Tools I use
These tools help me stay focused or make my life better. None of these are sponsored.
Last updated: 14 Jul, 2024
Ambient Sounds
myNoise (Browser, Android)
Ambient sounds is my go-to background "music" for focus or relaxation, especially if actual ambient sound (silence) is not available. For a long time, I used to get this from a few bookmarked YouTube videos, until somewhat recently, I discovered myNoise website. This is by far the best single tool to provide for all your ambience needs and it does it ad-free. They also have an Android app.
The browser version has a meditation bell feature, that you can set to ring every 15 minutes for example, to help you keep track of time or be more mindful when working etc.
Can't recommend enough.
Text Editor
iA Writer (Mac, Windows, Android)
I write quite a lot either by journaling, taking notes, or writing content. Most of it is in plain text format, so I want to have nice text editor to support that. I have used the built-in text editors like notepad on Windows and TextEdit on Mac. They work OK, but I preferred something that looks and feels a bit nicer. Eventually, I found iA Writer: It's very minimalist and clean, works on all my devices, and syncs well with my cloud drive, so I can access the same files on any device, at any time.
It's not free, though. If you write a lot in plain text or markdown, I think it's a worthy investment.
Minimalist Phone Launcher
Before Launcher (Android)
I think most of us could use our phones more purposefully ⏤ or just less. Although the dumbphone movement is steadily gaining popularity, I don't think it's the optimal solution (at least not yet) because the current dumbphones are awful performance-wise, and you lose out on many actually useful and powerful tools that the modern smartphone offers.
Besides, I don't think there are too many people uncontrollably overusing their navigation app, camera, calculator, etc. The problem is far more likely social media, games, and entertainment apps, with their highly addictive UI and features. All of those issues can be mitigated by dumbing down your smart phone and using app restrictions or blockers instead of switching to a dumbphone.
I have an Android phone, so I can simply use specific launchers to achieve this. My choice is the Before launcher over the minimalist phone launcher, but only because of very minor personal preferences. Both are great and do pretty much the same things.
If you have an iPhone, don't worry. You have to do a bit more manual work, but you can achieve pretty much the same. (Here is one instruction.)
App & Website Blockers
AppBlock (Android)
LeechBlock (Browser)
Cold Turkey (Windows, Mac)
There are many apps or websites that I'm addicted to or spend too much time on. I also tend to switch to some of these when I'm bored, stressed, or have a tedious task at work.
My willpower is far from great, so I try to rely on it as little as possible. Instead, I use blocker applications on my phone and laptops. Some blocks are permanent, some are scheduled, to protect my focus times, sleep, or early mornings from the things that don't belong there.
My choices are the AppBlock on Android (premium version) and LeechBlock (free) on all of my browser. Cold Turkey is also great.