Updated 3 November 2026 by Spencer Lay, who makes FocusFlow.
Things that work without an app
- Leave the phone in another room. Some research suggests even a phone face-down on the desk costs attention.
- Turn on a Focus mode so notifications wait.
- Study in fixed blocks, like 45 minutes on and 10 off, and only pick the phone up in the break.
- Decide what "done" means before you start: three problems, one section, 500 words.
When willpower isn't enough
If you keep opening TikTok or Instagram on reflex, a blocker takes the decision away. The question is what unlocks it. A timer only makes you wait. FocusFlow unlocks when the thing you were meant to be doing is finished, so the apps become the reward at the end.
You pick the apps that get locked. You add the tasks you need to do. When you finish a task, you take a photo of it, an AI model checks the photo against the task, and you earn 15 minutes by default. The minutes count down only while you are in the locked apps, and when they run out the apps lock again, even if FocusFlow is closed. Once every task for the day is done, the apps stay open for the rest of the day.
Set it up for a study day
- Pick the apps that eat your time.
- Add today's work as tasks, each worth the minutes you think it deserves.
- Add a blockout for class and one for bedtime, when nothing unlocks.
- Finish a task, snap a photo, and spend the minutes however you like.