If you are using the latest build of Windows 11, you might have already seen a new feature called Focus sessions. It is included in the Clock app, and it helps you focus on your work for a long time and stay productive. Here is how you can enable and use Focus sessions in Windows 11.
What is Focus sessions in Windows 11
Focus sessions is an Alarm & Clock integrated feature available in Windows 11’s latest build. This functionality helps you increase your productivity by following the Pomodoro technique. In other words, it lets you focus on a particular work, track the time spent on a specific job, take a break after a predefined time, etc.
It creates a dashboard as you continue to use this feature to find your upcoming tasks, daily goals, etc. The last but not the least thing is it allows you to synchronize your Spotify playlist, allowing you to listen to some music or podcast while working on a project.
How to enable and use Focus sessions in Windows 11
Enabling Focus sessions in Windows 11 is nothing complicated since you need to update to the latest build of Windows 11 and open the Alarm & Clock app on your computer. However, you need to learn how to set things up and use this functionality to increase your productivity.
To use Focus sessions in Windows 11, follow these steps:
- Open the Alarm & Clock app on Windows 11 PC.
- Ensure that you are in the Focus sessions tab.
- Click the Get started button.
- Click the Sign in button to log in to your Microsoft account.
- Create a task in the Tasks section you want to complete.
- Set the time from 15 minutes to 240 minutes.
- Click the Start focus sessions button.
To know more about the steps, keep reading.
At first, you need to open the Alarm & Clock app on your computer and ensure that you are in the Focus sessions tab. If not, click on the respective option on the left side. Following that, click the Get started button visible on the app window.
Then, it shows an interface, which may lack several options. To get the fully-functional Focus sessions, you need to click the Sign in button and enter your Microsoft account credentials to log in to your account.
Once done, you can find a window like this:
The first thing you need to do is to create a task you want to complete. For that, head over to the Tasks section and write down the tasks you want to complete. The important thing is that you need to place the most desired task at the top of the list.
Following that, check the section where it displays the time. You can set a time from 15 minutes to 240 minutes. This functionality lets you take a break after every 30 minutes. You can set the required time as per your wish by clicking the up and down arrows.
Once done, click on the Start focus session button.
Then, it starts a clock on your screen that you can follow. It shows when you need to take a break and for how much time. Although it is recommended, if you do not want to take a break and finish the task in one sitting, you can tick the Skip breaks checkbox before clicking the Start focus session button.
Once you reach the 30 minutes mark, it plays a notification sound, notifying you to take a break for 5 minutes.
As mentioned earlier, you can connect your Spotify account with Focus sessions. However, you must have the Spotify app installed on your computer to use this option.
The next big thing is that you can find your daily goals in the Daily progress panel. Here you can find how much time you work continuously, your longest streak, etc.
Read: How to Turn On/Off or Change Focus Session Alarm Sound
Settings and options of Focus sessions
Focus sessions offers a few options and settings to customize and manage improve the workflow. You can find the following options in the Settings panel of Focus sessions:
- Focus periods: You can set or change the default focus period and break period.
- Enable or disable end of session sound.
- Enable or disable end of break sound.
- Enable or disable Spotify
- Enable or disable To Do
- Set app theme
- Manage notifications
Add or remove items from Focus sessions
If you do not like to show a particular item such as Spotify, Tasks, or anything else, you can hide or remove them from the main interface. For that, you need to click on the three-dotted icon and select Collapse task list or Hide Spotify, etc., option.
Alternatively, you can open the Settings panel of Focus sessions and do the same.
Read: How to Stay Focused on Tasks when using Windows 10
Difference between Focus assist and Focus sessions
In simple terms, Focus assist works system-wide, but Focus sessions works only with the Alarm & Clock app. The primary difference between these two functionalities is that the former one helps you manage all the notifications of various apps, whereas the latter one helps you focus on your most important work by following the (kind of) Pomodoro technique.
Considering everything, the Focus sessions feature sounds pretty good for those who want to log how much time they are spending on a particular work or so. Although it doesn’t block you from doing anything in particular, you can at least get to know how you are spending your time on your work.
That’s all! Hope it helps.
