How to Use Focus Sessions to Increase Productivity in Windows 11 1

How to Use Focus Sessions to Increase Productivity in Windows 11

With the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22000.160, Microsoft has started rolling out a clean Focus Sessions feature in the Clock app to help boost your productivity. This feature is part of Microsoft’s ongoing efforts to improve the usability of system apps in Windows 11. feature. We will teach you how to use Focus Sessions effectively in Windows 11.

Use Focus Sessions to Increase Productivity in Windows 11 (2021)

Focus Sessions is currently available to Windows Insiders on the Dev channel. If you’ve moved from the Windows 11 Dev channel to the Beta channel, you may have to wait for Microsoft to expand the availability of the feature. However, if you’re here after the Windows 11 stable release, you’ll likely have this feature in the release.

What are Focus Sessions in Windows 11?

Focus Sessions is a Windows 11 productivity feature that helps you concentrate on studies or work. The feature mainly consists of a timer to monitor your activity and take timely breaks (much like the Pomodoro technique), a dashboard to track your daily progress, and integrations with Spotify for music and Microsoft To Do to manage tasks.

Update Clock App to Get Focused Sessions

Before I get to the part where I’ll explain how the feature works, here’s how you can get the new Focus Sessions feature in Windows 11. part of the default Windows Alarms and Clock application, and available in versions 10.2108.30.0 and newer. If you’re using an older version of the Clock app, you may not see Focus Sessions.

To get Focus Sessions in Windows 11, you can update the Windows Alarms and Clock app to the latest version available in the Microsoft Store. you can use this direct link To access the Clock app in the Microsoft Store Click the ‘Update’ button and wait for the app to update. The update was 6MB in size on the Windows 11 laptop I used to test Focus Sessions. After updating, you can start using Focus Sessions from the Clock app.

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Connect Spotify to Play Music During a Focus Session

After updating the Clock app, you will see a new Focus sessions tab. Here you can easily connect your Spotify account to the Clock app to listen to calm tunes during your study or study sessions. Find out how to do this here:

  1. In the Windows Clock app, Click on ‘Connect your Spotify’ button.

link spotify account

2. You will now be prompted to log into your Spotify account. And before you ask yes, you will need to sign in even if you’re signed in to the Spotify desktop app. Select your preferred sign-in method to proceed further.

spotify login windows time

2. From the next page, Click ‘Accept’ to link your Spotify account With the Focus Sessions feature in the Clock app.

accept spotify integration

3. You will now see your Spotify account with six Shortcuts (you know, what appears on Spotify’s home screen with recently played playlists and podcasts? yes, that’s it) and a Focus section with six playlists.

My Focus section had the following playlists: Coding Mode, Deep Focus, Instrumental Study, Intense Study, lo-fi beats, and Peaceful Piano.

How to Use Focus Sessions to Increase Productivity in Windows 11

Connect Microsoft Account to Manage Tasks in Focus Session

If Microsoft To Do is your mnemonic app of choice, you can create and manage tasks directly from the Focus Sessions screen.

1. Click the ‘Sign in’ button in the lower left corner of the Clock app to get started.

sign in msft account clock

2nd. Select the Microsoft account you use with To-Do and click on ‘Continue’.

select msft account time

3. When the prompt appears, click ‘Yes’ to allow the Alarms app to read your profile, create, read, update and delete your tasks and schedules.

link alarms to msft account

4. You are now ready to use Microsoft To Do to manage tasks during Focus Sessions in Windows 11. In the first version I tested, the feature did not work as intended and continued to be installed. However, the issue should be resolved until Microsoft releases the stable Windows 11 build later this year.

do tasks focus sessions

How to Use Focus Sessions in Windows 11

Now that you’ve linked your Spotify and Microsoft account to the Clock app, here’s everything you need to know to get started with Focus Sessions.

  • Set a Focus Session Timer

On the home page of Focus Sessions, you can set a timer before you start studying or working. While you can’t manually enter the duration yet, you can choose from a number of available durations for Focus Sessions. These are 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes (1 break), 60 minutes (1 break), up to 240 minutes with 8 breaks.

