"Most focus apps keep counting time even after your brain has already disappeared into TikTok or Instagram."
That frustration is what drove Qasim Khan, a software engineer and founder of CogniElevate, to build CogniFocus. He noticed that existing tools measured time without measuring attention - a timer running while someone doom-scrolls is not tracking focus, it's just tracking presence. He wanted to build something that actually reacted when attention slipped rather than silently ignoring it.
The solution took an unexpected form. Qasim started with a character he called the Goblin - an accountability companion that would roast him whenever he drifted off during a session. What began as a personal chaos agent eventually became the identity of the whole app.
Reactive, Not Passive
CogniFocus works by detecting when a user has slipped into distraction during a focus session. When that happens, the app can intervene through app blocking, overlays, recovery nudges, and reactive messages that escalate depending on how the user responds. The Goblin's tone and urgency change based on behavior rather than firing the same notification every time.
Qasim built it primarily for students, creators, developers, and anyone struggling with ADHD or habitual app-switching. The long-term vision is to expand beyond the Goblin to multiple companion personalities with completely different accountability styles - giving users a choice of how their attention is managed and who calls them out when it is not.
The underlying philosophy is that behavioral systems should respond to what is actually happening, not just log it. CogniFocus is available now at cognifocus.app.
