive survival camp learning how to make flint weapons and identify the difference between toxic and edible fungi.

The rest of the time, you’ll likely be better off without the distraction of a screen.

You may feel somewhat ‘naked’ the first few times you leave the house without your constant source of low-level electromagnetic poison, but you’ll soon start feel much better without it and will likely realize that most things you do on devices can wait until later.

In short, this is your chance to really stop and smell the roses rather than take a picture of them!

5. Don't spend family time or date night in front of a screen

It doesn’t matter how much your kids want to see the new Marvel movie (of course, you only watch that ‘garbage’ for them, right!) or how intellectually superior watching art nouveau films in converted churches filled with other hipsters makes you feel, screen time is not quality time!

By all means, enjoy some streaming with your partner after the kids go to bed once in a while and humor the little ones by joining them for a few rounds of zombie slaying every now and again, but try to avoid the trap of spending all your shared time in front screens.

As we discussed above, you likely already have to try hard to avoid screen time at work, so choosing to spend your leisure time in front of one is somewhat counterproductive.

Choosing to spend your quality time with family and friends doing some of the non-screen related activities mentioned in other parts of this article will not only help you to avoid excessive screen time, but also allow you to build deeper connections with the people you care about.

Now, who doesn’t need more of that?

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Getting the 'right' kind of screen time

Realistically, there is only so much screen time you can cut out if you want to remain connected and productive in the modern world. Yet the type of screen time you’re getting also matters. If digital distractions such as social media, gaming or watching videos are getting in the way of your productivity, they’re increasing your overall screen time.

If you’re serious about improving your productivity, this is the tool that will help you to do it. Don’t take our word for it though. Check out reliable third-party reviews by our many satisfied users to see what FocusMe can do for you. If you’re ready to get serious about beating your gaming addiction, simply click the big shiny button below and we’ll guide you every step of the way!

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Fight Procrastination Day 2021

Jon Rumens — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 09:00:38 +0000

Fight Procrastination Day 2021: Just another silly made up awareness day or a genuine opportunity for self-improvement? The choice is yours...

Yes, there’s a “day” for everything now. In fact, on most days of the year there are several holidays or awareness days going on, depending on where you live or which blogs you read. Today (06 September 2021) is Fight Procrastination Day. It’s also Labor Day in the United States and it’s territories (which always falls on the first Monday of September), as well as Read A Book Day.

It’s probably fair to assume that you’re supposed to read the book after you’re done celebrating the achievements of the proletariat and fighting procrastination. More likely, nobody is coordinating these things and we’re on our own.

So, the decision is yours. Choose to take notice of the reminder that procrastination is something worth fighting, or don’t. Perhaps you don’t procrastinate? Although, you might be surprised at the varied and subtle forms this irksome little habit takes. Perhaps thinking that a day about procrastination doesn’t apply to you is the ultimate form of procrastination? Maybe you’re just putting off dealing with your habit of putting things off?

So, are you a procrastinator?

Like with most things, we probably all fall somewhere on a spectrum when it comes to procrastination. In fact, according to accountability coaches Ali Schiller and Marissa Boisvert, there are four “Procrastinator Archetypes” – The Performer, the Self-deprecator, the Overbooker and the Novelty seeker.

In other words, we may even mix and match varying levels of all of these charcaters to create our own unique blend of procrastination. Even if it’s not one of your main “issues” (let’s be honest, we all have at least a couple), it may be worth taking a few minutes to consider if there are ways that procrastination stops you from performing to your maximum.

What are the four Procrastinator archetypes?

While you may not find these archetypes listed in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (AKA the “bible” of psychiatry and psychology), they can certainly be a useful tool to help you to identify habits or tendencies that may be holding you back from reaching peak productivity.

The Performer

This is the person that claims to work best under pressure. No doubt, many of us do get some of our best work done when we’re under the gun. However, that doesn’t mean we’re not putting ourselves through unnecessary stress.

This archetype is also associated with perfectionism. After all, putting something off until the last minute means you have no choice but to do it quickly rather agonising over every little detail and decision.

