My first year of college in 2010, I remember reading a book in English 101 -- What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains - The Shallows by Nicholas Carr. The book essentially covered the topic of technology that we are all living in now -- the internet has given the majority of us tech-induced ADD, or what Portlandia likes to call "the technology loop."
I don't normally rave about apps, because frankly I am generally unimpressed, but this one is truly the answer to my problems, and hopefully yours.
Forest is an app that forces you to focus. The concept is simple. You launch the app -- you choose anywhere between 10 - 120 minutes of focus time, and you put your phone down. During that time, a "tree" grows. If you kill the app, you kill the tree.
https://www.forestapp.cc/en/
Each focus session gives you coin. 10 minutes gives you 3 coin, 120 minutes gives you 43 coin. When you earn 2,500 coin, you get to plant a REAL tree in an impoverished area. That's right. Your focused time actually results in something tangible and real; you can help the environment in a meaningful, long-term way, and do it in places that need the help.
It seems as if it would take a long time to get to 2,500 coin... It doesn't. Think about it -- anytime you have a meeting, you drive, and even when you go to bed -- you can power it on. I've done some calculations -- if you casually but conscientiously remember to put it on before you go to bed, and put it on a few times during the day, you can expect to plant at least 12 trees a year.
In a world filled with devices, those around us expect us to answer them instantaneously, since we all have access to the internet at any given time. I am a huge advocate of the "power of no," but have never had a fantastic excuse before this time. Now I have a real reason to back-up why I didn't respond immediately, and so can you. "Hey sorry I missed your call, I was planting a tree." What person would object to that?
This app has effectively allowed me to time-block my day, which is how we as humans were designed in the first place. We are not supposed to be able to do a million things at once, just one. This app has made it easy to avoid hitting channel capacity, and has made me exponentially successful. Why wait any longer?!
https://www.forestapp.cc/en/
https://www.forestapp.cc/en/
P.S. I put the app on for 20 minutes to write this blog, and already missed a few calls, voice messages, emails and texts. Normally, I would have jumped on those and abandoned this article for the time-being. Instead, I've completed it, and managed not to make anyone upset. Hooray!
