24 tips for Santa

Dear Santa,

I hope you’re doing okay—though, if I’m honest, I’m not entirely convinced you are.

In this letter, I want to share every day a until christmas a new tip, as well as features and settings in one sec that can help you (and anyone else reading this) move through the most stressful time of the year—maybe even through one of the hardest seasons of life.

My tips are about setting priorities, gaining more focus, doing self care and reflection, which I feel you could need most. If you still feel overwhelmed with the dark season, you can find a list of links for support at the end of this article.

The Tips

December 24th

Not every feature here is for everyone, Santa.  Feel free to experiment and try out the features you might find interesting.

🎅 Pick 3-5 features from this list that genuinely resonate with your struggles right now. Start small. Build gradually. one sec is a tool box, not a taskmaster. Customize it to serve your needs, not to add another layer of pressure to your already overwhelming season.

December 23rd

If the task seems to be doable immediately, think about how much time you want to give yourself.

🌟 The Delayed Intervention will get you out of the app without intervening before – a fixed point for orientation like the Northstar. Perfect to reply to short messages from Mrs. Santa on Insta without getting lost in the latest beard and moustache trend reels.

December 22nd

Sometimes a tasks needs a little more time, so it’s good to be reminded how much time has passed – to get us back into the real world.

✨  If you don’t know how long you need to spend on a task, gently remind yourself with “Don’t get lost” Notifications.

December 21st

If you still get lost in distractions, let the bells ring longer for you.

🔔 Let the cookie jar wander up in the shelves, everytime you snack “just one more”.

The “Increase with Usage” feature does this with your intervention. Every attempt will elongate the next intervention.

December 20th

If you feel lo-ho-how: Set a tone you want to talk to yourself.

🎶 While you don’t have to be joyous like christmas carols, being gentle and kind and honest with yourself will literally not hurt you.

With Breathing Prompts you can adjust the text of your breathing intervention fitting to your situation. You can add Default prompts as well as app-specific prompts. Add things you want to think or be aware about, before opening an app –

December 19th

It can hard to see your progress. Make your (Santa) Clause and Effect visible!

🎄 one sec visualizes your progress in nice diagrams and comparisons.

See how much time you’ve saved already – watching your progress reflected in numbers is incredibly motivating! Also it can help you see how you are doing.

December 18th

If the 12 m high dinosaur figur for little Bobby can wait, so can you – and finish the tasks that are not done yet instead.

🦕 Stop multitasking /or procrastinating, Santa. Every task needs a certain amount of energy, so give your time to think about which ones you want to use it on.

The Immediate Intervention is one sec’s core feature, adding friction to opening apps so we have time to reevaluate our decisions.

December 17th

Since it’s good for mood, mind and body: Gently remind your self to do some sports.

🛷 Riding a sleigh all night and climbing chimneys will take a toll on your mind and body. Be prepared – and put in some strength and cardio sessions.

December 16th

Ask yourself, if a task is doable immediately or if it can wait.

🎁 Instead of starting to work on a life-size Dino-Action figure last minute, instead of wrapping the other presents, reflect if this is a viable and doable. Don’t throw yourself in uncertain situations!

The Always Ask Intervention let you decide, if you want to wait immediately or will be intervened later after entering directly into the app.

December 15th

Not everything has to be about Christmas all of the time, Santa.

🏝️ Remember your summer vacation, Santa. Maybe you can learn some Spanish with Lengo.

December 14th

Do you ever overeat on cold milk and warm cookies?

🥛 The darker time of the year makes it more attractive to fall into the dopamine traps, starting with consumables like food and alcohol to digital media.

The Adult Content Detox can help you to block adult content easily – you can also add other websites and lock these settings for fixed time on your device. Also there are several locks to hinder you meddle with your settings in one sec.

December 13th

If you notice that you feel stuck, on edge or stressed, breathe deeply.

 ⛄  Those Breathing techniques may help you calm down fast. Breathwork is used and recommend for stress release.

December 12th

How do you remember your last reflection in a mirror ?

🪞 – and how often did you fight the urge to shave?

Use the Mirror Intervention to literally see yourself before opening an app. Sometimes seeing our own face—really seeing it—is enough to snap us out of autopilot. Pair this with the "You Sure About That?" intervention for an extra moment of clarity, before making decisions.

December 11th

How would your loved ones talk to you right now? What would you talk about?

 🤶 Set up Healthy Alternatives that redirect you from social media to actually reaching out to someone. Or doing alternative Instead of endless scrolling through strangers' lives, send a real message to someone who matters. The Christmas season is about connection—make it real.

December 10th

Maybe sit down with a hot cup of tea from time to time and give your situation some thoughts.

