Our team

Joel Ferreira

Productivity writer & second reviewer · Checks the behavioural-science claims and second-reviews every page.

Joel Ferreira covers the how-it-works half of the site — what the research genuinely shows about focus, motivation and behaviour change, and which design choices help a new routine survive contact with a busy week. He treats the science as a tool, not a marketing prop: when an app cites a study, he reads it to see whether it says what the landing page implies.

What interests him most is the moment procrastination actually happens — the small gap between meaning to start and opening something easier instead. He looks for the mechanics that close it: a first step small enough to be embarrassing to skip, a timer you'll actually start, a block you can't casually click through, a sense of progress that doesn't collapse the first day you miss. He is sceptical of any app leaning on a big neuroscience-flavoured claim it can't back, or hinting it can fix something it plainly can't.

As the desk's second reviewer, Joel reads every page for accuracy and tone before it publishes — especially anywhere procrastination shades into anxiety or ADHD — and writes much of our focus, habit and deep-work coverage.

Areas of expertise

Focus & deep-work apps
The psychology of procrastination
Habit formation & adherence
Reading productivity-app evidence claims
Plain-language explainers

Knows about: procrastination, focus apps, anti procrastination apps, habit formation

How Joel evaluates apps

Joel weighs each app's stated method against what the research actually supports, flags any claim that overreaches, and centres his testing on whether a focus habit holds up past the first fortnight.

Articles by Joel

Articles Joel reviewed

Find Joel on LinkedIn.

Joel works to our published review methodology.

Struggling, not just stalling? Procrastination is usually ordinary — but if avoidance is tangled up with hopelessness or thoughts of harming yourself, please reach out now. In the US and Canada you can call or text 988 to reach a trained counsellor, free and 24/7. Elsewhere, contact your local emergency services. You are not alone.