The Alarms & Clock app in Windows 11 includes a feature called Focus Sessions, which is a built-in productivity tool. This feature can help you be more productive and efficient. This article will show you how to use it effectively.
AndroidStox regularly recommends third-party productivity apps for better focus, but now Windows 11’s Alarms & Clock app offers similar features through its Focus Sessions. The app allows you to set aside time for work that needs undisturbed focus. This is a great addition to the operating system, but there are some improvements that could be made. This article provides an overview of the Alarms & Clock app and how to use its Focus Sessions feature.
Introducing the Revamped Alarms & Clock Application.
Microsoft has taken a basic clock app and added more features to it. The clock app now includes not only a clock face, alarm, timer, and stopwatch, but also a feature called Focus Sessions. Microsoft is proud of this addition and has made Focus Sessions the main feature of the new clock app.
Before exploring Focus Sessions, let’s take a look at the other 4 features of the Alarms & Clock app – Timer, Alarm, Stopwatch, and World Clock.
Learn to Utilize Focus Sessions on Windows 11.
1. Start the Alarms & Clock app.
You may have to wait for it to update, as I did.
2. Select Get Started.
Select Get Started. Next you’ll see a dashboard-style screen.
3. Pick a number.
The app allows you to choose a focus session duration, with a minimum of 30 minutes. If you choose 30 minutes, there will be no breaks. For sessions longer than 30 minutes, the app will automatically schedule a 5-minute break in the middle. You can skip the break if desired, but taking breaks is important for productivity.
4. Customize your Settings.
The app has a Settings page that allows you to adjust notifications from other connected apps, but doing so takes you to the main Windows Settings where you change notifications for the entire system, not just for the app. This is not ideal and it would be better if you could adjust notifications only for the focus session. The Settings page doesn’t have the option to disable specified apps or clear the desktop of distracting icons.
5. Start working!.
You can start a focus session and the app will begin counting down the time using a shrinking circle to show how much time is left. You can easily interrupt the session at any time by pressing the Stop button. The Alarms & Clock app can also be minimized to a small tile in the top right corner of the screen for easy access.
6. Connect Spotify.
In short, you can connect Spotify with Focus Sessions and enjoy the app’s Deep Focus playlist and other related playlists along with your own playlists. Although you need to open the Spotify app to control it fully, you can still start and stop the music from the Focus Sessions tile. Once your focus session is over, the music stops abruptly, signaling that you can now move on to other activities.
7. Connect Microsoft To Do App.
Using Focus Sessions does not require logging into a Microsoft account, however, if you choose to log in, you can integrate it with Microsoft To Do. This integration lets you view your Microsoft To Do tasks in Focus Sessions and start a focus session directly from a task. Although ending a focus session does not automatically mark the task as completed, it can be easily marked manually. A prompt asking if you would like to mark the task as complete after ending the focus session would be beneficial.
8. Track your progress.
Focus Sessions is a continuous activity, monitored by the app. You can set a daily target for your Focus Sessions and track your progress through a Streak, which shows the number of consecutive days you achieved your goal.