The more distractions there are, the harder it is to keep our focus locked on what you're doing in the present moment. That's an issue, both because it makes us a less active participant in our own lives, and it's not great for our mental health if we're always introspecting. It's an issue startup Atlas is looking to remedy with its first product, a wearable EEG designed to monitor how present we are.

Atlas 1.0 sticks to the skin behind your ear on an adhesive pad, recording your brain waves, electrodermal activity, movement and voice signature. It runs this through an algorithm which, its makers claim, can then quantify where your cognitive and attentional resources are pointed. If the metrics say you were focused inward, but you were with family at the time, then you probably weren't too engaged.

Open the (iOS only) app, and you'll be able to understand how present you are, how well you perform under pressure and how well you recover from stress. From there, you'll log what you were doing at each stage of your day so you can work out what was good and what wasn't. The broader intention is that you'll be able to identify the states and situations that bring out the best in you, and do more of those.

Those worried about the implications of a wearable capturing your voice signature should know Atlas 1.0 doesn't capture your speech. Instead, it records the speaking activity and patterns as a way of identifying the state you're in at any given time.

Of course, it's early days and so there's no way to tell how successful Atlas 1.0 will be in helping you achieve your goals. But the company is launching pre-orders for the first run of the hardware with a keen eye on the marginal gains crowd. It'll cost you $500, plus an additional $30 monthly subscription to keep your sensors and adhesives replenished