Music
Music and focus
Users spent 21.1% less time on distractions when listening to music. This correlation held through time of day, type of work, and type of distraction.
Music
Might Help
46 Behaviors Examined
Behaviors & Tips
We searched volunteers' screen time for habits linked to distraction. Here are some quick highlights.
Night Owls vs Early Birds
Time of Day Matters
Users spent almost twice (91%) as much time distracted during their least vs most focused time of day. Aligning work with high-focus hours may reduce distracted time (intervention studies needed).
Early Bird
Most Productive Time
Notifications
Slack interruptions
Users spent 14.1% more time on distractions after checking business chat apps, and 5.3% more after checking email.
Slack
Interruptions
Recovery
Get Offline During Breaks
Users focused better when they took breaks offline. In the hour after returning, users spent 19.6% less time on distractions after an offline break vs a break spent scrolling.
Offline Breaks
Work Better
Distraction
Social Media is by far the most used distraction
67.4% of distracted time was spent on social media. Video streaming was next, then chat, news, gaming, and sports sites.
Social Media
Most Used Distraction
1,065 Apps & Sites Analyzed
Software & Focus
The software you use may influence your focus. We compared apps and sites by distracted time.
Desktop vs Web Apps
Users focused better on desktop apps than web apps.
Overall, users spent 15% more time on distractions when using web apps vs desktop apps.
Products that ship both desktop and web versions make the cleanest comparison. The table below shows productive screen time when using desktop vs web versions of common software.
Software Head-to-Heads
Some apps may be more focusing than others.
We compared distracted time across writing, coding, design, and project management apps. Where a product ships both desktop and web apps, we combined the two, weighted by tracked time.
Take results with a grain of salt. Sample sizes are small, not all apps share identical responsibilities, and correlation is not causation. As we gather more data, we hope to offer similar insights with greater confidence.
Productivity Apps
We monitored software intended to improve focus. Here are the types that performed best.
01
Virtual Coworking
02
Pomodoro Apps
03
Focus Music
Apps such as Endel, Brain.fm, and Focus.music play music designed to maximize focus. When used, volunteers spent 31% less time on distractions.
From limited data: coaching apps, single-tasking apps, screen time trackers, break reminder apps, and streak apps showed no significant reduction in distracted time. This may change as our data grows.
4,435 Activations Evaluated
Most Effective Tools
Hundreds of apps claim to reduce online distraction. We measured how well they work.
Overview
We gave volunteers access to common anti-distraction tools. Then we tracked changes in time spent on distracting platforms.
How We Measured
We tracked time spent on the 347 most-used social media, streaming, gaming, chat, news, sports, and gossip platforms when each tool was enabled vs disabled.
Why Time Enabled Matters
A primary complaint against anti-distraction tools is that they replace one form of temptation with another: the temptation to disable the tool. Ensuring users resist the urge to disable anti-distraction tools is as important as their efficacy.
To measure effectiveness, we examined both distracted time reduced and percentage of time enabled. Results below are ranked by total time saved, which considers both metrics.
About the Tools
A brief overview of the tools we tested.
We tested five tool types: feed removers, grayscale mode, text only mode, site blockers, and blue light filters. Below are demonstrations of each tool, ranked by time saved.
01
Feed removers
70%
Time reduced59%
Time enabled643hrs
Time savedFeed removers hide scrollable walls and recommended content on social media. They were by far the most effective tool we tested, saving 12.1ร the distracted time of site blockers.
02
Grayscale mode
61%
Time reduced23%
Time enabled206hrs
Time savedGrayscale tools turn distracting sites black and white. They were surprisingly effective, largely due to substantially lower disabling rates than most solutions.
03
Text only mode
62%
Time reduced16%
Time enabled90hrs
Time savedText only mode strips images and videos from distracting platforms. Its impact was modest on social media due to low usage, but it showed value on news, gossip, and sports sites.
