TimeChi keeps you focused

An Australian start-up has launched a gadget that gives users a break from digital distractions.

TimeChi blocks notifications and social media sites that make you go into browsing mode and lose focus on productivity.

An Australian start-up has launched a product that gives users a break from digital distractions and is designed to make us laser focussed.

That we need a gadget to help us concentrate sitting before a computer says something about the age we live in.

TimeChi is not about giving you a digital detox away from the internet. Rather, it eliminates your exposure to distractions online including social media so that you can deal with the tasks at hand. It can also serve as a cue to your work colleagues to give you a break.

TimeChi says its device blocks all notifications and social media sites that make you go into browsing mode and lose focus.

“Simply sync the TimeChi device with your mobile and computer, enter the list of websites you’d like to block while you’re working, and let TimeChi take care of the rest,” TimeChi says on its website.

“Initiate a focus period on your TimeChi device and the app will immediately mute all notifications and block all distracting websites.

“When the focus period ends and a break starts, the app unmutes and unblocks notifications and websites so you can relax and browse away.

“Don’t worry about getting sucked back into the vortex of endless distractions, though. The device also reminds you to take regular breaks, so you can find your balance and refocus when it’s time to get back to work.”

TimeChi founders James Virtue and Sean Greenhalgh

The TimeChi device consists of an internet-connected hardware device that looks a bit like a personal assistant.

Co-founder Sean Greenhalgh says he thought of the idea at his previous job as a product manager. “I was getting distracted a lot, not only from people who are trying to socialise around me, but also because I spent way too much time online going to like Facebook, YouTube, things like that when I was supposed to be working.” He says it helps him be more productive.

But how does TimeChi work?

“We get you into a methodology called time boxing,” he says. “The most popular is the Pomodoro method where you split your day into 25 minutes of focus work and five minutes of breaks.

“When you press the button, it starts you on this timing session. But in the background, it‘s actually a Wi-Fi connected device that sends a signal up to our cloud platform onto an app on your phone and computer and even browser plugins that basically say that now is your focus period,” he says.

“It creates what we call a focus scene, and it’s muting your phone or putting you on ‘Do Not Disturb’ on Slack, and blocking you from going to YouTube, Facebook or Twitter.”

The TimeChi start-up team. Picture: Supplied.

So you can do that if a user gives permission, you can actually have the access to do those things.

Mr Greenhalgh said his team originally sought to build this with software only, but reverted to a hardware device of TimeChi which could also provide a signal to others within the physical office that he needed space.

“After we started doing some research, we realised that it being a physical device, it meant that it ended up acting like a ‘Do Not Disturb” indicator for all the people around you. It actually gives a time period when they‘ll be available and when to come back.”

He says he didn’t want to create it as a mobile phone app. “Having it on your mobile phone, it becomes a temptation when you try and go into it, that you have suddenly all of your notifications put right in front of you, which makes it very difficult to try and avoid. It (using a phone app) is literally like putting the drug in front of the addict.”

TimeChi launched last night (Monday July 20) in Australia.

The TimeChi device is available to pre-order from crowdfunding site indiegogo.com and the early-bird pricing is $US59 with free lifetime use. Device cost will increase over time and users who join later will need to pay a $US9.99 per month subscription cost.