The Mira Dial Is a Physical Device Built to Keep You Productive and On-Task

Staying focused is hard. Mira Dial is a new physical dial that promises to lock all of a user’s screens to keep them on task, ensuring they get their photo and video editing and business management work done faster, leaving more time to do the things they actually want to do.

“You sit down to work, but somehow the afternoon just slips away. A check here, a scroll there, and nothing gets done. It was never your fault, you just never had the right tool. Until now,” Mira Labs writes on Indiegogo.

While some may be able to stay focused without help, many modern creators find it difficult to manage multiple screens and devices. Quickly grabbing a phone from the desk can easily turn into five, 10, or 30 minutes gone, just like that. Every social media app is designed to keep users engaged, which means a lot of wasted time. For photographers or videographers who use social media as part of their work, the gap between productivity and lost time is especially narrow.

Mira Labs says that unlike on-device screen limits, its new Mira Dial cannot be switched off. Once users turn the dial and set a timer, the only way to disable it is through a series of tedious menu navigations. Turning off the dial requires deliberate action. Mira Labs says it’s “annoying” by design.

The Mira Dial works alongside a companion app — yes, that is phone time — and users can set rules for the device, including which devices to lock down and which apps, websites, or notifications to block. The device has settings for “rounds” and timers. The idea is to let users decide how they want to focus, what that means for their access to devices and apps, and create a genuine hurdle to the all-too-easy actions that break focus and create distractions.

Mira Labs says that app-based blocking devices are too easy to turn off when the urge strikes, and other physical devices, like Brick, only work on a limited selection of devices, like smartphones. Mira Dial blocks every device at once and is a pain to turn off before the timer expires. In the event of an emergency, there are a limited number of “emergency exits” available to users each month, so that if something truly urgent happens, unlocking a phone is very fast.

“You need to focus, and your screens won’t let you,” Mira Labs says.

For photographers or videographers, Mira Dial could be used to force them to take actual, real breaks rather than do continuous, hours-long editing sessions. The dial could also be used to lock out distractions and let creatives stay exclusively on task, so work gets done faster. Those are two viable use cases for the device.

Pricing and Availability

The Mira Dial is available to back on Indiegogo now for $114, 43% off its eventual retail price of $199. There is no subscription fee or app cost; it is a one-and-done fee. If the campaign is successfully backed, the device is expected to ship early next year.

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Image credits: Mira Labs