Your attention is being sold despite being of such value to you. In fact, more and more elements have come up that benefit from getting or selling the attention of common people. Social media, news, and games are the most common example of this.
Thus, being distracted has become our “normal” state of operating. Yet it is also true that what you sow is what you reap. If you keep consuming crap all day while being distracted, it is a no-brainer that you won’t achieve much in the day.
But if we were to ask you what is the one thing you can control to see a huge improvement in your focus? It is your phone. Isn’t it the elephant in the room that is your biggest source of distractions?
Thus, on your phone, the rest will start to fall into place. The Forest app will help you with that. Let us at Insiderbits show you how.
Forest: App Overview and Features
Your mind is referred to as a garden in a lot of personal development books. What you sow in the garden (aka mind) shall you reap. Sow the right things and your garden will blossom. But bring in weeds and they tither away its elegance.
The Forest app works on this simple concept. Here you have to plant a tree as you start to do something important (like studying, work, etc). Your sapling will grow as long as you don’t go away from this app. But it withers away if you get distracted and start using other apps.
Within no time you will have a garden sprawling with various trees (depicting the state of your mind). Thus, Forest uses the power of visualization to give you a higher motivation to stay focused.
Features:
- Earn coins – The more you stay focused on the Forest app, the more you will earn coins. You can then redeem them to unlock more species of trees and white sounds and even plant real trees.
- White noise – To support you during your focusing time, it has a set of soothing sounds that act as a focus enhancer.
- 2 modes – It has a timer mode and a stopwatch mode to cater to various needs. Timer mode lets you set a specific duration you want to focus on, facilitating commitment. Stopwatch mode is useful to squeeze in more focus time with the flexibility to start anytime and anywhere.
- Statistics – Track how much you have improved your focus with this app and find patterns in your behavior. The stats get much more detailed if you are a premium user.
The Forest app has much more to offer for its paid users. Thankfully, you only need to make a one-time payment to unlock its premium features such as blocking apps, achievements, leaderboard, and more.
4.7/5
Forest: Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Affordable – iOS users will have to pay an upfront fee of $3.99 to download the app with premium features unlocked (no free version). Android users can use Forest for free with an option to upgrade at a one-time fee of only $1.99.
- Also available on PC and Mac – Forest is available on PC and Mac via Chrome extensions. Thus, you can stay away from distractions no matter the device you are using.
- Plant real trees – Rejoice environmental enthusiasts! Forest plants real trees on your behalf (if you are a paid user) for a certain amount of coins earned via focusing. As of this writing, it has planted over 1.6 million trees.
However, due to budget constraints, one user can only plant up to 5 real trees.
Cons:
- Limited free value – The difference between its free and paid version is immense. If you are using it for free, you will get only a fraction of the value it has to offer. But its affordable plan makes it easy for anyone to upgrade.
- Platform restrictions – The premium version unlocked in Android will work only for Android devices and vice-versa. That means you will need to buy Android and iOS versions separately if you ever switch to the other platform.
How to Download and Use This App
Step 1: Click any of the below links to go to the Google Play Store/App Store and download the app.
Step 2: Open the app and it will take on an introductory ride with a slideshow. Click on “Start planting” at the end of it
Step 3: (Optional) Choose the focus mode – timer or stopwatch.
Step 4: (Optional) Tap on the tree to select the species you want to plant and the tag (work, sport, rest, study, etc.)
Step 5: Tap on “Plant” to get started. Watch your plant grow as you stay focused. A grown tree will be added to your garden showing you of your earlier performance.
4.7/5
Related: Boost Your Productivity With These 5 Apps For Focusing
Conclusion
Forest is one of the best investments you can make to live a more focused and productive life. With its affordable premium version, anyone can use it to the fullest to make it their go-to productivity tool. So, try this app and we promise, you won’t regret it.
