Do you catch yourself opening social media apps out of habit? Maybe you’d rather finish playing that fun new game than concentrate on your to-do list? Getting side-tracked is normal, but it can hurt your productivity. One sec helps you cut down on distractions and find your focus.
Get to know One sec: One sec intervenes when you try to open a selected app by asking you to take a deep breath. This gives you the opportunity to think about whether you really want to open it. One sec tracks your progress, so you can see how often you wanted to open an app – and how much time you saved because you didn’t.
Improve your tomorrow: One sec has the potential to create long-term habits that improve your focus. Founder Frederik Riedel conducted a study alongside the Max Planck Institute and the University of Heidelberg that found that by deliberately opening a certain app, participants lost interest in it over time.
“One sec can make you use an app up to 57 per cent less,” Riedel tells us. That’s time that you can instead use to focus on important things, such as connecting with family and friends, moving more or concentrating on self-care.
Meet the creator
‣ Developer: Frederik Riedel
‣ Hub: Berlin, Germany
‣ Mission: Delay opening distracting apps and websites to help you find a healthy balance with technology.
‣ How it started: In the first lockdown of 2020, Riedel spent too much time on social media and found there was no tool that could help him reduce his usage.
‣ One sec emoji: 🐻❄️
Tip: You can configure One sec so that it’s only active during your working hours. And if you add entries to the calendar app Structured, you can sync it with One sec to stop distractions when you’ve something in the diary.