How to fight this kind of procrastination:

If you’re a performer your biggest problem is not that you don’t get things done (although this probably does happen occasionally as you can’t always beat the clock), it’s always getting started at the last minute. An easy way to combat this habit is to set yourself a start date for big projects or a start time for smaller tasks. Making lists and using a calendar is extremely helpful as well!

The Self-deprecator

This kind of procrastinator often calls themself lazy or not capable/qualified. In fact, they’re normally the opposite of those things. These might seem like a convenient excuse, but really we’re often just denying the truth, that we’re tired or overworked.

According to Schiller and Boisvert, this kind of procrastination is most common amongst males, as we tend to believe that admitting we’re tired is a form of weakness and often struggle to admit when we’re struggling.

How to fight this kind of procrastination:

Easy, take a break. What’s that? You don’t have time for resting? Sounds like you’re procrastinating over something important (run down batteries always have to be recharged).

Be compassionate with yourself and make the time. Getting enough rest has consistently been linked with increases in productivity. Ultimately, putting things off in the short term (for the right reasons) can actually lead to you getting even more done in the long run.

The Overbooker

As you may have already guessed, this procrastination archetype is centered around being “too busy” rather than classical delaying tactics or unrealistic expectations. But let’s be honest, who of us isn’t busy? If you have a job, a family and a hobby or two (so basically all of us), then it’s highly likely you’re up to your eyeballs most days.

It’s when being busy becomes an excuse for avoiding tasks that it becomes a form of procrastination. If you often find yourself saying that you have more important things to do or that there aren’t enough hours in the day, you’re probably procrastinating.

How to fight this kind of procrastination:

Often, overbookers aren’t even avoiding actual tasks. It’s often more a case of putting off having an important conversation, exercising or even dealing with their feelings about something. In that sense, best way to overcome this kind of procrastination is to do a little introspection. Is there something you’re avoiding? If so, why? Remember, simply believing that something doesn’t exist or can be put off indefinitely doesn’t make it true.

The Novelty Seeker

Ever heard of shiny object syndrome? As the name suggests, it’s the tendency to always chase the latest and greatest. This is often a sign of intelligence and an attribute shared by many successful entrepreneurs. However, it can also be a form of procrastination.

While we all evolved to get excited about novelty (it’s how we learn – just watch how babies and children are constantly looking for new things to explore), jumping from one task or project to the next without seeing the previous one(s) through to completion might be a sign that you’re kicking the can.

How to fight this kind of procrastination:

While the performer struggles to get started, the novelty seeker struggles to finish things off. Fortunately, the solution to this is simple.

Forbid yourself from starting a new project while you still have one or more other things on the go. You can assist yourself further by using sticky notes or some other form of physical reminder that you can put up in your office or around your home to help you hold yourself accountable.

Fight procrastination with FocusMe

The above archetypes are a useful tool for analysing if and how you are decreasing your productivity by putting things off and making excuses. They even offer some useful ideas for how to fight procrastination. However, what they don’t do is provide any real-world support in your battle against dilly-dallying. They rely totally on you improving your self-discipline or becoming more conscious of your behaviour, which, let’s be honest, are the problems in the first place.

The most pervasive promoter of procrastination around today must surely be digital distraction. Checking your phone every few minutes or wasting valuable work time on gaming may be a sign of tech addiction, yet it’s just as likely that you’re using it as strategy to avoid getting things done. Fortunately, there’s an app for that. In fact, there are actually many focus apps and programs out there that claim to help you improve your productivity by limiting digital distractions. The truth is, most of them are easy to ignore or get around. Not FocusMe.

What makes FocusMe different?

It’s simple, really. Unlike other focus apps that simply encourage you to concentrate or use easy-to-beat mechanisms to lock you out, FocusMe employs powerful code that forces you to stay within the digital boundaries you set for yourself. As a programmer who could easily wiggle my way out of any and all productivity apps available (paid or not), I decided to build the real thing. The result: The most powerful digital focus tool available today.

If you’re serious about beating digital distractions and improving your productivity, look no further. Don’t take my word for it though. Check out third-party reviews by our many satisfied users to see what FocusMe can do for you. When you’re ready to get serious, simply click the big shiny button below!

