This article is republished with permission fromWonder Tools,a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps.Subscribe here.A dozen tabs open. Notifications pinging. I just opened my laptop and unread emails are already calling my name.Sound familiar?To break this routine, Im relying on a carefully chosen stack of tools and tactics that protect deep work from daily distractions. Rather than hunting for a perfect productivity app, Ive curated a three-layer system for planning, focus, and analysis. In todays video and the post below Ill show you how it works.Feel free tosteal any of these tacticsas youre refining your own workflow for the new year.My focus stack has three layers:Planning toolsthat help me decide where to direct my concentration.Focus toolsto help my wandering mind return to the task at hand.Analysis toolsfor tracking progress and observations about my work so I can improve my focus over time.1. Planning: Design your dayThink of focus setup like a chefs mise-en-place: organizing your workspace before diving into complex work.Start by collecting and prioritizing a handful of core tasks so you have a short menu to choose from. Include time estimates. That helps you be realistic about what will fit on that days calendar.I often fall victim to the planning fallacy. I overestimate how many things I can get done on a given day. That leads to end-of-day disappointment when I havent completed everything on my list.To avoid that issue, assess your time estimates at the end of the day. After two weeks of doing that, youll get better guessing how much youll actually accomplish in a day.Keep it simple: power tools that workFor me, task software should be as simple as possible. [See more ofmy philosophyon this]. I prefer to get stuff done rather than spend hours mastering software menus. Thats why I recommend simple, free task software tools.The bottom line:Workflowy,Apple Reminders, andGoogle Tasksall help you do the four basic things you need to do with to-dos:Createsimple lists,organizeandaddto them, and reliably and quicklyaccessthe tasks on multiple devices.For a more advanced software tool, considerTodoistorThings, which allow you to categorize tasks in a more sophisticated way with projects and multiple views.Pro tools, minus the complexityYou may prefer a pro tool that combines planning with managing tasks and calendaring. Teams aiming to put all their projects, tasks and plans in one spot can use a hub likeClickUp,Monday, orBasecamp.But if youre working independently and want something simple, I likeSunsama.Sunsamahas a variety of useful features for planning your day. It works well fortimeboxing. Here are some key features that make it so useful:Planning and review modes let you prepare for and conclude the day with reflection and intention, avoiding the temptation to work reactively.Estimate how long tasks will take, add notes or substasks, then schedule the tasks directly in your calendar.Optionally use AI for time estimates and to categorize tasks. That helps analyze how youre allocating time.Employ focus mode to time your current task. When you complete it, the next task appears in the corner of your screen. I use this for deep work to block out everything but my current project.Time design: Intelligent schedulingVimcal,Akiflow,Fantastical,andMotionare among the best-designed calendar tools. They sync to your existing calendar (e.g. Google or Outlook).Use natural language to schedule things. Say something like Meet Pat at 3pm Tuesday at HeyTea to talk about our AI summit. Avoid a minute of manual data entry a dozen times daily and youll save an hour each week.Calendar magic: AI-assisted planningReclaim,likeMotion,can automatically put time on your calendar between your appointments for priorities that youve set in advance. For example, you may want to routinely find time for meditation, calling a loved one, stretching, or praying.Reclaimadds those moments to your calendar between existing appointments on your calendar. They show up privately on your calendar. If you choose to let it, Reclaim can move your self-care slots if a meeting gets scheduled into that time slot.2. Focus: your concentration kitFor background focus music, I rely on bothHeadspaceandCalmwith noise-cancelling headphones. Both offer instrumental tracks that block distractions without becoming distracting themselves.Coffitivityis a good free alternative if you prefer the background hum of a coffee shop.Brainy headphonesNeurable MW75 Headphones($699) blend premium audio with an unexpected superpower: they measure your brains focus levels while you work. Unlike clunky EEG headbands, these look and feel like luxury noise-cancelling headphones.Why theyre useful:These noise-blocking headphones measure your brain focus like an EEG machine, without having to strap all those wires on your head. Neurable has somehow made one of the first consumer brain-computer interfaces that actually works so you can track your focus.Ive been impressed with how they monitor my level of focus. Like a fitness tracker encouraging me to move, they subtly encourage sustained concentration with a daily deep focus target of one hour.Despite minor data syncing glitches and a lofty price tag, Im pleased with their look, feel, and functionality. The first version of the app provides limited actionable insight about your focus level. Based on my conversations with the founder, I expect the app and the usefulness of its data to improve over time. A foldable design would also be nice, but thats a small quibble for what they deliver. For now theyre available only in the U.S. and Canada.Cheaper:Want a lower-cost alternative to get some quiet? WriterA.J. Jacobs recommendsthese $10noise-blocking earmuffsand Ive foundLoop earplugs(starting at ~$25) to be helpful.3. Analysis: measure what worksRizeis a time tracking app that charts how you spend time. It monitors what software youre using and tallies which projects or hobbies your hours are flowing to. (Get afree monthto try it).Googles Time Insightssimilarly helps you see where your time is going. Rather than monitoring your actual computer behavior, it relies solely on your calendar. Available only on certain Google Workspace plans.As noted in mytimeboxingpost, a simple spreadsheet or paper and pen record will also do fine for documenting time allocation. Just jot down learnings about how your actual time spent diverged from your plans.How AI can helpAI tools can help you analyze your time allocation. FeedClaude,GeminiorChatGPTa list of your tasks and how much time you estimated they would take, alongside estimates of actual time spent. Or snap a photo of your handwritten schedule and notes and feed that to your AI of choice for summary insights.By feeding some time tracking info into a Claude or ChatGPT project, aNotebook LMnotebook, or a Gemini Gem, you can design your own custom timeboxing coach. This AI coach will understand how long things typically take you and your indicated priorities. It can then assist you with planning more effectively and making better time estimates based on your own past behavior.This article is republished with permission fromWonder Tools,a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps.Subscribe here.