How-To
Focus and restart on Apple Watch
Start a small focus session, take a break and return to interrupted work without changing completion or billing.
Before you start
- Use the latest myDailyTasks app on both your Watch and paired iPhone.
- Premium is required to start a focus session. An existing session remains available to finish after access expires.
Steps
- Choose one taskOpen Focus Session from the Watch dashboard. Use Choose Task or Change Task to select the work, then check its title. In one-task mode you can also use Start for 5 minutes.
- Set the sessionUnder Session Settings choose Focus minutes from 1–120 and Break minutes from 1–30. Alert when time is up is optional and requests notification permission when enabled.
- Start, pause and resumeChoose Start for the selected number of minutes. Pause preserves the remaining time; Resume continues it. Leaving the screen or relaunching the app does not discard the saved session.
- Decide when time is upChoose Continue for another session, Take a break for the selected break length, or Finish session. Finishing early asks for confirmation. A focus countdown neither completes the task nor records billable work; use Task Timer for recorded time.
- Make restarting easierOpen Help Me Restart for the task. Use Choose a smaller first step and Remember where I stopped to save a short cue and an interruption note. They stay on this Watch, separate from the original task details. Clear restart notes removes those cues when no longer needed.
- Resume or reschedule deliberatelyChoose Resume focus to return to a short session. For eligible open one-off work, choose Reschedule, select a date and confirm Move Task. Its time, duration and history stay connected. Completed work, repeating tasks and Rituals are protected from this restart move.
Confirm the setup is working
- Pause and Resume change the remaining countdown without completing the task.
- Restart cues appear again for the selected task on this Watch.
- Cancelling a reschedule leaves the original date unchanged.
If controls are missing, check that the Watch app is up to date and Premium access. For a missing end alert check the session switch, system notifications and Focus. A restoration error is shown explicitly; review it before starting a replacement session.
Keep going
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Continue with a related guide or explore how the feature fits your plan.