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Why Clearly Defining Your Goals Is Key To Success

Jon Rumens — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 07:15:00 +0000

Clearly defining your goals is what turns a dream into a reality. Unlike dreams, goals are measurable, achievable and inspire us to action.

Here are some ideas for how to define your goals and draw up a plan of action that will bring them to fruition.

We all have dreams and aspirations for the future, it’s one of the defining features of our species. Yet, most of these dreams and aspirations will remain exactly that, meaning that what we really all have a lot of are fantasies. To create a new reality, you need more than just dreams and good intentions. In fact, you need quite a few things – hard work, dedication, knowledge, possibly some startup capital and often at least a little bit of luck. However, there is one thing that is even more fundamental than any of these. Clearly defining your goals and making step-by-step plans for how to achieve them is the only way you will ever turn a dream into a lived reality.

So, what’s the difference between a dream and a goal? For starters, goals are measurable. They’re also achievable, meaning they’re within the realms of physical possibility, which gives you a lot of wiggle room but unfortunately rules out some of the fun stuff like faster than light travel and going back in time. Most importantly, however, goals are a something you are actively trying to achieve rather than passively dreaming about or hoping for. Without clearly defined objectives, we are forever doomed to chasing shadows.

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Setting and achieving goals

Dreaming is a fundamentally creative process. Setting and defining your goals, on the other hand, is a wholly practical endeavor that requires logic, planning and organization. It’s also the single most important piece of the puzzle when it comes to getting things done. We tend to think of success as something that requires attributes such as talent, intelligence, advanced skills and an exceptional understanding of the world around us. These are all admirable qualities that will certainly help. Yet, not everyone who has achieved something grand possessed all or even any of these qualities. What these people all have in common, however, is a form of single-mindedness that allows them to focus on their goals and block out all distractions. This is the true key to success and the mentality that must be cultivated in order to achieve it. In order to do so, it’s vital to have a clear idea of what you need to focus on, which means clearly defining your goals and creating a plan to achieve them. This process starts with just a few simple questions:

What do I want to achieve?

If you can’t sum it up in one or two sentences, your goal is not clearly defined and you’ll never achieve liftoff, never mind reach your destination. Examples of clearly defined goals include: “I want to create an Amazon affiliate business selling sustainable children’s toys and generate $10 000 profit a month within one year of launch” or “I want to complete the 2022 Ironman Hawaii in under 6 hours”. As you can see, these are specific, measurable and achievable goals. This overarching ambition is the foundation on which you will build. It provides a destination and a direction of travel. Importantly, it’s also something you can visualize clearly in your mind’s eye.

Can I break it down into smaller sub-goals?

While clearly defining your goal is important, it can also be intimidating. Big goals can seem far away and impossible to achieve. That’s why it’s important to break your goal down into smaller sub-goals or milestones. If your goal is create an Amazon affiliate business, you’ll need to do market & product research, create a blog or website to drive traffic, create an Amazon affiliate account, etc.

All of these tasks can be done individually and are a lot less intimidating than the idea of creating an entire business. Once you’ve broken your goal down into these milestones, you can start to tackle them one-by-one.

How long will it take?

Once you have identified your milestones, the next step is to create a timeline that will help you to stay on track and achieve maximum efficiency. You don’t have do each task consecutively or only concentrate on one at a time (unless it’s impossible to move on without completing one or more of them first). If you’re training for an Ironman, you wouldn’t swim every day for a third of the year, then move on to running every day for the next third and spend the last portion of the year cycling. By the time the event arrived, you would already have lost a great deal of your swimming and running fitness.

Try to set deadlines that are both realistic yet also challenging. Trying to move too fast will just demotivate you while giving yourself too much time will encourage laziness.

How will I measure my progress?

As we’ve already discussed, it’s important that your goals are measurable. Simply “losing weight” or “being more financially secure” is not enough. Abstract goals like this leave far too much room for interpretation, excuses and kicking the can down the road. If you can’t measure your progress through metrics or some kind of objective criteria, finding motivation will be a constant struggle and you’ll likely give up before the job is done. If your goal is to earn $10 000 within a year of launch, where do you want to be after 3, 6 or 9 months? If you’re going to complete the Ironman in under 6 hours, what kinds of times do you need to be doing for each discipline at various points in your training regime?

