Focus Meter Blog
Notes on focus.
Deep work, Mac productivity, and where your attention actually goes.
Latest
Mac Screen Time Is Lying to You — Here's What It Misses
Apple's Screen Time tracks open apps, not attention. It misses website-level detail, ignores non-Safari browsers, and counts idle time as use. Here's what's really going on — and what to use instead.
Recent posts
What Is a Focus Score? (And Why One Number Beats a Dashboard)
A Focus Score is a single 0–100 number that tells you how focused your day really was. Here's what goes into it, why it beats a dashboard full of graphs, and how to read it day over day.
Why Your Productivity Tracker Shouldn’t Need Wi-Fi
Most time trackers quietly upload every app and URL you visit to a cloud dashboard. Here's why that's a bad trade for your data — and what on-device tracking looks like instead.
I Tracked My Focus for 30 Days — Here’s What I Learned
Four surprising findings from 30 days of automatic, on-device focus tracking on a working developer's Mac. What I got wrong, what I got right, and what I'd change about the setup.
Where Does Your Time Actually Go? A Developer’s Guide to Finding Out
If you're a developer who feels busy but isn't sure the day produced much, the fix usually isn't willpower — it's visibility. Here's how to set up focus tracking specifically for the shape of a developer's day.
How to Track App Usage on Mac: 3 Methods Compared
Three ways to see how long you've spent in each app on your Mac: Screen Time, a DIY shell approach, and a dedicated tracker. Here's what each one actually gives you, and when to use which.
The Best Productivity Apps for Mac in 2026 (No Subscriptions)
A curated list of Mac productivity apps worth buying once. Each one does a specific job well, costs under $100, and never asks you for a recurring payment. Includes full-year cost math vs the subscription equivalents.
How Focus Meter Stores Your Data: SQLite, No Network Calls, Zero Telemetry
Technical walkthrough of Focus Meter's data model: what's stored, where on disk, how to query it directly, and what the app does (and doesn't) send over the network.
The Hidden Privacy Cost of “Free” Productivity Software
“Free” productivity trackers always recoup the cost somewhere. Four common ways — some worse than others — and how to tell which one you're signing up for.
On-Device vs Cloud Time Tracking: The Real Trade-Offs
“Which is better, local or cloud?” is the wrong question. The right question is what you actually get from cloud tracking, and whether it's worth the data exchange. Here's a clear ledger.
Why Pomodoro Fails for Knowledge Work (And What to Do Instead)
Pomodoro works beautifully for chores and study sessions. It routinely fails for professional knowledge work — and the failure mode is specific enough to name. Here's what goes wrong and a better default.
How to Track Deep Work on Mac (Without Manual Timers)
Manual Pomodoro timers work until they don't. You forget to start one, or you stop them mid-session. Automatic tracking fixes both failure modes — here's how to set it up on a Mac.
The Real Cost of Context Switching (And How to Actually Measure It)
Gloria Mark's research put the cognitive recovery cost of an interruption at 23 minutes. If you're switching 80 times a day, that's the entire day. Here's how to see your own switching rate — and what to do about it.
5 Things Apple Screen Time Gets Wrong About Your Mac Usage
Screen Time is free and built in, so people assume it's the default answer to “where did my day go?” For knowledge workers, it's wrong in five specific ways. Here's each one, with what to do instead.
Screen Time Doesn't Track Chrome on Mac. Here's How to Actually See Your Browser Usage
macOS Screen Time can break down the sites you visit in Safari. In Chrome, Arc, Brave, Firefox, and Edge it's silent. Here's why that happens and the one way around it that actually works.
How to See Exactly Which Websites You Use Most on Mac
Most Mac tools will tell you how long you were in Chrome. None of them, by default, will tell you how long you spent on reddit.com. Here's how to close that gap — three methods, ranked by how much useful detail they actually give you.
Browse by topic
Five content pillars covering everything Focus Meter writes about.
