⏱️ The Best Minute: 3 ways to eliminate phone distractions
💡 1 IDEA FROM ME
If you’re like most people, your phone is the biggest distractor in your life. To boost focus and productivity you need to rule your phone instead of having your phone rule you. Below are 3 highly practical ways to reduce phone distractions and take back control over your attention.
1. Turn off all notifications
There is no reason to give your phone more incentive for you to check it relentlessly. Most of us are already addicted and you’re going to check the apps you care about anyway. Why then, do you allow yourself to be distracted by dings and vibrations repeatedly? No one can focus in that kind of environment.
If you really want to rule your phone, you can’t give it any invitations to disrupt your focus. I recommend turning off every single notification of any kind on all of your apps.
Yes, this includes text messages. No dings, no red dots on the app indicating you have an unread message. You’ll naturally check texts regularly out of habit, so there is no need to be notified of every individual text. The only exception I make are phone calls when I am not in a time block of high productivity for me. Even then, most people rarely call anymore (and any phone number not in my address book automatically gets sent to voicemail), so my phone pretty much never dictates when I check it.
If turning off all notifications seems too drastic, you can start by turning off non-essential notifications first.
2. Put it somewhere you have to physically move to access it
If you turn off all notifications and put it on the other side of the room, you’ll likely more than 10X decrease the times you unnecessarily check your phone.
Having your phone sitting out in your line of sight is mentally taxing; there are so many things you can do on it that are easier and more fun than the task at hand. Instead, put it out of sight and increase the friction it takes to pick it up when you’re in a time of focus
3. Take email off your phone
This is the least likely one you’ll do. I know this because this is where I always get the most resistance. Unfortunately, it may be the single most effective way to quit wasting time. Remember, email is invited distraction. Often, you check email on your phone out of habit, not even because you want to. And then you're inundated with things to do and people to respond to.
What a terrible thing to do to yourself all day.
Delete the app. You can also sign in on a web browser if you need to check something, but even that extra friction will greatly reduce the amount of time you waste checking email on your phone.
Only do this if you’re serious about eliminating distractions from your phone, otherwise don’t do this. Or you can keep living a distracted life with your phone. The choice is yours.
Next week in The Best Minute I’ll share the biggest reason you’re not doing more of the thing you want to be doing, so be sure to check back next Tuesday.
💬 2 QUOTES FROM OTHERS
I. Napoleon Hill on the importance of preparation:
“Remember that it is not the lawyer who knows the most law, but the one who best prepares his case, who wins.”
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II. Philip K. Dick on facing the hard things in life:
“Reality denied comes back to haunt.”
📖 1 BRIEF BOOK REVIEW
I enjoyed this look at what technological progress might look like in the future for everyday people. Written in 2016 yet it still could have been written in 2024. I particularly enjoyed how it was not doom and gloom but rather (I think) realistic and even hopeful in some ways.
I felt the book was a little long, and sometimes a little hard to track with (as someone not in the technology field), yet I would still recommend it if you’re interested in this kind of thing.
7/10
🤔 1 QUESTION TO LEAVE YOU WITH
Do you really need more time, or do you need to make a decision?
