Your phone addiction is killing your focus

Over 50% of people spend more than 5 hours on their cell phones daily (source). Yes, you read that right.

We take them to bed with us.

We text and surf while driving.

We pull them out during meals.

We even use them while in the bathroom.

Our phones go everywhere with us and it’s not healthy. A few years ago I realized that I was spending too much time on my phone. I tried all different strategies to spend less time, but it always seemed that time crept up and up and up.

With the launching of my podcast, I’ve had to revisit how I’m addressing my addiction to my phone.

And, let’s stop lying to ourselves, most of us are in fact addicted.

But unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to go cold turkey and not use a cell phone. So, we’re left with finding some coping mechanisms that allow us to operate without removing the stimulus.

Below are some ideas to spend less time on your phone.

Turn off your notifications

Notifications are distraction machines. Everytime you’re distracted, it takes 23 minutes to regain full focus (source). Yes, you read that right.

Even though you think you’re still operating, there is residual attention left each time you switch contexts. It takes time for that residual attention to switch fully.

By turning off all but the essential notifications, you’re allowing your attention to stay focused on what’s in front of you and removing the cue to check your phone.

Let’s be real: every time you get a notification, you end up checking other things as well.

Remove time-wasting apps

Too often when we’re bored and will just pull out our phone to get rid of the boredom. When we do this we’re not only creating a persona that’s always looking to be entertained, but we’re overriding our brains natural process during boredom.

When we’re bored, it allows our brains to process information and organize it. It’s in these moments that we get clarity and can feel rested. We’re creating our own hells of busyness by being stuck to our phones.

I’ve removed most games (I only leave on games that aren’t day-to-day temptations) and all news apps. I’d encourage you to do the same, as well as any others that you find filling spaces that were once void.

Utilize Do Not Disturb (DND) modes

DND modes are a gift. They allow you to find pockets of time to focus on your work and get rid of outside distractions.

DND can be deployed:

• at work, while either doing deep work or in meetings
• in the car
• at dinner
• while speaking to your spouse
• at night
• basically anytime you should be focused on what’s in front of you

Turn off app icons

That app icon is calling out to you… “click me, click me”. Too often it draws us right in.

When I turned my app icons off, it was amazing all the apps I abandoned the next day.

I used to check breaking news (before I removed those apps) daily, but afterwards I never opened the app.

I used to check my stock portfolio, only to realize I hadn’t checked it in weeks.

I used to catch every email as soon as it came in. Now when I leave work I don’t check email until the next day.

You have to be careful with this, as it can backfire and create an itch to check an app constantly. But I’d much rather deal with that than the addiction of checking every app icon.

If you start feeling the need to check, you can always do the next suggestion…

Leave your phone in the other room

Your phone even being in the room takes up attention. Having your phone face down on the table is just as bad as being on it (source).

When you leave your phone in the other room you don’t have the temptation to get on it. You can do this at work, when you arrive home, or when you go to bed.

Keeping your phone beyond arm’s length will change your relationship with it. What do you do with a relationship that’s not respecting boundaries? You recreate boundaries.

Other resources

There are some great resources on dealing with distractions and how to live in this new always-connected world. Along with the sources mentioned above, here are some of my favorite resources:

Ryan Holiday: A Radical Guide to Spending Less Time on Your Phone

Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport (aff)

Make Time by Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky (aff) - this is a much broader system, but has some great strategies for fighting screen time.

A World Without Email by Cal Newport (aff) - this will make you rethink the way you work in general. I highly recommend it!

‍