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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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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