Centered
written BY Kelly Costello
Welcome back to another SHACK15 Startup Spotlight, where we highlight the exciting work being done by our resident startups and members of our community.
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It cannot be denied that our way of working has been disrupted: our workplace, our work hours and our distractions all have changed. For SHACK15 member Ulf Schwekendiek, this new world presented productivity problems that needed to be solved, so people could return to creating their greatest works. Centered is his solution.
Launched last month, Centered is a productivity app fueled by the latest research on mindfulness that helps users reach their flow state sooner and stay there longer, thereby accomplishing tasks at least 20% faster. Combining the best of a mindfulness app, task manager and personal productivity coach, the app guides users through their tasks and blocks distractions, and also features daily productivity videos, analytics and insights into work patterns and original music to support “flow.”
Led by Ulf, the founder & CEO, Centered just launched Version 1.1 which is available for download on their website. We caught up with Ulf to learn more about the tool and his take on the benefits of combining mindfulness, productivity and tech!
How would you describe what Centered does?
Centered helps you with the past, present and future of your to-do list. We start by helping you plan your future with an intuitive task list , then we help you flow through your present by playing focus music and blocking notifications, and finally we help you get insights into your past work to inform you going forward.
We’ve reimagined a task manager to be more like a music playlist. It's a super lightweight way to drag and drop tasks into any particular order and flow through them, but it operates on established mindfulness principles; right down to rewarding yourself for a job well done!
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How do you describe “flow state” for anyone that hasn’t heard the term before?
In the 40-50 years since "flow" was given a name, it's been quantified and calculated and qualified in many ways. To us, it's simply the state where you are focused and aware, you're not conscious of yourself or of time passing really, yet you feel in control and the work you produce is rewarding to you. In a flow state, you can do your most productive and creative work without distraction. Some people call it “being in the zone”.
What inspired you to create a tool using mindfulness and flow state?
After I left Postmates, I had one of those rare moments in life when I could pause and really think. Something that had become important to me was not just what I was doing, but how I was doing it. This led me to devour books, blogs, videos to understand how I could work better. In whatever I did next, I wanted to feel like the hours of the day were not slipping away, but that I was using them thoughtfully...mindfully...and to be more productive. As it turns out, all that meditation on how to do my next company better...turned into my next company. And my passion for finding mindfulness has basically attracted my teammates who share this goal. And that's the origin story of Centered.
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What’s unique about Centered versus other productivity tools?
There are a ton of to do lists, productivity apps and task management platforms out there many of which are very well-designed and effective. What our users tell us is different about Centered is that we apply mindfulness techniques to productivity to help people have a better experience working, and a greater sense of achievement when they are done. We accomplish this with having a vocal guide who coaches you through your tasks and encourages you to resist distractions. We also offer short, daily videos based on the teachings of some of the greatest thought-leaders in productivity and mindfulness. Finally, we offer analytics that our users find actionable and inspiring - we designed them to include clear insights that can be applied going forward to your work.
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Centered features original music designed to support users in achieving flow state. What was the process like to develop that?
Focus music has become a "thing" for a reason. We realize that there are certain ways in which music enters our beings and our consciousness reacts to it. In Centered, we wanted to offer this aural foundation not only to help block out background noise, but also to encourage our users' minds to attain flow much sooner and keep riding those brainwaves for as long as possible. When we realized that we wanted to make focus music available, we worked with a set of composers to create original tracks that adhere to the principles of focus music, while still offering them a lot of leeway for originality. We currently have about 7 hours of focus music in the platform and are adding over an hour a month.
What’s next for Centered?
Obviously we are working to bring Centered to other platforms; iOS and Windows are next up. Like every startup, we have a roadmap full of plans and features and goals, but, to be blunt, the stars by which we navigate are our users. We will continually be rolling out new features to help our community increase their mindfulness and productivity, and we'll optimize the ones that people tell us help them, and rework or cast off the ones that don't. That's the excitement of a start-up, right?
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Thanks so much, Ulf, for sharing your story with us. Make sure to check out the Centered app and get a 4-week free trial when you use code SHACK15FLOWS to sign up!
Stay tuned for more SHACK15 Startup Spotlights in the future, where we highlight the great work being done by members of the SHACK15 community!