Focus Bear
p/focus-bear
Block Distractions. Build Habits. For ADHDers by ADHDers.
Chris Messina
Late No More — Never be late again, built by a team with ADHD
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Being late sucks. Most calendar apps don't give notifications that stand out to ADHD brains. Late No More gives notifications that escalate in intensity as it gets closer to the start time. If you ignore the popups, you'll get verbal alerts (or a song).
Replies
Jeremy Nagel
I built Late No More because being late for meetings was becoming very problematic for me (I got fired from a job because of it). I have ADHD and it’s way too easy for me to see a notification for a calendar appointment, space out and then forget about the meeting for five minutes. Sometimes I hit Dismiss instead of Snooze and never show up to the meeting at all. My experience is that most calendar apps aren’t built for an ADHD brain like mine. I decided to build a Mac app that would help me and hopefully other people show up on time. Late-No-More gives you notifications that make sense. A notification 15 minutes before to remind you to prepare: this one is easy to dismiss A notification 2 minutes before to remind you to actually join the dang meeting - this one is not easy to dismiss ‍ As the time gets closer to the meeting, the notification gets more and more obnoxious. It changes colour and starts playing annoying motivating sound effects. The goal is to get you to join the meeting 2 minutes early. Once you’re in the meeting, the app asks you to set an intention - what do you want to learn/share during this meeting? I’ve gotta admit that not only am I frequently late for meetings, I’m also frequently multitasking/distracting. Reflecting on it, what’s the point of showing up for the meeting if I’m not going to be there mentally as well? I’ve started declining invites to irrelevant meetings with 50 people in them. If the purpose of the meeting is for me to absorb information, I’d rather listen back to the recording at 2x speed. ‍For the meetings that I do choose to attend, I want to give them my full attention: camera on, no other apps, listening intently. That’s really hard for my brain but it’s not impossible. It starts with aligning my motivation: why do I want to show up for the meeting? Hopefully it’s an engaging meeting. If not, that’s ok - I can treat it as an opportunity to train my focus muscle and use the tactics that work for me - clearing distractions from my desk, taking notes and sometimes playing with a fidget toy if I need to (“Busy hands, quiet mind” right?).
Mallory Musallam
@jeremy_nazgul my maan. This sounds awesome. I love that the adhd community is getting more and more love.
orliesaurus
Launching soon!
I love it, I am definitely in the audience for this. Curious, how did you find building a desktop app and what was your experience testing it to find bugs?
Jeremy Nagel
@orliesaurus we've been building other desktop apps (focusbear.io - distraction blocking) so had some experience there. For testing, I used it myself for 2 months to iron out bugs.
Jason Dainter
Apple watch app for this is essential. Do you have one, or plans?
Soroush Pour
Fantastic idea! I need this, will be sure to download and give it a go.
Brittany Joiner {Britt the Builder}
I was looking at this and thought- hey wait that looks like focus bear!! is this separate from focus bear, or do i just need to update? I love the 15 minute and 2 minute reminder - because i always forget within 10 minutes 😂
Jeremy Nagel
@britt_joiner lol yup complementary. We built this so we can do calendar integration with Focus Bear. If you install Late No More, you can trigger activities in Focus Bear at certain times by including fbtrigger:{activity_name} in the event description. (We'll make it easier to set it up later)
Carlos Alberto Dominguez
I started reading the description and then lost focus, (navigated to other things) … came across the article a second time in inbox and downloaded app 😂… need to get it together.
Jeremy Nagel
@carlos_alberto_dominguez haha story of my life. I've set up a tab limit in Focus Bear (max 10 tabs) to reduce the potential for this.
Karla Fernández
Hey @jeremy_nazgul! I just shared your product with my husband as he has severe AHDH and is not only late to meetings but any appointment, date, you name it. We both laughed but agreed it is so needed. Also, loved the name! Congrats on the launch! ✨🚀
Jeremy Nagel
@kfernandz oh cool hope he finds it as helpful as I've found it. Would love his feedback on Focus Bear as well - it helps block distractions.
Vlad Zivkovic
Nice idea. Congratulations on your launch! 🚀
Naomi Chao
Hmmm....looks intriguing. Love the promo video and the bear is pretty cute. Just joined the waitlist for the Windows version ;)
Paul Pamfil
Hah, why didn't I had this earlier, this is looking very promising. Congrats!
Jeremy Nagel
@paul_pamfil @fam_socialfinance lol yeah this was meant to launch three months ago 😅
Rana Phool
Wow! Late No More looks like a great way to stay on top of appointments and events!
neal chan
prefer the name "Delay no more"
Jeremy Nagel
@neal_chan can you tell me more about why you prefer Delay No More?
sushil
Love the idea of yours. Excited to see how this app is going to be in the future.
Grant Oganyan
Looks fun! Only wish it was extended beyond just meetings. Congrats on the launch!
Jeremy Nagel
@grantogany what other things would you want it to remind you of?
Grant Oganyan
@jeremy_nazgul I would prefer it to be customizable, so I could use the same app for my general reminders on the mac. Also, we just launched Finale To Do, and I would appreciate your input!
Yash
Interesting concept, all the best!
Buse Başar
I think the application would be much more practical if it were. Good luck 🤝
Jeremy Nagel
@buse_basar if it were?
Amartya Singh
Another great launch Jeremy, 🙌 !!!
Max T.Pham
Loved the intro, Jeremy, it genuinely made me laugh! Congrats on launching Late No More, an innovative solution for those of us prone to distraction. Keep up the inspiring work!
Jeremy Nagel
@maxtpham hehe thanks I had fun recording the video with my friend
Peyt Spencer Dewar
Congrats on launching! Saw a previous iteration was in beta for iOS. What's the status?
Jeremy Nagel
@psd Late No More is only on Mac right now. Our other product, Focus Bear (distraction blocker + morning routines), is cross platform - still beta on iOS though (hopefully it will get approved by Apple soon so we can get off TestFlight).
Nuno Reis
Oh wow this seems quite interesting! I can imagine some people would be annoyed, but here's the good thing. You didn't build this for everyone, you buiilt it for those who need it, and that is amazing! Congrats on the launch! :D
Jeremy Nagel
@nuno_ms_reis haha true. It's annoying if you don't have a problem with being punctual and helpful if you do.