Fortis - Focus Guard

Fortis - Focus Guard

Take control of your attention with a Pomodoro timer, site blocker, task manager, and Stoic philosophy — all in one browser extension built for deep, distraction-free work.

WHY FORTIS?

Most productivity tools treat symptoms. Fortis treats the cause. By combining structured work intervals with active distraction blocking and the grounding wisdom of Stoic philosophy, it gives you a complete focus system rather than just another timer. Whether you're a student powering through coursework, a developer tackling a complex problem, or a professional trying to reclaim your day, Fortis turns your browser into a tool that works for you instead of against you.

POMODORO TIMER

The heart of Fortis is a fully customizable Pomodoro timer that helps you break your work into focused sessions separated by short, restorative breaks. The classic Pomodoro Technique — 25 minutes of focused work, 5 minutes of rest — has decades of research behind it, and Fortis lets you configure every aspect of it to fit your personal rhythm.

Set your focus session length anywhere from a few minutes to over an hour. Configure short breaks between sessions and long breaks after every few cycles. Decide whether sessions advance automatically so your flow is never interrupted, or keep manual control so each transition is intentional. The number of sessions before a long break is fully adjustable, letting you build sprint-and-recovery cycles that match how your energy actually works through the day.

A smooth animated progress ring surrounds the timer display so you can gauge remaining time at a glance without fixating on the countdown. Desktop notifications alert you at the end of every session, and optional completion sounds mark the transition without requiring you to keep the popup open. Keyboard shortcuts let you start, pause, and reset the timer without breaking your flow. The timer continues running in the background even when the popup is closed, so you can work with a full screen and let Fortis track your session quietly.

SITE BLOCKER AND DISTRACTION TRACKING

The site blocker is where Fortis moves beyond a simple timer into genuine attention management. During focus sessions, the sites you've flagged as distracting are blocked automatically — no willpower required. When you try to visit a blocked site, you're redirected to a calm blocked page that displays a Stoic quote instead of rewarding the distraction with content.

Building your blocklist takes seconds. Add domains directly in the extension settings, and Fortis handles subdomain matching so that adding a domain covers all its variations. The blocked page itself is designed to interrupt the automatic habit loop: you see a quote, you're reminded of your intention, and you have a moment to decide whether to override the block or return to your work.

Beyond session-based blocking, Fortis also supports a scheduled blocking mode. Set specific time windows during the day when certain sites should always be blocked, independent of whether a Pomodoro session is running. This is ideal for the morning hours when you want to protect your deep work time, or the evening when you're trying to maintain a study or work routine without relying on willpower in the moment.

Every time you encounter a blocked site, the extension logs it. Your distraction count is visible in the analytics tab, giving you a concrete view of how often certain sites pull at your attention. This data is private and local — it's for your self-awareness, not anyone else's analysis.

TASK MANAGER

Fortis includes a lightweight but capable task manager built directly into the extension. Instead of switching to a separate app every time you want to log what you're working on, you can create and manage tasks right from the popup.

Each task supports priority levels (high, medium, low) so you can immediately identify what matters most. Tasks can be organized by category, making it easy to separate professional work, personal projects, study sessions, or any other domain you switch between during the day. You can also attach a Pomodoro estimate to each task — how many focused sessions you expect it to require — which helps with planning and gives you a satisfying sense of progress as sessions tick down.

Clicking into a task focuses the timer on it specifically. The current task name is visible during the session so you always know what you're meant to be doing. Tasks support inline editing so updates don't require navigating away or opening a form. Completed tasks are visually separated so you can see what you've accomplished without the list feeling cluttered.

This task-focused session model bridges the gap between time management and attention management: you're not just running a timer, you're running a timer for a specific piece of work, which keeps every session purposeful.

ANALYTICS AND STREAKS

Fortis tracks your productivity over time so you can understand your patterns and build sustainable habits. The analytics tab shows completed Pomodoro sessions, total focused time, and distraction counts. A seven-day heatmap gives you a visual overview of your recent output, making it easy to spot which days were productive and which were scattered.

Day streaks reward consistency. Every day you complete at least one focused session adds to your streak, creating a lightweight habit loop that motivates showing up even on low-energy days. Streaks reset when you miss a day, which sounds harsh but is actually clarifying: the goal is consistent daily practice, not heroic bursts.

All of your analytics data lives in local storage. There are no cloud dashboards, no accounts, and no syncing with external services. The numbers are yours, and they stay on your device.

STOIC PHILOSOPHY

Stoicism and the Pomodoro Technique share a core belief: discipline, practiced consistently, leads to a better life. Fortis makes this connection explicit by weaving Stoic wisdom throughout the experience.

More than 37 carefully selected quotes from Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, Seneca, and other Stoic philosophers are built into the extension. They appear on blocked pages — the moment when you've tried to visit a distraction and the extension intercepts you is exactly when a reminder about focus and intentional living has the most impact. A daily quote rotation means you'll encounter fresh perspectives regularly rather than seeing the same text until it stops registering.

This isn't decoration. Many users report that the blocked-page quotes are the most memorable part of the experience — a quiet prompt to ask whether this distraction serves your goals, paired with a voice from two thousand years ago who was thinking about the same problem.

CUSTOMIZATION AND THEMES

Fortis supports dark, light, and system-matched themes. The dark theme uses a deep navy background with gold accents for focus sessions and teal accents for break sessions — visually distinct states that reinforce the mental shift between work and rest. The light theme is clean and minimal.

Session completion overlays provide a satisfying visual confirmation when a Pomodoro finishes. These can be enabled or disabled based on your preference. Notification behavior, sound preferences, and auto-advance settings are all configurable in the options page, so you can build an experience that fits how you work without being locked into defaults.

PRIVACY AND DATA

Fortis collects nothing. All data — your tasks, settings, blocklist, analytics, and streaks — is stored locally using your browser's built-in storage. Nothing is transmitted, no account is required, and there are no third-party services involved in the core extension functionality.

The options page includes a full data export feature so you can back up your tasks and settings at any time. Exported data can be re-imported, making it easy to migrate between devices or browsers. For users who want to analyze their productivity data in other tools, the export format is straightforward JSON.

Fortis works in both Chrome and Firefox. The Chrome version includes optional integration with Google Tasks and Google Sheets for users who want to sync tasks or log sessions to a spreadsheet — but this is entirely optional and requires you to supply your own OAuth credentials. The core extension works completely offline and without any external connections.

WHO FORTIS IS FOR

Fortis is for anyone who spends significant time in a browser and wants to work with more intention. Students who need to study without falling into social media loops. Developers who want structured work sprints with enforced breaks. Writers who need to protect their drafting time. Professionals who've tried and abandoned simpler productivity tools and want something with more depth.

If you've used Pomodoro timers before and found them too simple — just a countdown with no connection to what you're actually trying to do — Fortis adds the missing layers: a task system that makes each session purposeful, a blocker that enforces the focus you've committed to, and analytics that show whether your habits are working.

If you're new to the Pomodoro Technique, Fortis is a complete starting point. The defaults are sensible, the interface is clean, and you can expand into the customization and analytics features as you build confidence in the method.

GETTING STARTED

After installing, click the extension icon to open the popup. Set a task, click start, and your first focused session begins. The site blocker activates automatically based on your session state — add your first distraction to the blocklist in settings, and the next time you try to visit it during a focus session, you'll see a Stoic quote instead.

Your focus is a finite resource. Fortis helps you use it well.