Most people get through the day with a busy mind. We rush from one task to the next, one thought pulls in another, and we never really stop. In all that rushing we forget this moment, and how good it feels to pause for a bit, enjoy wherever you are, and take a break from the crazy state of mind we live in.
The trouble is that nothing reminds us. We all know it would do us good to slow down, but we usually remember only once we're already worn out.
Why I made this feature
That's why I made Present Moment Reminders in the Okaz app. They're small notifications that reach you during the day, each with a short line that brings you back to here: "Breathe. You are here." "Notice the sounds around you." "Unclench your jaw. Drop your shoulders." There's no lecture in them and no long explanation, just a simple, direct nudge so your mind can be present, even for a moment.
They arrive at random times rather than at the same hour every day. A notification that turns up at exactly 10 o'clock every morning is easy to get used to and swipe away without reading. When you don't know when the next one is coming, it catches you in the middle of whatever you're doing: at work, waiting in a queue, scrolling your phone, which are the moments when we're least here.
A study that works the same way
In 2010, Harvard researchers Matthew Killingsworth and Daniel Gilbert published a study in Science based on an iPhone app that pinged people at random moments of their day and asked them: What are you doing right now? Are you thinking about something other than what you're doing? How are you feeling? Their app worked a lot like this feature: each person chose how many times a day they wanted to be asked, and the app picked random times within their waking hours.
They analysed the answers of 2,250 adults. People's minds were on something other than what they were doing in about 47% of the samples. And people were less happy when their minds wandered than when they were focused on what they were doing, across every activity the study measured, even the least enjoyable ones.
To be honest with you, that study observed how people live; it didn't test reminders as a treatment, so it can't promise that a notification will make you happier. What it does show is how much of the day we spend somewhere else, and noticing that is what I want these reminders to help with.
How to turn it on
- Download the Okaz app from okaz.io, the App Store or Google Play.
- Open Settings in the app and switch on Notifications. If your phone asks, allow Okaz to send you notifications.
- Tap Present Moment Reminders and choose how many reminders you'd like each day.
- Under Send within this time, choose the hours that suit you, for example from 10 am to 7 pm.
From then on, the reminders reach your phone at random times within that window. The feature is free.
Zakoor and the three breaths
When you tap a reminder, the app opens and Zakoor, an Okaz character, pops up to breathe with you three times, slowly. Press and hold the screen as you breathe in, then let go and breathe out slowly. It's only three breaths, enough to step out of the rush for a moment and calm down a little more.
The video below shows every step in the app. And if the reminders start to feel like too many, lower the number from the same menu, or narrow the hours they arrive in.