Show HN: I Made the Hardest Focus App

my phone secretly robbed all my dreams and i didn’t even knew it got so bad. when i saw my screen time being about 11hrs with ~95 phone pickups per day, i realized how bad it got.

my problem is that i could not avoid social media entirely as i post actively because i’m involved in marketing and branding.

I tried the usual, app blockers & time limits, but i always find myself hitting “one more minute” like a junkie.

i’m not looking for a complete social media absence or deleting everything as these radical solutions don’t fit my lifestyle and needs and i tend to come back needing even more.

the ideal solution for me would be that when i decided to focus on something for specified time i SHOULDN’T reach out to my phone instinctively and needed a wrist slap every time i did so.

three weeks later i put out the first version of the @hardestfocusapp - it’s built on a simple, physical truth: to focus, you must disengage.

the core mechanic of the app is a commitment device.

focus starts not with a button tap, but with a physical act of disengagement with the phone itself that adapts to any situation:

- keep it face down on a desk for deep work.

- put in the pocket while walking or commuting.

- lock the phone for long and uninterrupted focus.

this makes the act of disengagement itself as a trigger for start of focus.

the consequence is just as real.

picking up the phone triggers a 5-second warning siren duel.

failure to put it back will erase all the progress made, using the concept of Loss Aversion - a powerful motivator that makes the fear of losing progress more compelling than any virtual reward.

it’s not just an app blocker, it became my phone blocker.

now when i’m focusing, i’m not on my phone every other minute trying to escape from the thought I could not confront, the warning siren is so loud, it feels like a slap on the wrist and i immediately put the phone away.

now i’m not just running away from the thoughts, I’m confronting them and planning ahead

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44996058

Points: 10

# Comments: 3

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pocket-the-hardest-focus-app/id6746587044