Best iOS Apps; Best Online Backup Services. For people who have a much harder time with self-control, the good news is you can lock yourself out of certain sites or kinds of sites and give the. The most popular Mac alternative is Cold Turkey, which is free. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked 47 alternatives to SelfControl and 18 are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to SelfControl are FocusMe (Freemium), Freedom (Paid), Focus (Paid) and Focusbar (Free).
Ahh, the freedom of freelancing. You set your own hours. You work on your own terms — within the scope of client deadlines and expectations, of course. You…
…You…
…Oops. Sorry — just had to check out the latest Grumpy Cat meme on Facebook. And sneak a peek at my email. Which actually reminds me, I haven’t updated my LinkedIn profile in a while…
Sound familiar?
While the Internet and all its glorious tools can make a freelancer’s work easier, it also provides so very many ways in which to avoid your work altogether and get lost in an abyss of never-ending stuff: some of it quasi-work-related (hey, LinkedIn’s a networking tool!), some of it just an excuse to procrastinate.
Luckily, you can get technology back on your side with a slew of super helpful concentration apps that help you focus, block out distractions and get to work. Here are some of the top ones: (Click to tweet this list)
1. Anti-Social
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If you’re always lured from your projects by the siren call of Facebook and Twitter, this app’s for you. Anti-Social eliminates the temptation to update your status by blocking these sites altogether.
You can choose timed blocks from 15 minutes up to eight hours (if you’re feeling really determined), and the app “keeps you honest” by cleverly lacking a way to turn it off. That’s right — if you feel the itch and try to cheat, the only way to sneak around a timed block is by rebooting your computer altogether.
Anti-Social is made to block over 30 social networking sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Hulu and Reddit. You can also add any other sites that tend to pull you away from your work. Are you a secret Amazon shopper? A fantasy football roster-checker? Add these sites to your blocked list to have them blocked as well.
Operating System: Mac and Windows
Cost: $15 (with a 90-day money-back guarantee)
2. Concentrate
Okay, let’s say that most of the time, Facebook and Twitter are a horrible distraction for you. But when you’re doing social media management for your blog, they’re kind of necessary. Concentrate allows you to select which applications and sites are allowed and which are off-limits based on the task you’re doing. It even goes the extra mile by opening up necessary applications for you.
Let’s say that when you write, you need to access Word, your favorite online thesaurus site (we all use them in a pinch), and Pandora for a little background music. So, when you launch your “writing” action (for whatever time limit you allocate), Concentrate will open a Word doc for you (either a new one or one you’ve already saved), open up your thesaurus site and launch Pandora for you. It can also block out everything else, set your chat status to “away” and give you special messages and alerts to keep you on task.
Operating System: Mac
Cost: 60-day free trial, then $29 (with money-back guarantee)
3. Focus Booster
This app is specifically based on the pomodoro technique, a time management system that breaks tasks down into timed blocks separated by short breaks. Since its creation in the ‘80s, the technique has been done most often with kitchen timers; Focus Booster is its digital extension.
According to the rules of the technique, the app breaks your tasks down into 25-minute sessions (“pomodoros”), each followed by a five-minute break. After four pomodoros, you take a longer, 15- to 20-minute break.
This technique aims to keep your mind refreshed and agile as you work. If you’re the type who would plug away for two straight hours until your eyes start to blur, this more regimented system could help provide you with a little more structure and rest time.
Systems: Mac and Windows. An online version is also available if you work across multiple computers or don’t want to download an app.
Cost: Free (for now). They‘re currently crowdfunding on Pozible to keep the app free as they add new features.
4. FocusWriter
Eliminate all the sidebars and notifications that tug at the periphery of your vision and really immerse yourself in your writing with this app, which turns your computer screen into the simplest, most distraction-free blank page possible.
You can choose various themes, from a totally gray screen with black writing, to a screen over a soothing background image, to a retro green-type-on-black look. Everything else, including the app’s own user interface, which you can access by mousing over the edge of the screen, is whisked out of sight and out of mind.
Features include timers and alarms, daily goals and (my personal favorite) genuine typewriter sound effects, if that helps get your inspiration flowing.
Systems: Mac, Windows and Linux
Cost: Free (with the option to donate if you so choose)
5. SelfControl
If you lack it yourself, SelfControl has it for you. Unlike other apps, this one will not allow you to get out of your predetermined timed sessions — not even by rebooting your computer or deleting the application itself. If hardcore discipline is called for, this is about as strict as it gets.
Systems: Mac, Windows and Linux
Cost: Free (with option to donate)
6. StayFocused
Aimed at websites only, but highly customizable within that area, StayFocused limits the amount of time you can spend on certain sites. You decide how many minutes per day you’re allowed to access your guilty pleasure sites, and once you’ve hit your limit, the site is blocked for the rest of the day.
Not only can you block websites, you can also block subdomains, specific pages on certain sites, distracting in-page content like videos and images or the entire Internet itself. Better yet? If you try sneaking back on (you know, just to make sure the app is working), you’ll be guilt-tripped by a message asking, “Shouldn’t you be working?”
