On average, Americans check their phones 96 times per day. And 18-24-year-olds check twice as much. 

This is problematic because task switching (like checking your phone) leaves an “attention residue.”

The impact? It’ll take about 22 minutes for your full attention to be restored.

The costs of attention residue:

• Lack of efficiency
• Poor listening
• Easily overwhelmed
• Make errors
• Struggle with decisions and processing information

All to say, you need better tools for training your focus (so you can do essential and meaningful work).

Enter Forest.

INTRODUCING FOREST

Forest (iOS, Android) is a gamified mobile timer for productivity. The longer you stay focused, the healthier the trees in your virtual forest will grow. Navigate away from the app due to phone distraction? The trees wither.

By staying focused, users earn virtual coins (which can be used to plant trees in real life). Over 1 million trees have been planted thanks to Forest.

SUPERHUMAN SCORING

In every edition of All Systems Go, I assess the featured product across four superhuman dimensions: impact, setup, maintenance, and aesthetics.

Unlike your typical product review, I focus on factors that influence personal growth. Get to know the evaluation system.

Impact (8.0/10)

Set a Pomodoro timer in the app (25 minutes on, 5 minutes off) for a cadence of optimally focused energy.

Chunking down work to 25 minutes of pure focus is useful because the period is cognitively challenging but feels attainable. You’ll also be tapping into Parkinson’s Law—which teaches that work expands to fill the allotted time for an activity.

By introducing a Pomodoro deadline, you’ll get more done. Simple—but an advanced idea.

Setup (9.5/10)

The steps are easy:

1. Plant a tree in the app whenever you want to focus.
2. As you work (without leaving the app), your tree will grow.
3. If you leave the app (to check another), your tree will die.
4. The more you focus, the more virtual coins you earn.
5. Spend virtual coins to plant trees IRL.

Maintenance (9.0/10)

The biggest challenge of Forest is remembering to use it.

Move it to your phone’s home screen for a visual prompt.

Aesthetics (9.0/10)

Forest is the #1 paid Apple productivity app in 157 countries. It’s rated 4.8/5 with 30.7k reviews.

An uncluttered product leads to an uncluttered mind. The app is simple, intuitive, and elegant.

BRINGING IT HOME

The best productivity app on your phone is called airplane mode.

(Most don’t feel comfortable using it.)

The second-best? Forest.

It’s a mobile app that gives you time, rather than takes it.

All systems go,

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Resources

• Newsletter Archive: Read past issues of All Systems Go
• Energy Dashboard: Get an under-the-hood look at my self-tracking metrics for energy management (updated weekly)
• [Quick Win] Phone Charger Challenge: Save 60 hours every year with this simple morning hack