Your Phone Is Destroying Your Focus

Are you constantly checking your phone?

You are destroying your focus if so.

Try these 7 steps to boost your mental performance.

Did you know that the majority of adults spend 5-6 hours on their phone each day?

Yes you can work from your phone. Most of those hours are wasted though. If you want to win back your focus, you need to introduce some friction.

1) No notifications

As in nothing but calls ringing. At a minimum use the Do Not Disturb features during your focused work time.

2) Greyscale

The colours on your screen draw you in. Images, videos, even the app icons. Use a shortcut (e.g. triple home button on ios) to quickly turn your phone's screen black & white only. Way more boring to look at.

3) Time Limits

Check your screen time stats to see the biggest time sucks. Limit them. 15mins is enough time to check in a couple of times a day.

4) Out of sight

Is your phone lying right next to your laptop?

You will check it. Put it out of sight. Best even put it across the room.

This was easy so far. No real harm done. But if you have tried the above with no effect, you need to go further. Ever heard of a 'distraction-free' phone?

I have tried it for the last 30days and it has changed my life. The idea comes from the book "Make Time"

5) No Social media Delete them all

FOMO kicking in, I know. But this is probably the biggest enemy of your focus. I have deleted these apps from my phone and it is incredibly freeing.

6) No Email

But you need email for work, right?

So do I. But when do we write emails on our phones? When we are with our kids, or waiting in line somewhere, right? That is not focused work, that is just being busy.

7) No internet Delete your browser

Because if you don't, steps 5&6 won't work. You will still go on Twitter on your phone... If you really need a browser, you can install it in a few seconds.

I thought the distraction-free phone was too much until I tried it. Do it and you will notice your unhealthy habits associated with your phone: • Emails in the bathroom • Social Media when with your kids • Constantly checking for notifications

If you are serious about boosting your focus, build friction into the time wasters on your phone. Better still, delete them from it.

Recap

Step 1: No notifications

Step 2: Greyscale

Step 3: Time limits

Step 4: Out of sight

Step 5: No social media

Step 6: No Email

Step 7: No internet