Sit down to work. Check e-mails. Get a “new reply” notification on Reddit. Four hours later, emerge from your computer wondering what happened to the last four hours of your life. Rinse and repeat. If this seems familiar, you’re likely to have ADHD — or just a hard time focusing. One possible solution is using app blockers, and Atten is a great one, available on iOS and macOS.
Atten: the anti-ADHD App Blocker
With Atten, you can set up intervals during which some websites and apps can’t be used. If you open any of them, they get blocked by a message (on iOS), or simply close automatically (on macOS).
There are, obviously, situations where you have a legitimate reason to access one of the blocked apps or pages. Also, you will need to take the occasional break, and there’s no reason to limit what you can do then.
For these cases, Atten has programmable breaks. You open the app and request a break, then your iPhone, iPad, or Mac can be used freely — for some time. You can set up in the app how many breaks you can take and how long they last. There’s also a configurable “cooldown”, the minimum time between breaks, to help you resist the temptation.
Isn’t This Exactly What Screen Time Does?
In parts, yes. However, Atten is way more customizable than Screen Time, while at the same time being more strict.
Screen Time is a great app blocker if you want to limit your children’s usage on macOS and iOS. It doesn’t work so well, however, if you want to limit your own procrastination.
For starters, you can pause the blocks as needed. You also have the option to disable Screen Time entirely for a whole day. Lastly, setting it up to only block some apps and websites, instead of nearly everything on your phone, is confusing.
If you want a higher degree of freedom — and have enough self-discipline to afford that — Atten has a “loose” mode. By default, you can take as many breaks as you want, and change the settings with the blocking schedule active.
The “break limits” mode allows you to fine-tune the quantity, duration, and cooldown for your breaks. Lastly, for those who need to be severely limited, there’s the strict mode, that simply allows no breaks. The last two modes can’t have their settings changed, or be switched to a less restrictive mode, while active.
Using the Atten App Blocker in iOS and macOS
The macOS and iOS versions of Atten work the same: the app acts as a blocker for websites and apps. You can even sync schedules between your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, to be kept from cheating by using other devices.
Setting Up Atten on macOS
Time needed: 10 minutes
Before using Atten on macOS or iOS, you need to set up the app blocker. Here’s how to do that on a Mac:
- When first opened, Atten will ask the location of your browser — specifically, Google Chrome. I wasn’t able to make it work with Firefox, so be warned that the app has some limitations.
- After that, you can create a new block schedule. If you have used Atten on other devices, the schedules you configured in them will be available in the list.
- Click the schedule card to open its settings. You’ll be able to define weekdays, hours, and which apps and websites will be blocked during that period.
- After clicking Create Block List, a new dialog will appear, allowing you to select what to block. Remember that, for now, browser support for macOS is limited.
- Blocking apps is easier. Click Select Apps, check which apps you want to block, and click the X button. Click Save on the previous dialog, then Save again on the schedule setup dialog, and you’re good to go.
Setting Up Atten on iOS
To block websites, Atten is way more effective on iOS and iPadOS than on macOS. Check below:
- The first time you open Atten, it will present some statistics and ask a few questions. You’ll be able to choose your primary objective, set your age, and select three apps that hurt your focus more.
- Don’t worry about the number of apps, you can add more when setting up Atten. On the home screen, tap on the preconfigured schedule to change its options.
- Select the block mode, break duration and quantity, and cooldown duration.
- When you try to open an app or use a website that is blocked, you’ll see a message. Take a break — which can be shorter than the maximum, if you wish — to open the blocked apps and websites. They’ll close again automatically once the break ends.
It’s a scientific consensus that procrastination is not caused by laziness. If it was, we wouldn’t feel guilt and shame when we procrastinate. Because the causes are complex, so are the solutions, which may vary for each person.
If Atten’s approach isn’t for you, others may work wonders. One possible solution is Halt, which uses a kind of emotional blackmail to keep you out of social media. Halt, however, is an iOS-only solution, because there’s no macOS version of the app blocker.