Research on focus
Focus at work
Staying on one task when everything pulls you away.
The best Pomodoro apps for work, and the one feature that matters
Every Pomodoro app counts down from 25. The good ones help with what happens at minute 12.
20 Oct 2026 · 5 min read
The Eisenhower matrix: how to stop urgent tasks eating your day
Sort your tasks into four boxes, then protect the one that matters most.
17 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
Parkinson’s law: why work takes all the time you give it
More time doesn’t make a task easier. Often it makes it feel harder.
17 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
Decision fatigue: why choosing gets harder as the day goes on
You don’t run out of willpower. A day of hard thinking makes every extra effort feel bigger, so plan your choices for the morning.
17 Oct 2026 · 5 min read
Focus music for work: the best kind is the one you barely notice
Your favourite album is great for your mood. For hard work, it may be the worst thing on your playlist.
17 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
Monk mode at work: how to do it for two weeks, not forever
Cutting everything out forever rarely lasts. Two protected weeks, with clear rules, usually does more.
17 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
How to get into flow state at work: build it, don’t wait for it
Flow isn’t a lucky mood. It has three conditions, and you can set up all three before you start.
17 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
Your attention span isn’t broken. It’s trained.
The average stretch on one screen is down to 47 seconds. What was trained can be trained back.
12 Oct 2026 · 5 min read
Why can’t I focus? Four reasons, and how to tell which is yours
“Can’t focus” isn’t one problem. Find the one you have today, and the fix gets much smaller.
12 Oct 2026 · 5 min read
Indistractable, summarised: four steps, in the order that works
Most of us start with step four. Nir Eyal calls it the last line of defence.
12 Oct 2026 · 5 min read
How to focus with ADHD: the advice for everyone else may be backwards
Silence and sitting still are standard focus advice. With ADHD, a little more stimulation may work better.
8 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
Context switching: the quick check that drags half your mind away
The switch takes seconds. The cost is the part of your attention that doesn’t come with you.
8 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
Productive procrastination: the distraction that looks like work
Busy isn’t the same as focused. One question tells you which one you are.
6 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
Time blocking: why your to-do list needs a clock
A list tells you what to do. Only a calendar tells you when.
30 Sept 2026 · 4 min read
How to stay focused at work: block the pings, then catch the urge
Muting Slack fixes one kind of distraction. The other kind starts with you.
30 Sept 2026 · 4 min read
The best focus apps for your laptop, and why most stop working after a week
Most focus apps fix one cause of distraction. Here’s how to pick the one that fixes yours.
30 Sept 2026 · 4 min read
Feelings at work
Bored, foggy, anxious or overwhelmed, and what each one does to your focus.
Imposter syndrome at work: the feeling isn’t proof
Feeling like a fraud tells you how you feel. It says nothing about how good you are.
8 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
Bored at work? Your boredom is telling you one of three things
Boredom isn’t a lack of discipline. It’s a signal, and each kind needs a different fix.
8 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
Brain fog at work: it’s not laziness, your brain is used up
Hard thinking makes effort more costly as the day goes on. Plan for it instead of fighting it.
8 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
Feeling overwhelmed at work? What to do in the next 10 minutes
It’s not that you have too much to do. It’s that it’s all in your head at once.
30 Sept 2026 · 4 min read
Anxiety at work: how to calm down fast and get back to your work
Anxiety runs through your body. So does the fastest way to turn it down.
30 Sept 2026 · 4 min read
Phone & scrolling
Why we reach for the phone, and what actually helps.
How to break phone addiction without throwing your phone away
You don’t need a flip phone or iron willpower. You need a few small changes that make the reach slower.
20 Oct 2026 · 5 min read
How to reduce screen time when your job is on a screen
Cutting hours isn’t the goal. Cutting the hours you didn’t choose is.
20 Oct 2026 · 5 min read
The best app blockers for work, compared honestly
A blocker closes a door. Pick one by how firmly you need it shut.
20 Oct 2026 · 5 min read
Urge surfing: you don’t have to make the urge go away
The technique doesn’t shrink the urge. It changes what you do while it’s there.
8 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
Dopamine detox: the name is wrong, but half the idea works
You don’t need a weekend without anything you enjoy. You need your one problem habit kept to set times.
8 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
How to stop doomscrolling when you should be working
Most advice is written for 1am. This is for 2:40pm, with a deadline open in the next tab.
30 Sept 2026 · 5 min read
Why do we doomscroll? The six feelings behind the scroll
It's rarely about what's on the screen. It's about what you felt one second before you picked it up.
30 Sept 2026 · 4 min read
Do app blockers work? What they fix, and what they miss
The blocker did its job. It just wasn’t the whole job.
30 Sept 2026 · 4 min read
Why you can't stop checking your phone at work or while studying
And why blocking the apps doesn't fix it.
31 Aug 2026 · 4 min read
Motivation & hard tasks
Getting started on the work you keep putting off.
The best apps for procrastination, matched to why you put things off
Procrastination isn’t one problem, so no single app fixes it. Pick the one that fixes yours.
20 Oct 2026 · 5 min read
The two-minute rule: how to use it without losing your focus
One version helps you clear small tasks. The other helps you start big ones. Use each at the right time.
17 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
Eat the frog: it works, but most people pick the wrong frog
Doing the hardest task first is good advice. The hard part is choosing the frog, and when you choose it.
17 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
No motivation to work? Stop waiting for it to show up first
Motivation doesn’t come before the work. It comes from making progress on it.
17 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
Self-discipline isn’t willpower. Disciplined people just fight less
The people you admire for their discipline aren’t stronger. They’ve arranged things so they rarely need to be.
8 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
How to do hard things at work: read the discomfort differently
The bad feeling isn’t a stop sign. Often it means you picked the right task.
6 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
How to stop procrastinating when you know exactly what to do
You don’t have a time management problem. You have a feeling problem.
30 Sept 2026 · 4 min read
Studying
Focus for reading, revision and exams.
How to focus while studying on a laptop
Your laptop is your textbook and your biggest distraction. Plan for both.
30 Sept 2026 · 4 min read
Brown noise for studying: does it actually help?
It won’t make you focus. It does something more useful.
30 Sept 2026 · 4 min read
The Pomodoro technique for studying, and what to do in the break
The 25 minutes were never the problem. The five minutes after them were.
30 Sept 2026 · 4 min read
Naming the feeling takes four seconds. The reset takes two minutes.
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