Stay Focused With The Beautifully Simple Vivo
Vivo · Need to focus? (Free) by Will Flagello is a simple, gesture based iPhone app that increases your productivity by reminding you to stay focused.
Whether you need to study or finish developing an app it's harder than ever to stay on task.
With constant notifications and an unlimited amount of information only clicks away it's always tempting to take a five minute break. The issue is these five minute breaks often last much longer.
This became such an issue for one man that he hired someone to slap him when his focus was drifting. Vivo tackles the problem with a less extreme approach.
If you're about to take on a task and know you need to to stay in the zone, Vivo will remind you to stay focused at certain time intervals. You might want to tell Vivo to remind you to stay focused every five minutes if you're you're constantly getting the itch to watch a quick video on YouTube or check your Twitter feed.
If you're less easily distracted you can increase the interval length to a maximum of 30 minutes. Timing is vital as you want to get reminders when you're aimlessly browsing the Web and not when you're actually being productive.
Vivo's design is beautifully simple. Instead of cramming the app with features it simply does what it's supposed to. Gestures are used to navigate the app. You swipe left and right to set the interval length and up or down to turn the notifications on or off. It really is that simple.
My only real complaint with Vivo is the reminder can get a little repetitive. A custom message might be more effective. Instead of the default "Hi Cap! Need to refocus?" a message saying "Keep studying! There are only two days left until your last exam!" might be more motivating. Even a revolving set of random messages would be better than seeing the same one over and over again.
Other than that, Vivo does exactly what it says on the box and it does it very well. If you're struggling to stay focused, Vivo is definitely worth checking out.
You can get Vivo for iPhone for free in the App Store.
