The best app for procrastination depends on where you get stuck. If you never start, use a starting app that turns the task into a tiny first step with a set time, such as Startr. If you start but get pulled away, use a website and app blocker, such as Freedom or Cold Turkey. If you work better with someone watching, try body doubling with a service like Focusmate. If you lose track of what to do, use a to-do list or visual planner, such as Todoist, Structured or Tiimo. If you need help staying with a task once you've started, use a focus timer, such as Forest or any Pomodoro timer. Many people combine two, for example a starting app plus a blocker. Having more apps doesn't help by itself, so pick the one that matches your stuck point and use it every day for two weeks before judging it.
First, find your stuck point
Think about the last time you put off something important. Where did it go wrong?
- Before starting: you knew what to do but kept not beginning.
- During: you started, then drifted to your phone or another tab.
- Alone: you only seem to work when someone else is around.
- Planning: you weren't sure what to do next, or forgot.
Most procrastination happens before starting. Research on procrastination describes it mainly as avoiding the bad feeling a task brings up (Sirois and Pychyl, 2013), and that feeling is strongest right before you begin.
Kinds of procrastination apps compared
| Kind of app | What it does | Best for | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting app | Shrinks one task to a small first step, sets a start time and starts a timer | Not starting at all | Startr |
| Website and app blocker | Blocks the sites and apps you choose for a set time | Getting pulled away once you've started | Freedom, Cold Turkey |
| Body doubling | Pairs you with another person on video while you both work | Working better with someone there | Focusmate |
| Focus timer | Times work sessions and breaks, sometimes with a reward | Staying with a task once begun | Forest, Pomodoro timers |
| To-do list | Captures and organises everything you need to do | Forgetting tasks or deadlines | Todoist, Things |
| Visual day planner | Lays out your day as a timeline of blocks | Seeing how your day fits together | Structured, Tiimo |
Starting apps
These apps focus on the moment before you begin. They use two of the best-supported methods in procrastination research: making the first step very small and tying it to a specific time and place, which is called an implementation intention (Gollwitzer and Sheeran, 2006). A starting app is a good fit if your to-do list is fine but one important thing never gets touched.
Blockers
Blockers make distraction harder to reach, which helps with impulsiveness, one of the strongest predictors of procrastination (Steel, 2007). They don't help you start, though. If you block every distracting site and still don't open the document, the problem is before starting, not during.
Body doubling
Working alongside another person, even a stranger on video, gives you a fixed start time and a gentle sense of being watched. Many people find it helps, especially for tasks they've been avoiding for a long time. The trade-off is that you depend on booking sessions.
Focus timers
Timers are good once you've started. A 25-minute block can feel long when you're avoiding something, so if you use one for procrastination, try a shorter first block, five minutes is enough, and extend it once you're going.
To-do lists and planners
Lists and planners are essential for keeping track of many tasks. They can make procrastination worse when the list grows long, because a long list is easy to scroll and hard to start. If you keep moving the same task to tomorrow, a list won't fix it on its own.
Where Startr fits, and where it doesn't
Startr is a starting app for one thing at a time. It writes a two-minute first step for the thing you've been putting off, asks you to pick a time and a place, counts you down 3, 2, 1 and runs a 5-minute timer. It tracks your start delay, the minutes between when you planned to start and when you did, and asks a few questions at night. It has a button for when you notice you're avoiding the task, which suggests something to try that takes about a minute.
Startr isn't a to-do list, and it doesn't block websites. If you need either of those, use one alongside it. It's a subscription ($5.99 a week or $39.99 a year, and the yearly plan can start with a 3-day free trial), and it runs as a web app on any phone or computer, with iPhone and Android apps in beta.
How to choose and stick with one
- Name your stuck point using the list above.
- Pick one app of the matching kind. Only one.
- Use it every day for two weeks on the same goal.
- Judge it by one number, such as how many days you started or how late you started, not by how it feels on a bad day.
Questions people ask
What is the best app for procrastination?
It depends on where you get stuck. If you don't start, use a starting app such as Startr. If you get distracted after starting, use a blocker such as Freedom. If you work better with others, try body doubling with Focusmate. If you lose track of tasks, use a to-do list or planner.
Do procrastination apps actually work?
They work when they match your stuck point and when they use methods with research behind them, such as small first steps, set start times and fewer distractions. An app that doesn't fit where you get stuck won't help, however good it is.
Is there a free app for procrastination?
Many focus timers and to-do lists have free versions. Startr is a subscription, and its yearly plan can start with a 3-day free trial. The methods it uses, a two-minute step, a set time and a five-minute timer, also work with a notebook and a kitchen timer.
Startr is a procrastination app built on the ideas in this guide. You type the thing you keep putting off, it writes a first step that takes two minutes, you pick a time and a place, and at that time it counts you down and starts a 5-minute timer. There's no sign-up, and the web app works on any phone or computer.
Get my first stepSources
- Sirois, F. & Pychyl, T. (2013). Procrastination and the priority of short-term mood regulation: Consequences for future self. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(2), 115–127. doi:10.1111/spc3.12011
- Gollwitzer, P. M. & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119. doi:10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38002-1
- Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65–94. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65