A successful person is often one who manages his time effectively. However, in today’s multitasking world, completing tasks in a time bound manner can be overwhelming. Thankfully there are tools that can help you set yourself a steady, time bound, working pattern. In today’s app review, we take a look at one such app called Stayfocused.
How Stayfocused Pomodoro Timer Gets Things Done
Stayfocused is based on the Pomodoro technique, which is a time management technique developed in the late 1980’s by Francesco Cirillo. The core concept of the technique was to break down tasks into periods of 25 minutes, with short 5 minute breaks in between.
Stayfocused’s main interface has a top menu displaying the day, the Task Schedule button, The Task Type, a task filter, and a Help button. The main screen is blank and is where all your tasks get listed.
To add a task, you click the + button at the bottom of the app. This will open up a Task Settings dialog where you can enter all the details of your task.
The name of the task goes to the top of the screen.
There are 4 tabs below the task name. Open Files lets you add or remove any files you need that are relevant for the task. Open Websites lets you add a URL related to the task. The rest of the tabs let you set a wallpaper (to help you stay focused), and hide unrelated windows that could distract you from the task.
There is also a section to add notes related to the task. The default task time in Stayfocused is set to 25 minutes, but depending on your task, you can increase or decrease your timestamp. Below the estimated time, you have options to assign the day to work on the task, and select the type of task such as writing, designing, emailing, attending a meeting, playing a game, studying and so on.
Hit the Save button and you’ve got your first task listed on your Home screen.
When you’re ready to do the task, hit the Do Task button and keep you head in until you are done with it. You’ll be surprised how efficiently you can work when you set yourself a target! When the task is completed, click Done.
The results of your efforts are displayed in the Reports section (click the menu at the bottom right of the screen). You can read through the Summary and analyze pie charts for times spent on the tasks and type of tasks.
Stayfocused in a simple Pomodoro timer that’s extremely easy to use and customize. You can set up tasks in just a minute or two, add reminders or repeat alerts to start your tasks, drag and drop files, application, websites or wallpapers in the task configuration window and edit and delete tasks using simple one click actions.
Stayfocused : Pros
– Easy to configure and set up tasks
– Lets you stay focused on the job by fading out distractions
– Lets you work intuitively by allowing drag and drop of task related items to the interface and opening them automatically when you start the job.
– Alerts you when you need to take a break from your task
– Lets you keep track of the time you are spending on the task in a small display window at the corner of the screen
– Helps you control time spent on wasteful activities like Facebook interactions
Stayfocused : Cons
The Standard version of the software has limited features rendering it almost pointless.
Pricing
Stayfocused is available as a Standard version and a Pro version. The Standard version is free but it allows you to add only 2 tasks. The Pro version, which is available as 1 user or 3 user license allows you to make use of all the features of the app on multiple PCs. It is priced $39.99 and $59.99 respectively but at the time of writing this post, the website was offering a $15 and $25 discount. You can check out the differences between the Standard and Pro versions as well as the pricing details by clicking here.
Final Thoughts
If you are committed to working with some discipline and need help to accomplish your tasks in a time bound manner, I highly recommend using Stayfocused. This Pomodoro timer tool will help you stay focused on tasks that are high priority, while ensuring that you don’t burn out when your work load gets overwhelming. Its a fantastic task manager, organizer, and scheduler, and if used well, will leave you with a most satisfying work life.
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