Block Apps While Studying
The syllabus says three hours of reading; the group chat says otherwise. Studying with an unlocked phone is an unfair split-attention tax — here's the setup that pays it off for a whole semester.
Build your Study preset once
- In Anchor's Focus tab, create a preset named Study.
- Shield the categories that eat sessions — Social, Games, Entertainment — and any personal weakness apps individually.
- Leave the tools unblocked: notes, flashcards, calculator, the browser you research with. Blocking by selection, not blanket, is what makes it livable.
- Add the shadow websites of whatever you blocked — the mobile feed is the classic library loophole.
From now on, sitting down to study is: open Anchor, tap Start Focus, begin. The live timer keeps the session honest.
Automate the predictable hours
For blocks you can see coming, skip the tap entirely with schedules:
- Class hours — a weekday schedule matching your timetable, so lectures aren't spent half-elsewhere.
- Your standing library slot — same shield, same time, zero decisions.
- Exam-season evenings — a temporary daily 7–10 p.m. schedule; delete it after finals, guilt-free.
- The night before — an overnight block so the 1 a.m. wind-down scroll doesn't cost the morning's recall.
Work with your brain, not against it
- Breaks are legal. Anchor's sessions are open-ended — study in 50/10 rhythms and take real breaks (walk, water) rather than feed breaks. Ending early takes a 5-second countdown: enough to ask “actually done, or just bored?”
- Check the scoreboard weekly: Insights shows whether study-hour pickups are trending down — the number that predicts grades better than total screen time.
- Skip Today, honestly: quiz done early, plans with friends — skip the schedule for the day instead of silently disabling it forever. Systems with valves survive semesters.
The group-chat clause: if messaging must stay open (labs, group projects), keep messages unblocked but shield everything else social. Most of the pull is the feed, not the conversation.
Make the library hours count
One Study preset, class-hour schedules, honest friction. Free to try.
FAQ
How do I block distractions but keep the apps I study with?
Shield the distraction categories; leave notes, flashcards and browser untouched. Selection, not blanket.
Should I use focus sessions or schedules for studying?
Schedules for predictable hours; the Study preset + one tap for ad-hoc sessions.
What stops me from just ending the session?
A 5-second countdown — friction that turns reflex into decision.