Forest: Focus for Productivity

I am someone who struggles tremendously with studying due to my ADHD. Part of this is because setting restrictions on time and trying to force an intangible structure on myself doesn’t work. I can “say” I’ll follow a schedule to do my homework, but there’s nothing stopping me from straying from that schedule only I have a stake in, so I don’t maintain it. This app gives me a time limit that has a tangible consequence for breaking, because the flower or shrub (or TinyTan BTS member) I’m growing will die if I break the rules of the app, and will remain on my forest record forever. I don’t want that to happen, so I follow the rules and do what I set out to do originally. However, as is the case for many people who are neurodivergent, setting habits is almost impossible, because one missed step or one missed day ruins the entire process. So opening this app and turning it on to study is a choice you have to actively make every day, and that’s difficult. I choose to because I like the act of having a little forest I don’t have to maintain in real life, but also because I know I feel worse if I don’t study or don’t get everything done when I could have, but it took me 2 years to get to this point of knowing the choice to open this app and use it is worth it. It’s so hard to do things of my own volition, but this app helps. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing at all, so I think it’s worth the download.

Hey forest team. I rarely ever post reviews, but I feel after this many years this app deserves my effort. I’ve been using this to help me focus since 2016 and have literally logged hundreds and hundreds of hours using this. It’s helped me with highschool, college, technical programs, and other courses. I’ve even used it to track my meditation and personal reading. I just want to say thank you. I have a ridiculously difficult time focusing thanks to a myriad of mental health issues that are quite literally out of my control. This app has been a game changer for me and I hope other people can have the same experience. I also just wanted to voice some issues that I’ve had with the app (not very many at al but I know your development team is strong and actually takes reviews seriously). One issue is with the friends feature. I’ve tried to get many people to join the app and plant trees with me but I feel like each time it’s pretty difficult. That process could maybe be a bit more streamlined? One more thing is I think that I’ve noticed the app slow down as I’ve been using it. Maybe it’s because how much data I have logged in it? Not sure. It doesn’t affect the functionality too much but just something I’ve noticed. All in all, hands down the best app I’ve had the pleasure of using. Again, thank you. If I could give more the 5 stars I would.

I’ll be honest: I’m a student, and I spend WAY TOO MUCH time on my phone. It is a major distraction and I can feel myself getting sucked in but was having trouble ever convincing myself to just put it down and get stuff done. I never buy apps (I only go for the free versions of everything) — I literally just paid actual money for my first app ever earlier this year, after owning a smart phone for the past 6 years. This app is well worth the $2. It helps motivate me to stay off my phone when I’m practicing (music student) or trying to get work done. My boyfriend also has the app and we’ve made rooms to help us both focus simultaneously a few times but I’m hoping to get more friends to buy it so I can do this more. It is the perfect combination of motivating and making you feel disappointed in yourself if you slip up 😂 Seriously, it’s so satisfying to watch your forest grow and it’s very easy to use. You can also create new “tags” for why the trees were planted, which I love (I made one specific for practicing which is also a good way to help me keep track of how much practice I do). I had tried setting time limits for screen time/social media through iPhone settings but I’ve already started ignoring that....but Forest is so much more convincing and I just can’t let my sweet little trees die lol. Overall I love love this app and wish I’d heard of it sooner! It’s a relief to have something really hold me accountable for my screen time!