04
Site blockers
88%
Time reduced11%
Time enabled53hrs
Time savedSite blockers prevent access to distracting sites entirely. Usage rates averaged 11%, leaving them second-lowest in total time saved.
05
Blue light filters
3%
Time reduced2%
Time enabled1hrs
Time savedBlue light filters dull blue colors on distracting sites. In theory this reduces the pull of distractions, but users rarely enabled these tools and savings were modest.
The Math
Time reduced, time enabled, and how we calculate total time saved.
Time Reduced
The decrease in time spent on distracting platforms when a tool is enabled vs disabled.
Example
If a user spends 40% of their screen time on distractions when a tool is disabled, and only 20% when the tool is enabled, time reduced would be 50%.
Time Enabled
The percentage of screen time users keep each tool enabled.
Example
If a user has 100 hours of tracked screen time, and the tool is enabled for 35 of those hours, the tool's time enabled is 35%.
Total Time Saved
Time saved depends on both of the above: a tool has to cut distraction and stay enabled. For each distracting platform, we multiply the drop in its share of screen time by the hours the tool was enabled, then sum the results. Specifically:
ฮฃฯDoff,ฯSoff,ฯโDon,ฯSon,ฯรSon,ฯ
Dtime on distracting platformStotal screen timeฯdistracting platformontool enabledofftool disabled
Example
If a user spends 20% of their screen time on Instagram, and a tool cuts that figure to 5%, and the user keeps the tool enabled for 100 hours, it saves (20% โ 5%) ร 100 = 15 hours of distracted time on Instagram. Repeat for every platform and sum the results to get total time saved.
718 Work Apps Evaluated
Work & Procrastination
During work hours, volunteers spent 43% of their screen time on distractions. We examined links between work and focus.
Focus & Type of Work
Users spent almost twice as much time distracted on their lowest vs highest-focus type of work.
Furthermore, highest-focus categories varied substantially by user. Understanding individuals' highest-focus work types and assigning tasks accordingly may reduce distracted time.
01
How we measured
We sorted the 718 most-used work apps and sites into 20 work categories and measured average distracted time across each one.
02
The Results
The average user spent 1.92ร as much time on distractions when doing their least vs most focused type of work. For a full-time worker, that difference would amount to more than 1 workday per week of distracted time.
Minimizing work in users' lowest-focus categories may reduce distraction. Intervention studies are necessary to confirm.
Which Jobs Slack Off the Most?
For fun, we looked at distracted screen time by job. Somebody needs to report HR to HR.
(There are many confounding factors we didn't consider. Take with a grain of salt.)
About The Data
Methodology
How we collect, organize, and analyze the data behind this study.
How We Do It
ScreenLab combines a desktop app to track screen time, a browser extension to disable distractions online, and a web platform to analyze and present data. Here's how they work together.
Tracking the Data
Volunteers install a desktop app that tracks which app or website is frontmost on their machine.
Categorizing the Data
We sort the 1,065 most-used apps and websites into 35 categories, each classified as productive (e.g. business, creative, learning) or unproductive (e.g. social media, streaming, gaming).
Analyzing the Data
We use a variety of algorithms to find correlations between screen habits, tools, and distracted screen time.
Providing the Tools
We also provide access to common anti-distraction tools through a browser extension.
Analyzing the Tools
We track when volunteers enable and disable each tool, and how their screen habits differ between enabled and disabled periods.
Volunteer Your Screen Time
We need more data. If you're on Mac, join the study.
Currently Mac Only
You seem to be using an unknown OS. The full app is currently Mac only.
In the meantime, you're welcome to use ScreenLab Lite. It's free, no signup required, and provides access to our anti-distraction tools (but without the analytics).
01
10,000 hours is not enough
The insights above come from 10,000 hours of volunteer screen time. We want a million hours.
02
Help us collect data
If you're on Mac, you can help. Install ScreenLab and let it measure your screen time. Your activity isn't sold or shared with anyone.
03
What you get
Besides helping us, you'll get personalized insights into your own distraction, access to every anti-distraction tool we test, and data on what works best for you.