Working for four to five hours a day seems to be the upper limit for deep work. But, for a lot of people, it can be hard to even manage that much. If you’re struggling to hit the 4 hour mark, the productivity apps Focus Bear and Vitamin-R might be worth giving a try.

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Focus Bear

Focus Bear improves productivity by tackling distractions and setting you up for success through a powerful morning routine. The app has the following features:

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Remove All Distractions

If you find yourself getting distracted in an unpredictable pattern and the internet is your biggest gripe, then Focus Bear has the perfect solution. When it comes to blocking sites and apps, it offers you the option to either allow them all or only allow ones you selected, blocking every other app and website.

Make Your Day Productive

There’s nothing like being productive from the moment you wake up till the end of the day. With Focus Bear, you can make small to big adjustments to your daily life through a productive morning, evening, and night routine. It can be journaling or running outside for an hour in the morning; it’s up to you. Focus Bear will do its job to notify you by also making sure you don’t procrastinate, using a full-screen notification.

Maintain a Healthy Work-to-Break Ratio

It can sometimes be difficult to remember to take proper breaks when you’re in the zone. Focus Bear has a built-in timer for breaks that reminds you every 20 minutes (or whatever interval you prefer). The app will suggest active break activities to make sure you don’t get neck and back pain such as stretching, standing up and taking some deep breaths, or if you’re feeling adventurous, doing pull-ups.

Stay Focused on Your Goals

With customizable focus modes, Focus Bear helps you stay on track and get things done. The Super Pomodoro mode will remind you of your commitment if you get distracted and open a different site or domain.

Vitamin-R

Vitamin-R is a productivity app that combats procrastination by creating small and achievable goals. Here is what you can expect.

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Create a Structured Work Day

Vitamin-R lets you create “time slices,” that is, breaking down tasks into increments of no more than 30 minutes. It makes any long task less intimidating and more achievable and, in turn, prevents you from procrastinating.

The app also suggests you to name your objectives for each increment as actionable and specific as possible, which makes it seem more reachable.

Switch Tasks Efficiently

You can use the “Breadcrumbs” section to list certain tasks and restart them whenever necessary, even after switching to a different task. There is also the Log Book that lets you restore past objectives.

Get Weekly and Hourly Analysis

Vitamin-R keeps track of all your activity and provides performance, work habits, and preference insights.

How Do They Compare?

Vitamin-R is a good option for people who don’t get distracted easily. For people who have a harder time staying focused, a good combination is using Vitamin-R for a list of todos/goals and Focus Bear to block distractions and remind you to take breaks.

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Check out the apps at focusbear.io and Vitamin-R.
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This blog post was first published in Medium