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The self-imposed penalty is an optional commitment device managed on your FocusMe account. It adds a real financial cost to asking FocusMe support to stop a protected plan, so that an Assisted Stop request is something you think about rather than a reflex.
The penalty is not configured in the FocusMe app. It is set up on your account at focusme.com, and it only applies to stop requests sent to FocusMe support — not to challenges you complete yourself or to approvals from an accountability partner.

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How it fits with Assisted Stop

When a plan’s protection is too strict to stop on your own, FocusMe offers Assisted Stop (from the plan’s context menu or the Break Screen). The dialog gives you two routes:
  • Partner approval — the dialog’s main button sends the request to a trusted person you have added under Settings → Accountability, who approves or denies it. No penalty is involved.
  • Send Request to FocusMe — the FocusMe team reviews your reason and, if approved, stops the selected plans (or lowers their protection). If you have a self-imposed penalty on your account, this is the request it applies to.
FocusMe does not provide 24/7 support, so the app recommends an accountability partner for faster responses.

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Setting up a penalty

  1. Log in to your FocusMe account.
  2. Open the Self-Imposed Penalty section.
  3. Enable it and choose an amount that feels meaningful enough to make you reconsider.
Once enabled, the penalty cannot be lowered or removed from the account page — that is the point. You can increase it at any time, and you can contact support if your circumstances change.

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Tips

  • Start with a moderate amount. The goal is to make an override feel costly, not to be punitive.
  • Pair it with strong protection. Use Lock it Down or Enforced stop protection so that support is genuinely the only way out.
  • Consider an accountability partner instead, or as well. A partner responds faster than support and adds human judgement rather than a fee.