How to Stop Getting Distracted: Our Top 8 Apps to Help You Focus

When you work remotely in the creative digital space, your days are typically a chaotic mix of brainstorming, researching, writing or designing, editing, virtual meets, and occasionally remembering to eat lunch. 

While we absolutely love what we do, it’s easy to get distracted: one phone call, a few Slack alerts, a neighbor mowing their lawn, someone in the background asking, “What’s for dinner?”, and suddenly you’re off course.

If any of that sounds familiar, you’re in the right place. With over 75% of the American workforce now working from home in some capacity, staying focused is life. While remote or hybrid work usually means less stress, less traffic, more time, and a little more money, the struggle of duty vs. distraction is real.

Well, no more, we say! These are the eight tools we recommend to help stop the distractions. Whatever your kryptonite – doom scrolling, Netflix, a swarm of household chores – these apps can keep you on track, productive, and more stress-free. 

1. Remember the Milk

If you’re from certain generations, you might have an affinity for bullet-point pens and sticky notes. Not to knock them – I love pen and paper – but they’re not foolproof. You lose a pen. A note drops behind the desk when you’re not looking. Your kid comes along and scribbles all over your painstakingly drawn-up outline. ‘Remember the Milk’ changes that. 

This is a free, deceptively simple task manager that lets you create lists, set deadlines, attach files, and sync across devices. Use it to track everything from content deadlines to when your plants need some TLC. 

Running short on time? Call in backup by sharing your task with others. Plus, the recurring task feature means you’ll never forget team meetings or when to take out the trash.

2. Unroll.Me

If your inbox is a hot mess of newsletters, promo codes, and retailers you never heard of, Unroll.Me can clean it up in minutes. It scans your inbox and lets you unsubscribe from the clutter with one click. The best part? It bundles your remaining subscriptions into a single daily email. It’s like having a bouncer for your inbox.

3. Lumosity

Let’s be honest: We all hit that post-lunch brain fog. Instead of tackling level 1,236 of CandyCrush, open Lumosity. It’s a game-based brain training app that targets memory, attention, processing speed, and problem-solving. It’s fun, fast, and tailored to you.

4. Motion

Motion is a super-powered AI app that plans your day for you — automatically. You add your tasks, set priorities, and it rearranges your schedule in real time to make sure you actually get stuff done. It also takes notes, proofreads, and plans workflows for you — like the ultimate digital assistant (except you don’t need a W2).

5. Brain.fm

Sound matters more than you may think. Brain.fm uses AI-generated music to help your brain focus, relax, or sleep, depending on what you need. 

Pop in your headphones, hit “Focus,” and suddenly your to-do list seems way less impossible. It’s like a soundtrack for your neural pathways, minus lyrical distractions and engineered to stimulate productivity.

6. Noisli

Some of us (hand raised), work better with noise than silence. So, when the coffee shop vibes are calling but you’re stuck at home, Noisli delivers. 

This ambient sound generator lets you create your perfect noise mix: think thunderstorms + soft chatter + rustling leaves. It’s oddly soothing and excellent for drowning out barking dogs and laundry machines. 

Bonus: It has a convenient text editor and built-in timer to help you focus and avoid burnout.

7. Forest

This one’s for the phone addicts. Forest uses the Pomodoro time-management technique, but with a twist: when you focus, a tree grows. Exit the app early to check Instagram, and the tree dies. It’s weirdly motivating. 

Cultivate entire landscapes just by resisting the urge to Google random facts like “How do penguins propose?” (Answer: with pebbles.) Plus, you get the added pleasure of doing good because this app teams with Trees for the Future to plant real trees around the globe. Just a little extra motivation.

8. Cold Turkey

This is exactly how it sounds. When things get really dire — like deadline-at-noon-and-it’s-11:00-dire — it’s time to go Cold Turkey. 

This distraction blocker locks you out of social media, streaming sites, gaming apps, and more. You can’t override it. Not even with a restart. It’s the digital equivalent of a tough-love intervention. Your due dates will thank you.

So yeah, staying focused might take more than caffeine and willpower. With tools like these, however, we can get the job done. 

Have a favorite app you use to focus at home? Drop a comment below.

If you’re looking for a real, human team to help you focus on your brand, level up your website, orchestrate your next event or campaign, hit us up at Ironistic. We’re all about doing great work, on time, and on budget — with zero dead trees and zero distractions.

Now get back to work (after you bookmark this, obviously).

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