The pandemic has changed the way we work permanently and that is a lot to adjust to overnight! Right from managing your work from home set up, ensuring that you are not disturbed during calls, probably sharing your space with others, and also doing chores – it is the several tiny things that pile up high enough to tower over your productivity which is even more fragile given the crisis we are all going through. Fun fact: an average employee gets distracted at least 56 times a day and now that we have our pets and Netflix around work, distraction counts are on the rise. TimeChi is a smart tool that can help us sail through those endless Zoom calls and Slack pings! Productivity is a flexible skill, you can continue to develop and master it just the way you exercise and build up your fitness. A study shows that 80% of our disturbances are trivial and can be avoided with awareness. TimeChi is a compact desk gadget that takes care of one of the biggest distractions we all face – it blocks digital notifications from IM or your smartphone, time-wasting websites, and physical interruptions! That itself could save up to two hours from my day and I actually tested it out by putting timers on my apps to see how it would reduce my screen time during work hours. It takes 11 minutes to get your focus and attention back and while it is so tempting to see what meme your friend sent or to play a 15-second game with the filter, it unknowingly makes your day longer and eventually pushes your work into your personal time which right now is more precious than ever. “The app + device combo empowers you to reach your productivity potential, facilitate meaningful team collaborations, and boost creativity with a simple click on the TimeChi device,” says the team. TimeChi is built around the widely used Pomodoro technique and timeboxing. It puts these two tried and tested productivity hacks into one smart, connected device. I am a personal fan of the Pomodoro timer, you sit with a task for 25 minutes at a time with 5-minute breaks in the middle of each task. One cycle of a 25-minute task and a 5-minute break equals one Pomodoro, after you finish four Pomodoros you can take a 15-minute break. TimeChi uses a bright traffic light display that makes it clear even in your peripheral vision or to those sharing your space that you’re in the middle of a deep-work session, this also helps set those focus boundaries during work hours and tells them when you will be taking a break so they can come back. The personal gadget is also fully customizable, it works for students and professionals to set the focus periods and track their performance on the personalized TimeChi dashboard. We can all use a digital timeout after the last few months of digital overload! Designer: TimeChi