No matter how awesome smartphones are, they are distractive. Trust me, I know it. Being a smartphone addict (if that’s a term) makes putting my phone down and focusing on work a bit difficult. Even though there are a lot of productivity app available for Android, and I use some of them to get the work done, there are a lot of distractive or time killer apps too that just makes concentrating difficult.
I know a lot of people who make up their mind to focus on work, get to it, not 5 minutes pass by and they get a Facebook notification, they try really hard to resist the feeling to pick up their phone and check the notification. With that, they lose track of time and 5 minutes turn into 3 hours. It’s like this – you get a notification, you have to check it. It’s like a reflex. Well, my case is not that serious since I am not much active on social media, but I think I spend way too much time on Quora, Reddit, and 9gag.
The best way to deal with such situations and actually get the work done is to block access to those services on which you spend a lot of time. On my laptop, I am using an extension called StayFocusd to block certain services. But on Android, there are not many effective apps of such kind. I don’t mean that they don’t work, it’s just that they have certain loopholes.
You see, the fundamental problem with most of the distraction blocker apps is that they can be turned off as easily as they are set up. With that said, here is a distraction blocker that is downright cruel – Cold Turkey.
With Cold Turkey, you can temporarily block yourself from your phone. Setting up the app is a child’s play, there is nothing much here to tinker with. Upon opening the app, you will see a slider with which you can choose the time for which Cold Turkey will block your device; it varies from 1 minute to 60 minutes. Once you have set the time, just tap “GO COLD TURKEY” and it will block your device for the set time. You can use this time to concentrate on studies or work.
As I mentioned earlier, this app is downright cruel. While other distraction blocker apps have a workaround to unblock the device, Cold Turkey have none. Once it blocks your device, you can’t use it for anything. You won’t be able to open any app or call someone. Once the block is started, you won’t be able to stop it until your timer is finished. Blocking features include the back button, holding the power button to restart the device and switching apps. You will still be able to tap your home button, but no other apps will be able to start. Additionally, you will still be able to take out your battery to restart your device in case of emergencies.
[googleplay url=”https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.felixlogic.coldturkey&hl=en”/]
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