How do New York Times journalists use technology in their jobs and in their personal lives? Tejal Rao, the California restaurant critic based in Los Angeles, discussed the tech she’s using.

What are your most important tech tools for doing your work as our first California restaurant critic?

My phone is such a big part of my daily reporting. I use it to make reservations, to take a quick note during dinner, to document menus and dishes and to record a snippet of audio here and there.

I also need to totally disconnect from my phone when I’m writing or I don’t get anything done. I use an app called Forest to help me manage the precious hours I spend sitting at my desk and typing. Forest plants a little tree on a timer, and then for the amount of time you’ve picked, it reminds you not to check Twitter or whatever tends to distract you. It doesn’t lock you out; it just reminds you very gently to go away, put your phone down and let the tree grow. It shouldn’t work so well, but I love my dumb digital trees. Forest, combined with the white noise of Rainy Mood on my headphones, is the only way I get any writing done.