Be Focused - Focus Timer 4+

I don’t use all of the advanced features in this application. These are the things that matter to me: a) Quick and easy access in the toolbar, b) Some sort of ability to log the total number of sessions in a single day, c) the ability to abort or pause sessions/breaks when interrupted and then quickly restart a session at will. You would be surprised to know how many pomodoro applications lack this basic feature. Also, this application hits the goldilocks spot as far as notifications are concerned. Just like the porridge that is neither too hot nor too cold, the notification levels are just right. I have looked at many different pomodoro applications during the past several years, and this is the one I always come back to using. // I only have one recommendation for people using this time management technique: Be sure to stand up and walk around when the timer beeps. Also, drink *tons* of water. Several years ago, I was using the pomodoro technique (not with this application) when working on an intense writing project. I made the mistake of not standing up and walking around, and I didn’t drink nearly enough water. I ended up with a blood clot in my leg and experienced a bilateral pulmonary embolism. (DVT induced pulmonary embolisms kill more people each year than motor vehicle accidents and HIV combined.) This is a powerful productivity technique, but please drink water and walk around. The application is awesome.

I started off with the free version, which works great and is still used on my laptop, but ended up buying the pro-version for my phone/ipad when they had a huge discount on it. With all the reading and studying that I have to do for nursing school, I was going insane (mostly because I can't stay focused for long periods of time) because I already have bad study habits and I just didn't know where to begin. I stumbled on to this app while looking for useful study habits that actually help. This app is very simple to use without having to too many "bells and whistles". I haven't really dove too deep into the extra stuff this app may have but maybe when I get a little more freetime I'll explore it a little deeper.

While I love this app, I do have 1 issue (then again I may just not have the correct settings) that I wish it had (the phone/ipad versions)... I wish the alarms would still sound even when the phone is in "silent mode" or "ringer off" mode. I don't like having to turn the ringer on just to hear the "break start/end" alarm go off.

Anyways, I LOVE this app and I'm glad I stumbled upon this. Thank you for being so simple yet so powerful!!!

I only have one quibble with this app being less than great for me: I would like it to take the computer’s focus away from whatever I’m doing to the app so that I have to actually decide and click to keep working. I usually work with music so the alarm sounds are either lost, ignored, or too jarring. There’s another Pomodoro-style app that I had been using that does the focus switch, but it doesn’t have the flexibility this one does, like pausing the work period and being able to log the task.

I read through a bunch of negative reviews here, and they are all complaining about things that just are not true. Yes, you can change the length of the work period and the length of breaks, yes, you can turn on a ticking sound and control its volume. The only complaint I found to be actually true was that the default end-of-work alarm was too loud. But seriously, you knew you were setting an alarm from the app description; yet you didn’t check the volume? OK, people do just just jump in and a gentler default would be nice, but it hardly seems something to downrated to a 3 about. The rest of the complaints seem to more of that kind of thinking: it wasn't set to MY preferences out of the box and I didn’t bother to look at the settings before complaining. Seriously? Do you eat at McDonalds too much (where the default is just the way you like it) or what?