Focus Tracking on Mac
How to see where your time actually goes — and why Screen Time isn’t enough.
Mac Screen Time Is Lying to You — Here's What It Misses
Apple's Screen Time tracks open apps, not attention. It misses website-level detail, ignores non-Safari browsers, and counts idle time as use. Here's what's really going on — and what to use instead.
How to Track App Usage on Mac: 3 Methods Compared
Three ways to see how long you've spent in each app on your Mac: Screen Time, a DIY shell approach, and a dedicated tracker. Here's what each one actually gives you, and when to use which.
5 Things Apple Screen Time Gets Wrong About Your Mac Usage
Screen Time is free and built in, so people assume it's the default answer to “where did my day go?” For knowledge workers, it's wrong in five specific ways. Here's each one, with what to do instead.
Screen Time Doesn't Track Chrome on Mac. Here's How to Actually See Your Browser Usage
macOS Screen Time can break down the sites you visit in Safari. In Chrome, Arc, Brave, Firefox, and Edge it's silent. Here's why that happens and the one way around it that actually works.
How to See Exactly Which Websites You Use Most on Mac
Most Mac tools will tell you how long you were in Chrome. None of them, by default, will tell you how long you spent on reddit.com. Here's how to close that gap — three methods, ranked by how much useful detail they actually give you.
Deep Work & Productivity Science
Focus scores, context switching, and measuring what actually matters.
What Is a Focus Score? (And Why One Number Beats a Dashboard)
A Focus Score is a single 0–100 number that tells you how focused your day really was. Here's what goes into it, why it beats a dashboard full of graphs, and how to read it day over day.
Why Pomodoro Fails for Knowledge Work (And What to Do Instead)
Pomodoro works beautifully for chores and study sessions. It routinely fails for professional knowledge work — and the failure mode is specific enough to name. Here's what goes wrong and a better default.
How to Track Deep Work on Mac (Without Manual Timers)
Manual Pomodoro timers work until they don't. You forget to start one, or you stop them mid-session. Automatic tracking fixes both failure modes — here's how to set it up on a Mac.
The Real Cost of Context Switching (And How to Actually Measure It)
Gloria Mark's research put the cognitive recovery cost of an interruption at 23 minutes. If you're switching 80 times a day, that's the entire day. Here's how to see your own switching rate — and what to do about it.
Privacy-First Productivity
Why your productivity data should stay on your Mac, not in the cloud.
Why Your Productivity Tracker Shouldn’t Need Wi-Fi
Most time trackers quietly upload every app and URL you visit to a cloud dashboard. Here's why that's a bad trade for your data — and what on-device tracking looks like instead.
How Focus Meter Stores Your Data: SQLite, No Network Calls, Zero Telemetry
Technical walkthrough of Focus Meter's data model: what's stored, where on disk, how to query it directly, and what the app does (and doesn't) send over the network.
The Hidden Privacy Cost of “Free” Productivity Software
“Free” productivity trackers always recoup the cost somewhere. Four common ways — some worse than others — and how to tell which one you're signing up for.
On-Device vs Cloud Time Tracking: The Real Trade-Offs
“Which is better, local or cloud?” is the wrong question. The right question is what you actually get from cloud tracking, and whether it's worth the data exchange. Here's a clear ledger.
Mac Productivity Optimization
Workflows, tools, and habits that make Mac work sharper.
Where Does Your Time Actually Go? A Developer’s Guide to Finding Out
If you're a developer who feels busy but isn't sure the day produced much, the fix usually isn't willpower — it's visibility. Here's how to set up focus tracking specifically for the shape of a developer's day.
The Best Productivity Apps for Mac in 2026 (No Subscriptions)
A curated list of Mac productivity apps worth buying once. Each one does a specific job well, costs under $100, and never asks you for a recurring payment. Includes full-year cost math vs the subscription equivalents.
Data & Experiments
Personal experiments and data stories from tracking real focus.