Screen time off, productivity on! 5 apps to beat distractions

Discover 5 powerful productivity apps to reclaim control over your time and reduce screen time.

Friday December 01, 2023 , 4 min Read

Indians spend an average of 7.3 hours on their phones every day, which is more than American and Chinese users according to a Redseer Strategy Consultants report released in 2022. While the data seems to indicate a major issue with phone usage habits in India, reducing screen time has been a struggle for the best of us.

In today's world, it is very easy to get lost in the loop of endless scrolling whether it is on social media or news websites, stopping this behaviour is a little challenging. However, falling into the trap of mindless scrolling makes us procrastinate and ultimately steals away time to work.

To break this cycle, you can use apps that can limit your screen time. In this article, we have covered 5 beneficial productivity apps that will help you regain control of your time.

5 apps to reduce screen time

RescueTime

Time goes from a few minutes to hours once you get your hands on a device and this is something that most people struggle with. RescueTime is a productivity app that tracks your activity on a laptop or mobile phone.

It categorises which tools or sites you spend most time on, to give you an insight into where a majority of your time is going. Once you have identified those sites that interrupt your workflow, this app allows you to block it for a period of time. During these "focus sessions", users can complete all their tasks without any notification disturbances.

However, you need to classify certain apps in case RescueTime labels it as a distraction. This app is available on. RescueTime offers two plans: RescueTime Lite that's the free version and RescueTime Premium which starts at $12 per month.

While the free version is good enough as it provides weekly reports of data, the history gets deleted automatically after 2 weeks.

Forest

Forest is another popular app that helps users stay focused with a simple technique of planting a seed and growing it into a tree. However, if you leave the "deep focus mode, the tree withers and you need to start all over again.

This psychology of nurturing your tree is a game-changer method to finish your daily tasks every day. Unfortunately, this app is only free for Android users. Forest is priced at $1.99 per month on the iOS App Store but it does have a free Chrome extension version as well that you can try out.

Space

As the name suggests, this next app is space-themed and helps you track your screen time and compare it with your family and friends. With this model, it becomes easy to reduce screen time and focus on your daily tasks.

After downloading this app, it asks certain questions to understand your phone usage habits and gives you goals for cutting down screen time. Space is available for free and also offers a one-time paid pro version that is priced at $3.99 to access more tips and an eight-day phone/life balance course.

Freedom

Whether it is distracting websites or mobile apps, Freedom blocks them all. This productive app allows you to eliminate sites or social media channels that make you waste time. Used by more than 3 million people, this app allows people to schedule their time for work accordingly.

The best part about Freedom is that it is compatible with all devices including Mac, Windows, iOS and Android. This app is available for free and its premium version costs $39.99 per year.

Cold Turkey

If you are looking for a more strict screen time app that blocks distractions then Cold Turkey is a good choice. This productivity tool not only stops you from accessing social media platforms and websites but also the entire internet through a feature called "Frozen Turkey".

In fact, it even allows you to block out the time manager app that can be manipulated to remove the scheduled work timer. In short, users have only two options: work or be without the internet. This approach can help people to actually work and not look for ways to waste time.

Cold Turkey has a freemium version and 3 one-time payment plans namely: