Focused was created to help people achieve their goals and lead more organized, fulfilling lives. Drawing on my personal experiences and lessons on goal achievement, perseverance, and organization, I used my expertise in Notion to develop a solution that aims to help people who feel stuck or lost enhance their productivity, become more organised and ultimately achieve their goals. Focused combines my personal experiences with many of the world leading productivity frameworks and methodologies to help people to become more successful and sustainably productive long-term.
Many have great ideas that never materialize due to uncertainties about starting and maintaining momentum. Focused addresses this by being more than a mere tool for tasks, organization, or tracking. It's a comprehensive system designed for long-term productivity by improving emotional and physical well-being, ensuring all elements work in harmony.
The question isn’t just about motivation but understanding and tackling the underlying issues. While Focused isn’t a cure-all, it offers a structured approach to identifying and resolving these barriers, leading to improved efficiency and productivity.
I’m curious about the productivity and organization challenges you face, and for Focused users, how it has helped you overcome these hurdles.
Focused Notion's answer:
I've tried many productivity apps, and while they've mostly been helpful, they often fall short because they only focus on a single niche. For example task management apps, they won't guide you on whether the tasks you are completing are really moving you towards your goals, or they won't help you to be organized, or even help you avoid burnout. They just get you to do more tasks, which is limiting and why many people don't end up finding long-term success. The same applies to time tracking, note-taking, or habit tracking apps, they're great in their specific area but not for overall success.
The only way to use apps effectively for long-term success is to spend a lot of time working out what works for you, which apps suit your system and then configuring each app for that system. This is very time consuming, complicated and expensive, especially as you will need to try many apps before you find the ones that suit you best.
Focused solves this. It's an all-in-one system designed to work across all aspects of your life, especially in productivity, knowledge, and tracking. It aims for long-term, sustainable success, not just short-term fixes. Built on Notion, Focused offers unparalleled customization. You can adjust everything to fit your needs, from the homepage layout to adding new views or templates. This is something that just isn't possible with an app, customizations are often very limited if any.
Focused offers significant advantages over traditional apps. In addition to the above, there's no subscription fee, your data remains private and secure, and you have complete productivity system that works holistically across your life to help you achieve success.
Focused Notion's answer:
I have been obsessed with productivity and organization for many years, since I my early 20s. Mainly due to necessity as I first was doing a dual degree while working in IT full-time, then I moved to working full-time and running my own side business with my wife + a fairly successful blog; and now full-time work and Focused + the side business.
So out of that, I have spent many, many hours reading books, learning different techniques and implementing them in my life to see how they work. I also got onboard with Notion very early on (moved from Evernote), so I built many of the very early iterations of Focused for myself before I even thought I could create something for others.
I think that is why I feel Focused is different from other productivity apps and even Notion templates (although I don't consider myself as a template at all, more of a productivity system). The value I add is the experience and the trials and tribulations of learning, implementing and using all of these different systems. So I know the pitfalls, I know what works and what doesn't.
So Focused is not just a tool, it also has all of the documentation and life coaching to go along with it. Tips, tricks, ideas to help people overcome the pitfalls I did. The biggest one which is common for the majority of people and which is a common thread throughout my documentation is that of overcoming guilt about not doing enough, because although that can be a short-term productivity booster it certainly isn't a long-term one. It is actually a productivity killer. Which why a lot of people start with a productivity tool or framework and get a short-term boost in productivity but ultimately don't keep it going so they never actually achieve what they are trying to achieve. This is the main reason I built Focused - for those people.
The other reason is because due to my 9-5 and the stress at work, especially during COVID, I ended up with a breakdown and burnout. I had to take time of work and the effects of that stress and burnout still haunt me today at times. It has been a massive journey of learning that productivity isn't just about doing more, it is about consistency. It is about processing emotions, having a healthy lifestyle and about learning when to work and when to rest. Just do do do isn't the answer. As a result of this, I major heavily on this in Focused, because the biggest killer of productivity is stress, anxiety and burnout. All things that can be avoided if the right tools and techniques are in place. I wouldn't want anyone to go through what I did, and so that is the other major reason why I built Focused.
Focused Notion's answer:
Notion, plus the following productivity frameworks:
Focused is designed around my many years of experience using and applying many of the world's leading productivity frameworks. It isn’t just something that has been cobbled together, its based on actual real-life experience FIRST, making Focused a productivity system that actually works.
Convenient. It helps to stay organized and track task progress.
While Asana is a robust task management and project planning tool, in my experience, it falls slightly short when compared to Trello, particularly in terms of user-friendliness and simplicity. Asana offers a variety of features such as multiple project views (list, board, timeline, calendar), custom fields, and reporting tools, which can be highly beneficial for complex project management. However, I found that the learning curve can be steep, especially for team members not familiar with this type of software. The interface, while feature-rich, can feel a bit cluttered and overwhelming for new users. On the other hand, Trello shines in its simplicity and straightforward design. The visual card and board system is intuitive and easy to grasp, making it a more accessible tool for team members of varying tech proficiency levels. Additionally, Trello's user interface is cleaner and more streamlined, which contributes to an overall more enjoyable user experience.
In terms of collaboration, both tools provide good collaborative features like commenting, tagging, and task assignment. However, I appreciate Trello's flexibility with its Power-Ups, allowing integration with a wide array of apps which enhances its functionality. In conclusion, while Asana is a powerful tool with extensive features, I prefer Trello for its ease of use, simplicity, and intuitive design. However, I do see the value of Asana for larger teams or more complex projects.
Asana is a popular project management tool that has a lot to offer. It is fast and versatile, making it easy for individuals and teams to collaborate and get things done. The interface is clean and user-friendly, and there are plenty of features to help you organise and track your projects.
However, while Asana is a good tool, it is not the best on the market. One of its main weaknesses is its lack of advanced reporting and analysis capabilities. It can be challenging to get a comprehensive view of your projects and how they are progressing, especially if you have a large number of them.
Another issue is the cost. Asana can be expensive for teams with a lot of members, especially when compared to other project management tools that offer similar features at a lower price point.
Based on our record, Asana seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 94 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.
Budgeting and Planning: Setting a realistic budget that aligns with the project’s goals is an essential first step. Tools such as Trello and Asana can help project teams organize tasks and track financial planning efforts. Detailed budget management strategies are also discussed within the open source project budget management guides. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
Asana is a popular platform for organizing and tracking work, helping teams manage tasks and projects. Salesforce, on the other hand, is a leading customer relationship management (CRM) tool that helps companies track customer interactions, manage sales, and organize support activities. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
Now, here’s where things get really exciting—Claude can now use computers like we do! 🎉 Imagine an AI that can move a cursor, click buttons, type text, and interact with software on its own. This feature, available in Claude 3.5 Sonnet (currently in public beta), is a game-changer. Companies like Asana, Canva, and Replit are already leveraging it to automate complex workflows and handle multi-step tasks in real... - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
Asana: Helps track and record team members' work. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
Managing development projects and tasks can be time-consuming, but Asana’s AI-powered features make it easier to stay on top of deliverables. Asana uses AI to offer smart suggestions for project goals, detect potential risks, and provide insights into team productivity. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
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