What obstacles could stand in my way?

Next, you need to consider the challenges you may face. While you can’t account for everything, having some idea of what might stand in the way of you achieving your goals will help immensely. This could be anything from financial or time constraints to your own personality, a political situation or coming changes to regulations, technology, etc. While you may not be able to prevent a problem just by knowing it exists, you can plan around it and minimize your chances of being unexpectedly derailed. However, analyzing challenges isn’t a once off exercise. You’ll need to do this sporadically throughout the process of pursuing a goal to avoid being blindsided. Finally, always expect the unexpected. There are very few things in life that go exactly to plan. Coming to terms with this will help you to stay light on your feet and react effectively when unexpected challenges inevitably arrive.

What do I need in order to make it happen?

Now that you have defined your goal and you have a clear idea of how you’re going to get there, the final step is figuring out what resources, tools, skills, knowledge or outside expertise might be required to make it happen. Some things may be essential, while others could be considered ‘nice to haves’. You can’t train for the cycling leg of the iron man without a bicycle, but you don’t necessarily need a professional coach. Equally, you can’t start a website for your affiliate business without paying for hosting, but you don’t necessarily need a web-designer to create your site if you’re willing to put the time and effort into to learning how to do this yourself. That said, having a coach or designer would substantially increase your odds of achieving your goal. Ultimately, it’s up to you to weigh up what resources you have at your disposal and how best to use them. Talking of which…

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The ultimate focus tool: FocusMe

If you’re serious about being single-minded in the pursuit of your goals, you’ll need every advantage you can get. In the age of infinite scroll and constant digital distraction, it’s easy to get pulled off track. That’s why we created FocusMe, the most powerful productivity tool available today. Whether you’re looking for a way to increase day-to-day productivity while working online or avoid digital distractions such as social media and gaming, this is the tool that will empower you to make it happen.

Learn about how it works, check out reliable third party reviews or get started right away by clicking the big shiny button below (don’t worry, we’ll still explain everything)!

The post Why Clearly Defining Your Goals Is Key To Success appeared first on FocusMe.

How To Stop Shiny Object Syndrome From Crippling Your Productivity

Brendon Cammell — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 16:58:38 +0000

Shiny object syndrome is a scourge of modern society and a major productivity killer.

Here’s everything you need to know about the causes, effects and how to kick the habit.

What is shiny object syndrome

Even if you’ve never heard of Shiny Object Syndrome, (not an actual medical condition), you’ve probably already got some idea of what it is based purely on the name itself.

If you’ve spent much time around young children, you’ll notice that not many things satisfy them for long. As soon as they get their hands on to the object of their desires, they’re after something else. It’s this constant desire for the “latest and greatest” that characterizes SOS rather than a biological attraction to shiny objects.

While it may just be a pop-cultural psychological concept, it’s real enough to do serious damage to your productivity. In it’s more extreme forms, SOS leads to massive wastage of time, money and energy. Besides our insatiable need for new stuff that we often don’t really need, many modern people living in developed societies also struggle to focus on just a single objective at a time or struggle to see projects through to completion. This is understandable when you consider that we live in a world so packed full of options and stimuli that it’s impossible to ever run out of new things or ideas to get attracted to.

In the rest of this article, we’ll explore some of the most common causes of Shiny Object Syndrome, the effects it can have on your productivity and methods for breaking free from the habit.

