Saent - A Focus Button Designed To Help You Do More

From the constant buzzing and ringing of your smartphone to the never-ending notifications from social media to the billions of websites and videos available at your fingertips (including awesome blogs about music and tech), it’s easy to sympathize with the person who says “I can’t seem to get anything done.” There are simply too many distractions in our modern, connected lives. Luckily for us, the makers of Saent have done something about it, in the easiest possible way. 

Saent is a button that you place on your desk when you are working. Once you press the button, Saent’s software locks you into the pre-approved apps and programs that you need to use to work. In this remarkable way, it actually blocks you from distraction, by preventing you from clicking that link to 28 things only Parisians will understand, or from stalking your ex on Facebook for the third time today.  

What we like: The design is so simply and small, it invites a touch. Press it to start a scientifically-calibrated focus session. Plus the little blue light is an indicator to your co-workers (or anyone else that might be sharing a space with you) that you are in the middle of a focus session and that you can’t be distracted. It’s small size makes it portable so you can have a focus session no matter where you are working from on any given day. 

Bonus points: Sometimes working hard can be a reward in itself, but - let’s be honest - sometimes it sucks. Saent has a system that rewards you for completing focus sessions. You can track your progress in the dashboard, and see if you are focusing more or less than your friends. You know who else you might want to impress with your stats? Your boss. 

The early bird specials are already sold out, but for just $39 you can get your own Saent and one year of its premium software. Seems like a small price to pay for vastly increased productivity. The project has raised over $10K in two days on Indiegogo. Get there quick! 

  • June, 3 2015
  • update
  • whyd
  • office
  • new spot
  • montmartre
  • 18th
  • paris
  • work
  • team

End of an Era, Start of a New One - Our New Workspace

On a sunny June morning three years ago we moved two wooden tables from Ikea up two flights of stairs and opened the door to the small, bright office that would be Whyd’s home, in the Paris Labs Innovation incubator in Paris 20ème. We met some of our most faithful music lovers there, we grilled up meats and comraderie, we moaned when the coffee machine didn’t work, and we had discussions that were usually so loud that our neighbors - both next to and under - hated us. What can we say, we’re passionate people! 

Three years later, Whyd has a new workspace, still with entrepreneurs and young professionals, but we’ve moved up to Montmartre in the 18th arrondissement. We’re in a luminous, modern space called the “Jungle” with palms and beach umbrellas, alongside diverse companies like the real estate marketplace DingDong, a modelling agency, and even an oyster exporter! 

We’re looking forward to a lot of productive days in our new spot!