You don’t need another to-do list.
You need the moment caught.
Productivity tools organize intentions. COYL interrupts avoidance. The tab switch takes half a second. Recovery costs 23 minutes — if you ever actually recover. COYL fires before the gesture completes.
23-minute recovery cost: Mark et al., 2008 — The cost of interrupted work, UC Irvine.
AI for the moment before behavior happens.
"Just one tab."
It’s 11 minutes later. The deep-work block is gone. The hard task is still there. You will pretend tomorrow is different.
"I’ll start after this email."
Five emails in. None were urgent. You filled an hour with the appearance of work and the actual work didn’t move.
"My brain is mush, I need a snack."
You’re not hungry. You’re avoiding the spreadsheet. The snack is the ritual that lets you not start.
"I’ll restart Monday."
It’s Wednesday. Last Monday you said the same. The week is the unit of pretending.
Tab switch. Excuse. Interrupt. Back in the block.
The procrastination loop runs the same way every time. COYL fires at step 2.
Stage
Tab-switch → interrupt
You reach for the tab. COYL fires before the thumb completes the gesture. "You’re about to do the thing you said you’d stop doing. Three minutes left in the block. Stay."
Stage
Excuse → callout
Every excuse you’ve used this week is a category. COYL names the category back at you. "That’s your DELAY excuse. You’ve used it 4 times this week."
Stage
Slip → same-block recovery
You doom-scrolled for 8 minutes. The block isn’t dead. No streak reset. No Monday restart. The next 22 minutes still count.
COYL catches them in your head.
- "I’ll just check Twitter for 5 minutes."
- "I’m too tired to focus. I’ll restart after lunch."
- "I just need to read this one thing."
- "I deserve a break."
- "My brain is fried. Tomorrow."
- "I’ll do the hard thing after the easy ones."
Same engine
COYL for weight loss catches the 9 PM kitchen. COYL for procrastination catches the 11 AM Twitter tab. Different trigger, same loop. A compulsion is happening before you decide. COYL fires in the half-second between the impulse and the action.
For employers
Workplace procrastination is the #1 hidden coston every knowledge-worker P&L.
The average focus session is destroyed every 11 minutes. The recovery cost is 23. Multiply by your headcount. COYL embeds in the workflow as the interrupt your team actually wants. Outcome reporting available.
11-minute interruption cadence: Microsoft Work Trend Index, 2023. 23-minute recovery cost: Mark et al., 2008 (UC Irvine).
For partners →