The Story
I've spent most of my life fidgeting.
Clicking pens. Picking things up from my desk. Reaching for my phone without really knowing why. Finding it difficult to sit completely still when my brain is trying to concentrate.
When I was diagnosed with ADHD in my late thirties, a lot of those little behaviours started to make more sense. It gave me a better understanding of how my own attention works, and made me curious about whether I could design with that restlessness rather than constantly trying to fight it.
As a designer, my instinct was to start making things.
I wanted something I couldn't find
I tried the productivity apps, timers and focus systems. Some helped, but I kept coming back to the same contradiction: so many of the tools designed to help me focus lived on the very screens that were distracting me.
I wanted something physical instead.
Something I could reach for when my hands were restless. Something satisfying to touch while I was thinking or listening. Something that might interrupt that unconscious movement towards my phone and replace it with a small, tactile moment instead.
But I also wanted it to be beautiful.
I've always cared about the objects I surround myself with, particularly in my workspace. I love natural materials, mid-century design, mechanical details and things that have clearly been made with care.
When I looked at most fidget products, I didn't see much of that. There were plenty of colourful plastic toys, but relatively few objects I actually wanted sitting beside my laptop.
I started wondering: why shouldn't a fidget be as thoughtfully designed as everything else on your desk?
So I started Focus Lab
Focus Lab is my attempt to answer that question.
I'm designing analogue focus tools, fidgets and workspace objects for people who want somewhere for their restless energy to go, but don't want another screen, app or plastic gadget.
Objects made from materials like solid walnut and metal. Objects with satisfying switches, buttons, dials and movements. Things designed not only to feel good in your hands, but to look like they belong in a considered adult workspace.
Because people with busy minds deserve beautiful things too.
A slower workspace
I'm not trying to eliminate technology from our lives. I'm a designer and I use technology every day. It enables me to do extraordinary things.
I just don't think technology needs to occupy every moment.
Sometimes a physical interaction is enough. A switch beneath your thumb. The grain of wood in your hand. Something to reach for instead of your phone. A small ritual that brings you back to what you're doing.
That's the idea behind Focus Lab.
A slower workspace. A calmer day. And a little more space to focus on what matters.
The 5 principles
There are already enough things competing for our attention.
So when I started Focus Lab, I wanted to be clear about the kind of objects I wanted to put into the world.
Not more screens. Not complicated productivity systems. Not another plastic gadget or a system promising to optimise your life.
Just thoughtfully designed physical objects that feel good to use, look good in your workspace and perhaps make it a little easier to find your focus.
These are the five principles I keep coming back to.
1. Mindful focus
Focus isn't always about sitting perfectly still in complete silence.
Sometimes restless energy needs somewhere to go.
A switch beneath your thumb. A dial to turn while you're thinking. Something satisfying to occupy your hands while your mind stays with a conversation.
Focus Lab products are designed around these small interactions. Not to demand more of your attention, but to give that attention somewhere useful to settle.
2. Beautiful design
I don't think something has to look clinical or childish simply because it's designed to help you focus.
I want Focus Lab products to be objects you're happy to leave on your desk.
That means natural materials, satisfying mechanisms, considered proportions and an obsessive amount of attention paid to details that most people will probably never consciously notice.
Because people with busy minds deserve beautiful things too.
3. Designed for different minds
There isn't one correct way to concentrate.
Some people sit perfectly still. Others need to move. Some need silence. Others think better with music playing, a coffee in their hand or something to fidget with.
My own experience of ADHD has shaped the way I think about Focus Lab, but the idea is broader than any diagnosis.
It's about designing with restlessness and sensory needs in mind rather than treating them as something that always needs to be suppressed.
4. Screen-free rituals
We're surrounded by extraordinarily capable technology that has solved so many problems in our daily lives, but it's introduced new ones along the way.
Not every moment needs a screen.
Sometimes it's good to interact with something that can't notify you, update itself or tempt you into checking something else.
An analogue object simply waits until you need it.
Those little interactions can become rituals throughout the day. Something physical that brings you back to your desk, your hands and whatever you were actually trying to do.
5. Balance, not rejection
Focus Lab isn't anti-technology.
It's about balance.
I spend much of my own working life looking at a screen, and technology allows me to do things I couldn't have imagined even a few years ago.
Perhaps that's exactly why I've started valuing the physical world around it more.
The grain of wood. The weight of metal. The click of a mechanical switch. The resistance of a dial beneath your fingers.
In an increasingly frictionless, swipe-driven world, I think there's still room for things that are slower, more tactile and unmistakably physical.
That's what I want Focus Lab to make.
Beautiful objects for busy minds.
Will
Founder, Focus Lab
