How to Track your tasks and time

Open the app

Download Be Focused from the Mac App Store and open it. When it’s running, a timer icon is added to the menu bar. Click that and a panel opens with a big 25:00 in the middle. Click the list icon in the bottom-left corner.

Start the timer

Click Back to return to the timer. In the pop-up menu at the top of the panel, select one of the tasks you just created. Click the play icon just below the timer, and start working! Continue till you’re told to stop 25 minutes later.

Add time periods

Sometimes you might work on your Mac and forget to start the timer to record your activity. To fix that, Ctrl-click a task in the list and choose “Edit number of intervals.” Enter how many periods you worked on the task.

The To Do list

The To Do list shows the tasks you need to do, but right now it’s empty. You must add items to the list to start properly using Be Focused. Click the plus icon in the bottom-left corner of the list to add an item.

Complete tasks

Return to the To Do list. When a task is completed, click the circle to its left and it’ll be moved to the Done tab. Click that tab to review all of the tasks you’ve finished, or to restore a task you’ve checked off by mistake.

Adjust the times

Click Back again, then click the cog icon at the bottom-right corner of the menu and choose Settings. Use the pop-up menus here to customize the length of work intervals, and short and long breaks as you prefer.

Add your tasks

Any task you perform on your Mac, whether it’s for work or personal such as gaming or shopping online, should be added to the app’s To Do list. Use the + to add multiple tasks you do regularly; you can add more later.

Remove Done tasks

All completed tasks are stored so that you can analyze them and review the time you expended doing each one. You don’t need to remove completed tasks, but you can do so by Ctrl-clicking them and choosing Delete.

Select the sound

When a work or break period comes to an end, Be Focused can play a sound to alert you to that fact. Select the sound you want or, if you prefer silence, select None. The app also provides a chronometer sound.