One of the things I started to work on a bit last year was to reduce the number of notifications I get on my phone to checking the phone all the time.
The phone is something I use a lot for listening to music (Spotify), making payments and Twitter. I also use it to get around with Uber or Ola.
I use WhatsApp and Telegram. But also use Signal for checking my text messages. I use Todoist for dumping all the tasks into it.
I use Pocket and Kindle to read. My book reading is still very strongly paper based.
Last month I spent over 10 hours at an airport as part of a layover between flights. To kill sometime I spent organising my apps into folders and reducing the number of screens I had on my phone.
This is my first screen or rather home screen.
This is the second screen with all the apps setup in folders.
Two taps instead of one
I stopped opening some apps I often open as a default because of muscle memory.
Grouping all the apps also meant I need two taps instead of one to open an app. Which means one more mindful step.
I have removed the Facebook app from my phone.
This experiment is working out and I am going to have more tweaks to cut down even more of my time spent on the phone screen.
I want to at some stage get to the ultimate stage of not having Slack on my phone.
3 responses to “The phone screen and distraction”
Have you tried the Digital Wellbeing feature of Android? It shows you daily screen time usage (overall as well as app level) + allows you set timers for specific apps (1h for Instagram for example) – which when crossed will not allow you to access the app anymore. I have found it to be helpful in helping me reduce my screen time.
I have not tried it.
Honestly, more than tracking – I am trying to make sure I am not near the phone as much.
A thing I do is when I go out for walks, I do not carry my phone. Stuff like that.
Are you using this feature? And how is that helping you? I am quite interested in knowing.
I have gone off Twitter and Instagram and use Whatsapp barely during weekends. I also turn off notifications after dinner time. It has cut off a lot of unnecessary noise and negativity. If there is any need to connect with me, people can always pick up the phone and call.