Why does one quick check become 20 minutes?

While building CogniFocus, I realized most people don’t consciously decide to stop focusing.

It usually starts with “I’ll check one thing,” and then suddenly 15 minutes disappear. The dangerous part is how automatic it feels. You don’t intentionally quit the session; your brain just slowly drifts away from it.

That changed how I think about focus apps. A timer can track time, but it doesn’t react when your attention starts slipping. So, I started building around interruption recovery and attention protection instead of only counting minutes.

Curious if others experience the same thing too or if it’s just me?