We spend a lot of time on our phones… Did you know that, on average, we spend 2.5 hours each day on social media platforms ?
That’s 17.5 hours each week! Almost an entire day! Isn’t that insane?
While cell phones are excellent communication and work tools, they often steal our focus and concentration. It’s not entirely your fault, though. Many apps, especially social media, are designed to keep you glued to the screen for hours. That’s why we want to share a few practices to help you stay less distracted by your phone and boost your productivity. 5 practices to get less distracted from your phone and increase your productivity.
1. CONTROL NOTIFICATIONS
One of the main reasons we keep grabbing our phones is because of notifications . We hear the vibration and feel the urge to check it immediately. But how many of those notifications are truly important? On a typical day, you’ll receive numerous notifications about the weather, promotional emails for products you don’t need, celebrity news you don’t care about, or updates from a YouTuber you barely follow. How much of this information is relevant to make your day more productive and less distracting? Just a few, right? To tackle this issue, simply go to the ” Settings ” menu on your phone and choose which types of notifications you want to receive from each app.
2. ORGANIZE APPS
James Clear, in his book Atomic Habits , mentions that we often adopt bad habits because they are so easy to get them. How many clicks or taps does it take to open a social media app and get quickly absorbed by it? Probably just one or two. James Clear suggests that to break a bad habit, you need to “make it difficult.” One way to do this is by organizing your home screen into different categories or folders, placing social media apps at the end. For example: Screen/Folder 1: Business and Work Screen/Folder 2: Daily Utilities Screen/Folder 3: Social Media Your phone not only will be more organized, but this way will create a “longer” path to access social media apps.
3. REMOVE WHAT YOU DON’T NEED
First, ask yourself when was the last time you used “X” app. If the answer is two weeks or more, just delete it. But to make this step more efficient, ask a second question regarding those platforms you use daily: Is this app time-consuming and does it fail to contribute positively to my productivity? If the answer is YES → Eliminate it. Sometimes, it’s much easier to remove some apps—at least for a while—if you find yourself struggling with concentration work.
4. TRY A FOCUS APP TO LIMIT THE USABILITY
There are many apps that help you decrease your time on the phone and focus on what’s important. The core function of these tools is to block distracting apps for a certain period of time They are very useful, especially if you still want to have some moments during the day to enjoy Instagram, TikTok or any other social media platform. Here are some of the most popular ones on the market:
5. TRY BETTER SOLUTIONS FOR COMMUNICATION
Why not switch to a different technology to truly eliminate the constant distractions of smartphones? The use of basic phones has been increasing over the last few years because of these issues. These devices focus on enhancing basic functions with high-quality hardware and software while eliminating unnecessary features . Here are some advantages of basic phones.
- You get no distractions whatsoever.
- You focus on what is really important.
- You will boost your productivity.
- They are compatible with Kosher standards.
If you would like to know more about these devices, check out Keyphone’s website .
6. Take aways.
There isn’t a single truth or practice to eliminate phone distractions. You need to find what works best for you and be consistent with its implementation. Have you tried any of the mentioned practices before? Do you use any other that helps you? Let us know in your comments…