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If you prefer to work without breaks, select the ‘Skip breaks’ checkbox. When you’re ready, select one of the Spotify playlists and Press the ‘start focus session’ button.

start focus session

  • Pop-Out Focus Session Scheduler

You have the option to minimize the focus session so you can easily follow it from your work screen. Click the drop-down button located in the upper right corner of the timer to minimize it.

minimize focus session

You can check the minified version of the scheduler below. It’s worth noting that you can resize this window if you prefer a larger preview with the countdown timer.

focus session minimized

  • Track Your Productivity

Next to the timer, you’ll see a Daily progress tile that keeps track of your productive hours. Apart from the daily goal, it shows the hours you worked the previous day and the number of days you reached your daily goal. I hope it serves as a good motivation to keep you going.

daily progress focus session

Customize Windows 11 Focus Sessions

While there isn’t much room for customization, there are a few tweaks you can make to improve your experience when using Focus Sessions. It includes settings to set break time, disable unwanted features from the home screen, and change daily target hours.

  • Change Break Period in Focus Session

this default break time is 5 minutes, but you can change it to 10 minutes or 15 minutes from the settings page of the Clock app. You can choose the break time according to your preference.

customize break time

  • Disable Spotify and Microsoft To Do Integration

If you don’t use Microsoft To Do or Spotify, you can choose to disable them on the Focus Sessions homepage. Open Clock app settings from the left side menu; Find toggle buttons to disable Spotify and To Do integration. You can also choose to disable the sound that plays when a session or break ends from this page.

disable doing focus sessions

  • Set Daily Goal for Focus Sessions

If you think the default daily goal is a little less (or more) for you, you can change it as well. Click the pencil icon in the daily progress box and choose a more convenient time for your workflow.

How Can Microsoft Improve Focus Sessions in Windows 11?

After using Focus Sessions for a few hours, here are a few aspects that I found could make the feature even better. Since this is the first release, we can expect the company to develop Focus Sessions in the coming months.

  • Give Us a Pause Button

Currently, there is no option to pause a Focus Session. You must either stop the session or continue working while you are not working. While I understand that some users may prefer the additional pressure to stay focused, I don’t think this approach works for everyone.

There were times when I had to quickly move away from the keyboard to do something else, and it forced me to restart the session. Using the pause button shouldn’t hurt, at least after a toggle in the settings.

  • Improve Spotify Integration

When I first saw Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer Panos Panay make fun of Focus Sessions a few weeks ago, I was excited to try the Spotify integration. Apparently, a little…. overwhelming. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to have Spotify access within Focus Sessions, but it could be better.

So where does Spotify integration go wrong? For starters, I’d say Shortcuts. Spotify Shortcuts lists playlists and podcasts you’ve listened to recently, as opposed to a playlist you want to play (or love to play) while you focus on work. Just because I recently listened to a playlist doesn’t mean I want to play it while I’m trying to focus.

A classic example can be seen in the screenshot below. The first shortcut listed here is my playlist with sad songs. To be honest, I prefer to work while listening to something that will help me calm down and focus. The rest of the suggestions don’t seem to help either (except for the Japanese lo-fi Chill playlist I listen to often while working). And no, I don’t plan to create a dedicated Spotify account for this feature (and neither should you).

spotify shortcuts

What is a better solution? Playlists. Just simple plain old playlists. Give us the option to browse through our saved playlists and let us pick them, preferably with a quick way to pin favorites. This would be a better use of space than the existing Shortcuts tile. The Focus playlist tile under the shortcuts is fine and I have no complaints there.

Meanwhile, the option to control music playback – next, previous and play/pause would also be welcome. Currently, users need to switch to the Spotify app to switch songs. And you know what happens when you switch apps – you see an album release or a new podcast episode by your favorite artist. And without realizing it, you’re controlling all the pieces instead of getting things done.

  • Add Focus Assist Shortcut

Focus Assist is a nifty feature in Windows to silence notifications in Windows 11. Since the Focus Sessions feature is all about eliminating distractions, it would be nice to see Microsoft add a tile from this page to trigger Focus Assist. That way, Focus Sessions can evolve as a central hub for productivity for everything in Windows 11.

  • Add Support for Third-Party Apps

This may sound obvious, but not everyone uses or prefers Microsoft To Do or Spotify. We’ll have to wait to see if Microsoft plans to expand this feature to popular third-party Spotify alternatives and other to-do list apps.

Try Focus Sessions and Work Efficiently in Windows 11

This sums up everything you need to know about Focus Sessions in Windows 11. If you’re looking for more ways to stay productive at home during these difficult times, check out our article on best practices for focusing on work. useful tips. To find out how long you’ve been using your laptop, check out our handy guide to timely checking the screen in Windows 11. For more Windows 11 features, take a look at the best Windows 11 features.