As someone who generally enjoys her phone use, part of it might be that I opt to get very few notifications! I generally turn them off and tune out a lot of the remaining ones (like Target or the grocery store ads). The only ones that make a sound if my phone isnt already on silent: phone, text, messenger. And I would rather use the browser than an app about 50% of the time, so that cuts down on clutter and options for seeing notifications there, too. This made me look at what is on my home screen and do a little reordering, so that I don't have to search for the apps I use the most, because I feel like I spend too much time searching for them! But I think this goes along with setting this up so it is a better tool for me, and sometimes we need the reminder to review that and see if it is still serving us well.
Thanks for the shortcut on how toggle between color and black and white! That is really helpful. One thing I tried last week that helped me focus during work is using the auto-reply to text message feature of the "Driving Focus" on my iPhone. I customized the message and set it so I simply turned it on manually. I did allow text notifications from my spouse, children, and key colleagues, but other than that, I did not get any notifications unless the sender texted "urgent." My auto reply also told the sender to call if it was time sensitive/urgent. It worked great and I picked up my phone significantly less during my work day. It was great.
All great ideas. Some of them I have been applying for awhile particularly notifications. I always turn off notifications apart from an app that reminds me to move and text messages. My phone tells me via text if someone called and I don’t get any ring tone unless they are in my contacts - so easy to screen calls. I’m in two minds about removing my email app - it is handy to respond quickly and I don’t spend that long in it. I recently found the quick triple button press to remove colour because of your response to an earlier comment - before that I was very proud of the shortcut I setup 😆 which wasn’t as effective. I also recently deleted a lot of apps completely, discovered I didn’t need to install apps on the screen and rearranged everything to remove temptation a bit more. The idea of having a blank home screen is great - something else to try. I have recently started using ScreenZen - after paying for 1Sec but it was too tedious to setup and ScreenZen seems better as a reminder of the restrictions I have set on certain apps. I using the SubStack on my phone which leads to me writing long comments like this sometimes which isn’t the most ergonomic way to do it but 🤷♀️ it is convenient!
I turned my Android 13 black and white. If you need help doing it pls ping me. Enjoying it so far. It definitely feels less like a slot machine now. Taking and looking at pictures will be an issue but oh well. Otherwise, creating "friction" should be fruitful in reducing screen time.
For the photo issue, you can always toggle briefly back to color - and also, the photos will still be TAKEN in color even when you have it on b&w. I’m happy to hear this has been helpful!
Life changing advice. Thank you!!
As someone who generally enjoys her phone use, part of it might be that I opt to get very few notifications! I generally turn them off and tune out a lot of the remaining ones (like Target or the grocery store ads). The only ones that make a sound if my phone isnt already on silent: phone, text, messenger. And I would rather use the browser than an app about 50% of the time, so that cuts down on clutter and options for seeing notifications there, too. This made me look at what is on my home screen and do a little reordering, so that I don't have to search for the apps I use the most, because I feel like I spend too much time searching for them! But I think this goes along with setting this up so it is a better tool for me, and sometimes we need the reminder to review that and see if it is still serving us well.
Thanks for the shortcut on how toggle between color and black and white! That is really helpful. One thing I tried last week that helped me focus during work is using the auto-reply to text message feature of the "Driving Focus" on my iPhone. I customized the message and set it so I simply turned it on manually. I did allow text notifications from my spouse, children, and key colleagues, but other than that, I did not get any notifications unless the sender texted "urgent." My auto reply also told the sender to call if it was time sensitive/urgent. It worked great and I picked up my phone significantly less during my work day. It was great.
Yes! This is one of my favorite hacks! Thank you for reminding me to highlight it :)
All great ideas. Some of them I have been applying for awhile particularly notifications. I always turn off notifications apart from an app that reminds me to move and text messages. My phone tells me via text if someone called and I don’t get any ring tone unless they are in my contacts - so easy to screen calls. I’m in two minds about removing my email app - it is handy to respond quickly and I don’t spend that long in it. I recently found the quick triple button press to remove colour because of your response to an earlier comment - before that I was very proud of the shortcut I setup 😆 which wasn’t as effective. I also recently deleted a lot of apps completely, discovered I didn’t need to install apps on the screen and rearranged everything to remove temptation a bit more. The idea of having a blank home screen is great - something else to try. I have recently started using ScreenZen - after paying for 1Sec but it was too tedious to setup and ScreenZen seems better as a reminder of the restrictions I have set on certain apps. I using the SubStack on my phone which leads to me writing long comments like this sometimes which isn’t the most ergonomic way to do it but 🤷♀️ it is convenient!
I turned my Android 13 black and white. If you need help doing it pls ping me. Enjoying it so far. It definitely feels less like a slot machine now. Taking and looking at pictures will be an issue but oh well. Otherwise, creating "friction" should be fruitful in reducing screen time.
My wife is gonna be an even bigger CP fan when I show her this tonite!
For the photo issue, you can always toggle briefly back to color - and also, the photos will still be TAKEN in color even when you have it on b&w. I’m happy to hear this has been helpful!