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Causes of shiny object syndrome

Although the root causes of Shiny Object Syndrome have probably always been ingrained in our psyches, the problem has become particularly pervasive in modern society. Here are some of the reasons why:

The craving for success
Yes, people have always had ambition, it’s a hallmark of our species. We chase after status success as if they’re the most important things in the world. The dominance of capitalism as an economic system has supercharged our desires for financial success as well. This insatiable need (or perhaps more aptly, greed) is one of the main causes of SOS.
Fear of falling behind or losing out
In a highly competitive world it’s easy to get left behind or lose out if you don’t keep up with the times. Of course, it’s equally possible that this will be your fate if you spend so much time searching for a leg up on the competition that you forget to focus on the core aspects of success and productivity.
The belief that newer is always better
Once again, technological advancements and our ability to come up with novel solutions to problems have been a huge driver of humanity’s success. That said, when these things become prized above all else, it’s easy to forget that newer isn’t necessarily always better.
Short attention spans
If you want to achieve success, however you define that word, maintaining your concentration and seeing things through is absolutely vital. Whether you want to call it ADHD or label it a symptom of fast-paced modern life, the inability to stick to a task until it is successfully completed is one of the primary causes of SOS.

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Consequences of shiny object syndrome

While we may all suffer from SOS to some extent, for many people it can be major hindrance. If you regularly experience any of the following issues, it might be time to admit that you need to make a change.

Inability to finish tasks or see projects through.
Underdeveloped executions and producing lower-quality work than you know you’re truly capable of.
Burning through cash and wasting excessive amounts of time on endeavors that ultimately turn out to be fruitless.
Feeling like you’re juggling too many projects at the same time and thus not giving any of them the attention you’d like to.
Failing to master new skills or tools because you’re constantly in the beginner phase of learning new ones.
Never actually achieving any of your core goals because you spend too much time thinking and researching and not enough time doing.

Perhaps you’ve experienced some or all of these things and never really considered that they might be part of a pattern or a larger issue. While Shiny Object Syndrome is a completely made concept (aren’t they all), it can be a useful way to recognize the patterns that are limiting your productivity and curtailing your ability to achieve your goals.

Kicking the habit

Of course, it’s not enough enough to simply identify your SOS tendencies. Ultimately, a diagnosis isn’t much use without a cure or at least some solid advice on how to manage your condition as best you can. Luckily, managing Shiny Object Syndrome is relatively straightforward once you integrate the following ideas into your work and life.

Take time to consider new projects, ideas and tools before jumping in
Once the initial excitement subsides, you’ll have a clearer idea of whether something new can actually add value or whether it’s more likely to make your life even more complicated.
Ask people you trust for their opinions
Other people may be able to help you realize when you’re moving too fast and provide you with a more objective perspective.
Don’t abandon projects on a whim
Before you ditch something because it “isn’t working”, try to do some honest assessment about whether you might actually be better off persevering with it rather than starting something new that will also cost valuable time, energy and resources.
Learn to see past the hype
Everyone wants to position their products, tools and companies as the next best thing, but how many really are? It’s best to adopt a “wait and see” approach if you’re not sure.
Improve your signal-to-noise ratio
Reducing distractions is less about discipline than it is about managing the sources of distraction. It’s far easier to remove temptation than to overcome it. Being part of too many groups or subscribing to every newsletter and website that catches your eye will inevitably lead to chasing after so called “shiny objects”. It’s always better to be proactive than reactive. Take the time to decide which sources of information provide real value and opportunities and ditch the ones that don’t.

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Increasing productivity with FocusMe

There are so many tools that claim to ADD to your life or business. Of course some really do, but the unfortunate truth is that most are either unnecessary or pure snake oil. What then to make of a tool that claims to REMOVE unwanted distractions and digital noise?

That’s exactly what FocusMe is – the most powerful tool on the available today for people who want to take back their attention and guard against digital distractions. You can learn more about how it works here, or get started right away by clicking the big shiny button below (don’t worry, we’ll still explain everything)!

The post How To Stop Shiny Object Syndrome From Crippling Your Productivity appeared first on FocusMe.

Habits Archives - FocusMe

Dopamine Fast – Why you should start one today

Why You Should Do A “Dopamine Fast” Today

1. Become conscious of your digital life

1. Bottom lines: We should abstain from digital activities at all costs.

2. Middle lines: These digital activities can trigger us.

3. Top lines: These are healthy activities offline or with screens that empower us and improve how we feel about ourselves.

2. Identify other ways you go for instant gratification

The big benefits of a dopamine fast.

