How to not look at your phone while doing homework

We’ve all been there. It’s 9pm the night before a project is due, and instead of working tirelessly the eve of the impending due date, you’re browsing Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram in an endless cycle of updating streams. Once there are no more updates and you’ve read all the relevant Snapchat Discover stories, maybe you hit up Buzzfeed quizzes or chat with friends on the newest app, House Party. Perhaps you even get into a game on the new messages for iPhone, or mindlessly swipe numbers in 2048.

I’ve been there before, thoughtlessly putting off work without even trying to, just scrolling through apps on my phone. It’s an easy distraction and a time consuming way to procrastinate homework and sleep. Suddenly you look up from the bright, little screen and it’s 11pm. You race to put together a mediocre project, finish it around 1am and then stare at your phone for another hour before finally going to sleep.

So is there actually anyway to keep you off of your phone while you do your homework? Well thanks to a new app, you might have a chance.

It’s called Forest, and it is designed to be an anti-procrastination app for all ages. Just go onto the app and set a timer for your “seed” as they call it. While your seed grows, you cannot go on any other apps or access texting or snapchat. So basically you have to leave your phone alone for as long as you set the timer, or hopefully as long as it takes you to finish that project, or else the tree will die.

It is certainly effective for me, as it takes on a collective model and as you grow your seeds, you build up a forest, therefore fitting the name. It’s similar to the Tap Project that UNICEF put on last year, where you access their website on your phone, and the longer you don’t touch your phone, the more clean water is given to children in Africa by various different companies. The longer you stay focused on Forest, the more coins you build up on the app as well, which you can use to plant real trees around the world.

The app also keeps track of how long you use it and go without using your phone, so if your parents get on you about being on your phone too much, you can just show them your forest. Plus, as a special holiday feature, the app is letting you grow trees with friends, so you can both stay focused on studying for midterms.

In my opinion, Forest is certainly worth the $1.99 purchase to save your GPA. It’s available on the app store for iOS, Android, Chrome, and Firefox.