Tag Archive for: tools

Thanks to my friend and colleague, Liliana, she invited me to try focusmate. It changed the way I work, as I sometimes can get distracted by all the interesting information available online.

What is Focusmate?

Focusmate is a service that helps people with accountability and procrastination. The service works by letting you book a 50-minute appointment, where you are partnered with someone anywhere across the world. Both of you meet at that time, talk about what you’re going to do for a minute, then start working. After the session, you both talk about how you did, then you move on your merry way.
The platform uses Jitsi – a video conferencing open-source platform. Jitsi has features such as sharing youtube videos, screensharing, and many others.

Reasons why people want to blur their background

a – they have a messy room
b – confidential information is shown on another computer behind them
c – people don’t want their partners to get distracted by the people walking around them (if in a library or other public place)
d – they general privacy concerns
I usually blur my background because I get too self-conscious. I get too self-conscious to where I don’t do what I’m supposed to be doing, and turning off my camera is rude to my partner.

How to Blur your background

Many have asked me this question so I decided to create a blog post about it.
There is a way where you can blur the background so that your face is the only thing that’s viewable.

Steps

1 – While in a session, scroll to the bottom of the screen and press the button with 3 dots on it.

2 – Click on “Blur my background”.
If it doesn’t work the first time, turn your camera off then turn it back on.
As of this moment, the platform is free up until September 26, 2019. After that, the pricing will be $6/person with unlimited sessions.
Did this help? If it did, I would appreciate if you left a short comment about it below. Thank you!