What is ‘monk mode’, and how can you find it?

In our tech-saturated lives, it can be hard to focus on a single task without multiple notifications tugging at our attention every other second.

A true mindfulness app, One Sec forces you to take a deep breath whenever you open distracting apps.

Its premise is simple: ‘You will reduce your social media usage just by becoming aware of it.’

Targeting mindless social media doomscrolling, One Sec is designed to change your habits on a long-term basis by making users aware of them, forcing you to stop and think for a moment before diving into an app.

The basis of achieving monk mode is removing distractions and Freedom promises to do just that.

Calling itself the ‘toughest website blocker on the internet’, Cold Turkey is on the extreme side of cutting out distractions.

This website blocker, designed for studying or focusing on work, blocks distractions like social media, games, apps, Youtube or even the entire Internet.

So once you set the timer, you have no choice but to get on with your work – or face staring blankly at the empty screen. 

You can either pay the one-time fee of £29 to gain full access to all the features, or use the free version that gives you the basic timed website blocking functions.

5. Forest

Another app with a novel approach to productivity, Forest turns staying focused into a game by letting you plant a cedar or an oak and watch it grow while you work.

Whenever you want to enter monk mode, you plant a tree on the app. Your tree will grow while you focus on your work – but leaving the app halfway to check other apps will result in your tree dying.

The more consistent you are in staying focused daily, you will eventually end up with a lush forest to show for it.

Great for people who work better with visual cues, it’s a rewarding app that even lets you plant real trees with virtual coins you can buy on the app.

Forest is available to download for free on the Google Play Store and on the Apple App Store for £3.99.