New app posts reminders to stay on a task

Macoscope has released Focusbar 1.0 for Mac, a new productivity app that provides a small reminder bar for any activity the user enters. The bar then makes reappearances at random intervals, and when a user switches windows. It helps focus the user on a single task, and alerts the user when he or she is about to go off-task.

Studies have shown that although most people think they can "multi-task" well, in fact attempting to do so generally makes people less efficient and more prone to error, along with reducing their ability to learn new information as well as generating more stress. The ability to concentrate is under-valued in many fields, and the popularity of "single-focus" writing applications that blot out other parts of the screen in favor of just the page one needs to work on speaks to the desire to get back to being able to fully focus on the task at hand.

Focusbar requires Mac OS X 10.6.6. It sells on the Mac App Store for $1.

by MacNN Staff