Light & focus · Guide
Run the free test first
Most focus purchases solve a problem the buyer has not identified. This takes 45 minutes and costs nothing.
The test
Pick one 45-minute block. Put your phone in a different room — not face down, not on silent, in another room. Work as normal. At the end, write down two things: how many times you reached for something that was not there, and whether you got more done.
Run it three days in a row before concluding anything. The first day is unrepresentative, because the novelty is doing some of the work.
What the result tells you
- Noticeably better — the phone was the problem, and no purchase will beat the room-away rule. Keep doing it. You are finished.
- No difference, and you were interrupted by people — the problem is other humans, which is a different fix. Keep reading.
- No difference, and you were interrupted by noise — see the noise guide, which sorts the three kinds.
- No difference at all — the problem is probably the work rather than the workspace. No gadget addresses that, and it is worth knowing before spending.
A meaningful number of people finish this test and buy nothing. That is the intended outcome, not a failed one.
If people are the interruption
A closed door invites a knock, because a closed door carries no information. The person outside has no way to tell whether you are on a call, deep in something, or free — so they knock to find out, which is the interruption you were trying to prevent.
A small light that shows red when you are busy answers the question before it gets asked. It works for the same reason the door does not: it is visible from outside and unambiguous.
Making it actually work
- Mount it where people are, in the hallway or on the outside of the door — not on your desk where only you can see it.
- Agree what it means with everyone in the house, once. A signal nobody has agreed to is just a light.
- Turn it off when you are free. A light that is always red gets ignored within a week, and then you are back to knocking.
What not to buy
Focus apps that lock you out of websites solve the phone problem you already solved for free in the test above. Pomodoro timers are a free function on every device you own. Neither is a bad idea; neither needs to be a purchase.
What we'd buy
Only relevant if the test showed people, not the phone, are the interruption.
A USB busy light
The value is in being visible from the hallway and agreed on by the household, not in the integrations. A simple manual one is enough.
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