Reverse timers

When my focus isn't very good, I use reverse timers: apps that are glorified countdown clocks. I'd love to use a physical timer for this kind of thing, but in an office with other coworkers, alarms going off are a nonstarter.

I've been using two and highly recommend both. It's fun that they've carved out opposite niches:

• Session is full of bells and whistles: it doubles as a time-tracking application, integrates with my calendar, lets me categorize what kind of work is happening, it even has an app-blocker built in. All this extra stuff is integrated pretty elegantly though and doesn't detract from the simple experience.
• n10 is the exact opposite. It has no features, and a tiny user interface. It doesn't even let you choose custom lengths of time: you need to one one of its presets.

I really like them both: I'll use Session if I'm going to "stay in Session" as the marketing says and oscillate between focus sessions and breaks. I'll use n10 if I just want a simple reminder of what I'm working on and my work is going to be more chaotic that day.

Nothing really solves focus. Meditating in the morning and avoiding distraction traps like TikTok and YouTube in the afternoon seems to really improve my daytime focus.