Focus Session: a free focus timer app for phone-down deep work

Focus Session is a free focus timer app built around one idea: put your phone down for a set stretch of time, and make it a little bit annoying to quit early. You pick 25, 50 or 90 minutes, start the clock and get on with your work. If you want out before the timer's done, you have to walk to the unlock card stuck on your fridge and type in the code. You open Focus Session in your browser, add it to your home screen and that's the whole setup.

Here's what it does, how to get it on your phone and how to pair it with your phone's own blocking tools so the distracting apps actually stay quiet.

What Focus Session does

The app does three jobs. It runs a timer for your focus session, it keeps track of how many minutes you've focused and how many days in a row, and it puts a small speed bump between you and quitting early.

That speed bump is the unlock card. When you first open the app it makes up a code, something like MAPLE-47. You write it on a sticky note or print it out and stick it on the fridge, as far from your desk as you can manage. Ending a session early means getting up, walking over and typing it in.

I think that walk is the whole trick. By the time you've stood up and crossed the house, the itch to check Instagram has usually fizzled out, and you can sit back down and finish.

Why phone-down focus is worth it

If you've noticed it's harder to sink into a book or a work project than it used to be, you've got plenty of company. Gloria Mark, a researcher who's spent years tracking how people use screens at work, found it took people about 23 minutes on average to get back to a task after an interruption. One "quick look" at your phone can quietly eat half an hour.

There's a whole trend right now of people "bricking" their phones, and a $59 gadget called Brick that locks your apps until you tap the phone against it. I like the idea a lot. I'm just not convinced you need to buy anything, since your phone already has free tools that do the locking, and Focus Session covers the rest. Our guide to deep work and focus has more on why long, unbroken stretches matter.

How to get Focus Session on your phone

It's a web app, so there's no App Store or Google Play download. It lives on our site and installs to your home screen.

On an iPhone:

1. Open 8dofwellness.com/apps/focus-session in Safari.
2. Tap the Share button (the square with the arrow pointing up).
3. Tap Add to Home Screen, then Add.

On Android:

1. Open the same page in Chrome.
2. Tap the three-dot menu in the corner.
3. Tap Install app or Add to Home screen.

The gold timer icon shows up next to your other apps, opens full screen and works with no signal at all.

How to use it, screen by screen

The Focus screen

Type what you're working on if you like (it's optional, but "finish the report intro" is a lot more motivating than a blank). Pick a length. Twenty-five minutes is the classic Pomodoro length and a solid place to start, 50 suits writing or coding where it takes a while to get into the groove, and 90 is for the big stuff. Other lets you set anything from 5 to 180 minutes.

There's a checkbox to keep the screen on during the session, which is handy if you want to glance at the countdown on your desk. Leave it off if you'd rather put the phone face down in a drawer.

Tap Start focusing and the screen switches to a big countdown ring with the time you'll be done. When it hits zero, the phone chimes and buzzes, logs your minutes and tells you how you did.

Ending early

Tap End early and the app asks for the code on your unlock card. Type it in (capitals don't matter) and the session ends, logging the minutes you did manage. The wrong code gets you nowhere.

If you've lost the card, the code is printed in the Blocking tab, and you can make a new one there. So yes, a determined person can find a way around it. All the card's there for is a bit of friction, the same way a cookie jar on a high shelf doesn't stop you so much as make you think twice.

History

This shows your focus minutes for the week, a seven-day bar chart and a list of every session, with a check mark for the ones you finished and an X for the ones you ended early. Your streak on the Focus screen counts days with at least one finished session.

The Blocking tab

This holds your unlock card, with buttons to print it or make a new code, plus step-by-step instructions for your phone's own blocking tools. Set those up once and you won't need to think about them again.

Blocking distracting apps for free

A web app can't lock other apps on your phone, but your phone can, and it's free.

On an iPhone, go to Settings, then Focus, and tap the plus sign to make a new Focus (or just use Do Not Disturb). Under Apps, allow only the ones you truly need, maybe Phone and Messages from your favorites. For a harder lock, go to Settings, then Screen Time, then App Limits, and put a daily cap on the apps that suck you in. Turn your Focus on from the Control Center when you start a session.

On Android, open Settings and look for Digital Wellbeing and parental controls (the name varies a little by phone, so search Settings for "Focus" if you can't spot it). Tap Focus mode, pick your distracting apps and tap Turn on now when you start. Those apps stay paused until you switch it off.

Who it's good for

Students cramming for finals, people working from home with the laundry and the fridge calling their name, writers, coders and anyone who reads two pages of a book before reaching for their phone. Does that last one sound familiar? It's a pretty big club.

It's also handy for parents who want a phone-free hour with the kids, or for anyone trying to cut back on late-night scrolling. Set a 60-minute session after dinner, leave the phone in the kitchen and see what the evening feels like without it. If doomscrolling is the bigger problem, our piece on brain rot and your attention span has a few more ideas for winning your focus back.

Your data stays on your phone

Your sessions, streak and unlock code live on your phone and nowhere else. There's no account and nothing gets sent to us. Tap the gear icon now and then and hit Save backup so you don't lose your history if you clear your browser or switch phones. Restore brings it back.

Tips to get more done with it

Start small. If you haven't done a phone-free half hour in years, a 25-minute session is plenty, and you can stretch it once it feels easy. Our guide to the Pomodoro technique has more on short blocks with breaks in between.

Pick one task per session. Bouncing between email and the report inside one session defeats the purpose, and juggling tasks costs more than it feels like, which is the whole story behind why multitasking doesn't work.

Make the unlock card a real hike. Upstairs, the garage, the fridge door at the far end of the kitchen. The farther, the better.

Plan your break before you start. What will you do with the ten minutes after the timer goes off? Knowing you'll get ten minutes to stretch and check messages at the end makes the session a lot easier to sit through.

Frequently asked questions about Focus Session

Is Focus Session free?

Yes. No price, no ads and no sign-up. It's one of eight free wellness apps on this site.

Can Focus Session block other apps?

No, web apps aren't allowed to. Use your phone's built-in Focus mode or Screen Time on iPhone, or Focus mode in Digital Wellbeing on Android, and the instructions are right there in the app.

What if I lose my unlock card?

The code is in the Blocking tab. Make a new one and update your card after the session.

Does it work offline?

Yes. Once it's on your home screen, it runs with no internet connection.

How long should a focus session be?

Start with 25 minutes. Once that feels easy, try 50, and save 90-minute sessions for big projects.

A sharp, focused mind is one spoke of the wellness wheel, and the free wellness wheel quiz shows how all eight of yours are doing.