Final thoughts

ADHD-Friendly Ways to get Organised

Break down your tasks into smaller, manageable chunks

Use a content blocker to limit digital distractions

Strategically schedule your time

Use sticky notes

Reflect on your day

Remember, small progress is still progress!

Download the free trial and see the difference our website blocker can make!

Goal-Setting 2023: Is Skipping New Year’s Resolutions A Big Mistake?

But Look, January Isn’t Over Yet!

So Are There Actual Benefits To Setting Goals Around The New Year?

Starting Late Offers A Chance To Avoid Common Resolution Mistakes

Listen, Only YOU Can Decide To Be More Proactive This Year!

Are You Using FocusMe To Defeat Digital Distractions And Achieve Laser Focus?

6 Actionable Ways To Unlock Your Full Potential

What could you do if you managed to unlock your full potential, or even just a fraction of it? The only way to know for sure is to try and find out...

Focus on what you can do rather than what you can't

Become a master goal setter to reach your full potential

Get out of your comfort zone more often

Don't be an island

Think holistically

Make technology work for you, not against you

5 Ways To Truly Work Smarter Not Harder

Many of us claim to work smarter not harder, but are we really practicing what we preach?

1. Work less

2. Invest in yourself

3. Consider going freelance

4. Improve your time management

5. Streamline your life using technology

Discipline Vs Freedom: 7 Ways To Win the Battle For Your Time When You Work Online

I Mean Do You Really WANT To Be A Discipline Machine?

How Can You Embrace Self-Discipline While STILL Allowing Room For Spontaneity?

A Warning About The Psychology Of Procrastination

And How Reframing “Work” In Your Mind Frees You From Your Mental Traps

Procrastination As Discomfort Avoidance (And How To Fix It)

Here’s How REBT Gets You Out Of The Freedom Trap

Where Does "Freedom" Come In?

All You Have To Do Is Change The Way You “Talk To Yourself” About Work

Here Are 7 Freedom Tricks For Embracing A Flexible Lifestyle When Working Online

Freedom Trick #1: Keep A Flexible Weekly Schedule

Freedom Trick #2: You Don’t HAVE to Work Specific Hours Either

Freedom Trick #3: Build the Right Systems To Step Away More Often

Freedom Trick #4: Put Together A Robust “Mobile Work Kit”

What Tools Keep You More Productive On The Go?

Spontaneity Trick #5: Turn Your Phone Into A Work Device

Some Phone-Friendly Tasks You Can Get Done From Anywhere?

Freedom Trick #6: Get Things Done Without Any Digital Tech At All

Freedom Trick #7: Practice Extreme Focus When It’s Finally Time To Work

FocusMe introduces a lot of ways to fix that problem.

What It Really Comes Down To Is “Permission”

5 Easy And Effective Ways To Regulate Screen Time

Screen time has become a dirty phrase, but it doesn't have to be this way...There are easy and effective ways to regulate your and your children's screen time.

How much screen time is too much?

1. Develop your relationship with nature

2. Do more exercise and take up low-tech hobbies

3. Reduce your screen time at work whenever possible

4. Leave your devices at home whenever possible

5. Don't spend family time or date night in front of a screen

Getting the 'right' kind of screen time

Fight Procrastination Day 2021

Fight Procrastination Day 2021: Just another silly made up awareness day or a genuine opportunity for self-improvement? The choice is yours...

So, are you a procrastinator?

What are the four Procrastinator archetypes?

The Performer

The Self-deprecator

The Overbooker

The Novelty Seeker

Fight procrastination with FocusMe

What makes FocusMe different?

Why Clearly Defining Your Goals Is Key To Success

What could you do if you managed to unlock your full potential, or even just a fraction of it?

The only way to know for sure is to try and find out...

Screen time has become a dirty phrase, but it doesn't have to be this way...

There are easy and effective ways to regulate your and your children's screen time.

Clearly defining your goals is what turns a dream into a reality. Unlike dreams, goals are measurable, achievable and inspire us to action.

Here are some ideas for how to define your goals and draw up a plan of action that will bring them to fruition.

Shiny object syndrome is a scourge of modern society and a major productivity killer.

Here’s everything you need to know about the causes, effects and how to kick the habit.