FocusHacker

Complete focus system for MacOS

Mac

Productivity

School

Visit WebsiteSee on Product Hunt

Hey Product Hunt 👋 Tak here, the solo founder building FocusHacker. Why I built it: I work in product. My day is: Slack with design, GitHub with engineering, Analytics, Figma, email, back to Slack. I need to be at 3 places at once. But sometimes I need to actually focus on one thing. Deep work. Real thinking. So I'd turn on Do Not Disturb, fire up Forest, enable Freedom to block sites, check Streaks, open Calendar. Four apps. Four notification centers. Four different systems for one simple goal. The worst part? The real distractions weren't Instagram — they were email, Slack, "just checking GitHub." The productive-looking ones. Do Not Disturb doesn't stop the urge to open them anyway. It just hides the notifications. The psychological itch is still there. And my four apps still didn't talk to each other. My blocker didn't know when my timer started. My habit tracker didn't sync with my actual sessions. Then I realized: The fitness world solved this decades ago. A HIIT trainer integrates everything — the timer, the intensity, immediate feedback, visible progress, acknowledgement when you finish. Your body needs that feedback loop. Why should focus be different? We all have a fundamental need to be acknowledged for doing good work. Real acknowledgement. When you complete a hard focus session, you deserve to see it count. Deserve a level up. Deserve a visible streak. That's not fake gamification. That's human psychology working for you. I thought: Someone should bring the fitness world's approach to focus. Then I realized — maybe that was me. What FocusHacker is: FocusHacker is a native macOS app combining three things: 🔥 Guided Focus Sessions — Configurable Pomodoro sprints (25 min focus, 5 min rest by default). Countdown, audio coaching, clear interval transitions. 🚫 Automatic Blocking — Block your custom list of distracting apps and websites during focus sessions. Not just Instagram and Reddit — email, Slack, GitHub, metrics dashboards, whatever YOUR focus killers are. Automatically lifts during breaks. No "just one quick look" possible. ⚡ Gamification — Earn XP for completed sessions. Progress through levels (Beginner → Iron → Bronze → Silver → Gold → Platinum → Diamond → Legend). Build weekly streaks. All three integrated into one native Mac experience. What I believe: Focus isn't a willpower problem. It's a system problem. The best systems remove friction, provide immediate feedback, celebrate progress, and acknowledge effort. That's how HIIT workouts build fitness. That's how FocusHacker builds focus habits. Every completed session is a win. Every level up is earned. Every streak is proof you showed up. People don't need shame or guilt. People need acknowledgement and progress they can see. Where we are: FocusHacker is coming out of closed beta with 10 early users who've helped shape the product. We're ready to expand the beta community and get real feedback from Product Hunt. Privacy (Built-in, not bolted-on): All data stays local on your Mac. No cloud sync. No tracking. Your focus habits are yours. For you: We're inviting Product Hunt to join the beta Help us shape the roadmap with real feedback Tell us what works, what breaks, what you actually need What I want to understand: What's your biggest distraction right now? What focus duration actually works for your brain? What would make you switch from whatever system you're using? What am I missing that you'd actually need? Thanks for being part of this journey.