I’ve been loving Opal and using it more intentionally over the past few weeks and it’s been incredibly helpful for protecting focus and sleep. One feature that would meaningfully improve long-term adherence, especially for users managing stress or habit change, would be:
A Notes / Intent field inside the Focus Block editing screen.
Why this matters:
Many users don’t just use Focus Blocks to block apps — we use them to support specific intentions, routines, or emotional states. Being able to add a short note directly to a block would help users remember why a block exists at the moment it activates.
Examples:
- “This block protects my sleep so the phone stays out of the bedroom.”
- “High-stress night: audio or journaling only, no scrolling.”
- “This block is about recovery, not productivity.”
- “Meal prep = future me feels better.”
Right now, that context lives outside the app (mental notes, separate documents, or memory), which makes it harder to stick to boundaries when stress is high.
How it could work is through a small optional text field in the Focus Block editor, when editing the block or optionally when the block starts (“Intent for this block”).
Even 1–2 lines would be enough!
This feature is vital to Opal’s mission because it could further help to:
- Reduce overrides driven by anxiety or decision fatigue
- Support behavior change through intentionality, not just restriction
- Especially help users working on sleep hygiene, anxiety management, or burnout prevention
In my case, having a note attached to nighttime blocks would significantly reduce the urge to override “for comfort,” because the reasoning is already there when I need it most.
Thanks for building a tool that treats focus as something humane and adaptable, and I believe this addition would make it even more supportive.
— Hope