System: Google Chrome extension
Cost: Free (with option to donate)
7. Time Out and 8. SmartBreak
For those on the opposite side of the focus spectrum — workaholics who work too much for too long — these apps will remind you to take a break once in awhile.
Time Out reminds you by gently dimming the screen and showing you a message. You can take normal breaks (10 minutes after 50 minutes of work) or micro breaks (short pauses of 10 seconds every 10 minutes if you’re really doing something stressful). Once the break is over, your screen fades back in, and you can get back to work.
SmartBreak is aimed more at the ergonomic benefits of break-taking. Rather than using set break periods, it actually monitors the amount of work you’re doing (are you typing away like a fiend, or just pecking?) and reminds you to take a break based on when it thinks you need it. While this could get disruptive if you’re just looking to take breaks now and then, it’s great if you suffer from the repetitive stress injuries, back and neck pain, and eye strain that come from long hours in front of a computer.
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Systems: Mac (Time Out); Windows (SmartBreak)
Cost: Free (Time Out) (with option to donate) ; $19.95 (SmartBreak) ($5 discount if you share or tweet about the app)
9. Sound Curtain and 10. White Noise
These are both mobile apps, but the idea behind them is a great one. While other apps focus on blocking out visual distractions and computer applications that can drain your focus, these smartphone apps help block out the distractions of a noisy work environment. It’s best if you have a headset to really get the full effect.
Sound Curtain masks noise with white noise and harmonic sounds — and if you have a mic on your headset, it will automatically adjust its volume, pitch and tone according to the level of noise around you.
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White Noise mimics the sound of an untuned TV from back in the day when we still had static channels — not so jarringly that it’s a distraction in itself, but more as a means of absorbing ambient noise and “insulating” your mind.
Systems: iPhone (Sound Curtain); Android (White Noise)
Cost: $4.99 (Sound Curtain); Free (White Noise)
Did we miss any good ones? Share your favorites in the comments!
Self Control for Study
#1 FocusNow
FocusNow is an amazing app that assists its users in overcoming dilly dally. The focusing functions being offered by FocusNow makes the people outstanding. This simple to use app assist its users in overcoming all kind of distractions and getting rid of bad habits of using a smartphone or any specific application all the time. By these means, FocusNow makes it possible for its users to stay focus on their work, study and other activities all the time. With this, you will be outstanding in your workplace, school, group and in all those places where you work with others. With this application, you can even set daily goals and good habits to learn as well. It will assist you in deciding and conducting habits on time. The habit formation of this app will even make you able to get rid of usage of app blocker apps because you will become habitual of staying focused all the time.
#2 Forest
Forest is the best cure for the smartphone addiction. Forest is designed for those people who want to get a target or want to complete a task and for this purpose want to keep their smartphone away from them but cannot do so. Forest will force them to not use their smartphones at all while doing the important work. In case you are unable to put complete effort and attention in the work you are doing then Forest is an application that will keep you focused all the time. The main features of using this app are that it keeps the people self-motivated in an interesting way. It allows them to stay focused all the time to do the big things. It is a way to turn the focused time into a lovely forest. It will also allow you to manage your tags and view the detailed statistics of how you have allocated your precious time.
#3 Zero Willpower
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Zero Willpower is a native blocker that blocks the distracting websites on demand of its users. For those smartphone users who are highly addictive of using the internet from their smartphone and are unable to focus more on a specific task then Zero Willpower is an application that will assist them in getting the task done within stipulated time. By default, you will get the list of top rated websites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and several other websites that waste the time of the people. If you are using any specific website that is not in the list, then you can add that particular website to the list of blocked websites as well. It’s time to avoid procrastination and regain productivity and complete the tasks on time to make the life more accomplished than before. After installing and launching the app, simply open the browser and define the websites that you don’t want to visit for a particular period.
#4 Freedom
The world of internet has opened the new doors of opportunities for use but at the same time is making our life complex as well. We are not focused towards our goals because it is distracting us by many means. But don’t worry now there are some apps that will force you to shorten the usage of the internet while doing important task either making any presentation or assignment. Freedom is such kind of app that stops all kind of distractions by the PC, smartphone and tablet devices. Freedom is one of the leading social media, websites and app blocker application that make it users able to block the websites and apps on their devices just to make the work more productively. By this way, you can easily get the work done and block whatever you want whenever you want and can be more productive than before.
More About Self Control for Study
This distraction removing app allows the smartphone users to block their own access to the smartphone usage for a preset length of time. This simple working application allows the smartphone users to reduce the intemperate use of the mobile devices. It is the best means for overcoming over the habit of being a procrastinator. Self Control for Study enables its users to way away from the smartphone addiction for a specified period by blocking the apps just to remain to be the focus and productive little more. With that means Self Control for Study assists its users in achieving the desired the goals within set time. Self Control for Study comes in both paid and free version. Self Control for Study free version is ad containing that can cause a distraction. Self Control for Study paid is the ad-free version of the application for staying distraction free.