 🍵 You journal just once a year, don’t you, Santa? Journaling stabilizes mood, lowers emotional pressure and releases stress from the neurosystem. Q

The Journaling feature let journal pop up as intervention. Instead of scrolling, you can process your emotions writing your diary!

December 9th

And also for how long will you do this? You already have a long white beard.

🦌 Your crew on the sleigh just formed an union to stop your burn-out. Sometimes all we need is a little Reindeer-vention.

December 8th

What is your reason to continue with this? It’s okay to ask.

 🕯️ Intentions feel often like a guiding light in the dark. It can help you prioritizing and motivating yourself, fighting feelings of scattered focus and overwhelmedness.

The Intention Tracking Feature will ask you for your intention everytime you continue to open an app after the initial intervention.

December 7th

Your cookies taste like nothing, while Bruno Polarbear asks you over his cup of hot chocolate: Are you really okay? A little check-in with yourself could be wise.

 🐻‍❄️ Your emotions matter. Since emotions are volatile and change fast, it is especially hard to remember how we felt or how we are doing. Checking in with your emotions regularily can be helpful in reducing stressby helping you identify and understand emotional triggers and patterns, which allows you to take steps to manage stress and improve your mental health. [Q]

With our emotion tracking feature enabled you will get a notification asking you how you feel after using an app, all info will be saved in Apple Health.

December 6th

You shouldn’t have Rudolfs Carrot, your To-Do List, the half read wishlist mails, Mrs. Santas lunchbox, your toy prototypes, some old socks and your secretary Barry (which you didn’t seen for days) stuffed in your present sack.

🧝 Diverse tasks can mean much mental clutter if all happens in one space. In the darker times, a lot of pressure is put on us from different sides: Work, Family, Finances & Traveling eat up easily your time. It’s important to prioritize and focus.

You can use one sec’s focus filter to better adjust (Intervene, Longer Intervention, Block, Don’t intervene) its behavior to those different contexts, like:

• On the Sleigh (On the Way)

• Chimney Time (Work)

• Work-Shop (Work)

• Family & Elves (Family & Friends)

• Santa-Time (Self Care, DND)

• Reading Letters (Study)

December 5th

Instead of having a public meltdown searching for your belt last minute, it could be wise to plan your days (realistically). You don’t need to get everything done in just one day in the year.

📅  Planners can help to reduce the daily load to a doable amount – and follow long term goals.

one sec offers an integration for Structured.

December 4th

Christmas eve will recur. Just like winter or that one not white hair in your beard. Be prepared.

💫  Your tasks vary but some you have to do every day, or once a week. With recurring schedules it easy to make time for what you have to do.

You can create Recurring blocks to Block app(s) completely to preset days and times.

Pro Tip: Also you can use your saved Recurred Blocks as categories for your spontanous Block Sessions.

December 3rd

Before diving deep into a chimney, taking a good deep breath of cold winter air can help you get through the messiest, darkest and tightest chimneys.

❄️ Some tasks are more fun than others – and it’s harder to concentrate. There are luckily different ways to gain more focus.

In one sec we implemented these Breathwork Interventions to increase your focus. Please notice that Cyclic Sighing should only be used by people who are breathing pros.

December 2nd

Don’t stop just because of the soot on your hat and beard: You know you can switch from one chimney to the next like it’s nothing.

🍪 Changing from task to task or switching between places can feel very frictive, but is often needed. Try to plan and build flows – to use your momentum!

Using Intentional App Switching you can come back in a certain time interval without having to do an intervention again, allowing you a better work flow.

December 1st

Decide which things the snow can cover for a while. You don’t need to think about your sleigh or reindeers while you are crafting toys.

☃️ Everything has its time.

The feature Block Session can help you block distractive apps and websites completely for a preset time.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please reach out to a professional. Apps can support, but they can't replace human connection and care.

Worldwide Directories

• Find a Helpline (global database): https://findahelpline.com Search by country for suicide prevention, mental health, and crisis hotlines.

• HelpGuide.org Suicide Prevention Resources: https://www.helpguide.org/find-help.htm Provides hotline listings, text/chat options, and advice on what to say when reaching out.

• Befrienders Worldwide: https://www.befrienders.org Email and phone support in 30+ countries, non-judgmental listening.

• Lifeline International: https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/ Links to hotlines and crisis centers across the globe.

Free Online & App-Based Crisis Support

• 7 Cups: https://www.7cups.com — Free chat with trained listeners & therapists.
• IMAlive: https://www.imalive.org — Online crisis chat with trained volunteers.
• Therapist Aid Directory: https://www.therapyden.com — Filter by sliding scale, online therapy, location.
• For people from Germany and Ukraine we recommend krisenchat.de – we know the people behind it and they do outstanding work.

Lucas Strehle
December 1, 2025