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- 22 | 📱 Making my phone work for me, not against
22 | 📱 Making my phone work for me, not against
I am addicted to my phone. There. I said it. It's likely you are too.
But, is it really a bad thing? I think it probably is.
Most of us are addicted to our phone via the use of social media - and keeping in touch with others isn't a bad thing.
It becomes bad when it takes you out of the present moment. Maybe you're mid conversation, or mid thought, and a phone vibration pulls you out of the real world and into the virtual one.
I like to think of checking my phone as checking the fridge when I'm not hungry. Who knows what might be in there since the last time I checked?
Oh, right. It's another ASOS email.
My phone is an amazing, pocket sized supercomputer - and yet I use 1/100th of its ability. Most of the time, I'll go to use it with good intentions, only to be sidetracked by Instagram or a quick video on YouTube.
Surely there's a way to get more out of it, whilst preventing it from being such a distraction?
Luckily, Coach Tony has it all figured out.
In his 7 minute long essay, he lists 45 different ways to make your phone time more productive. By productive, he means better for your health, relationships and for getting sh*t done.
Here are 5 of my favourite tips.
1. ❌ Turn Off Notifications - Especially Social Media
I'm no messiah, but I actually was in the process of doing this already.
I almost solely communicate through Whatsapp, along with a small amount of Instagram DMs, and I haven't had notifications switched on for either since January.
It's really not as bad as you'd think. Turning off Instagram notifications is an obvious one, but WhatsApp?
When I'm midway through doing something, and my phone starts buzzing away as the group chat kicks off, I might as well pack up for the day. I'm not finishing what I started. So, I turned them off.
And I rarely miss anything.
Settings > Notifications > Select App > Allow Notifications [OFF]
2. 🔕 No really - turn off ALL notifications
It's safe to say Coach Tony despises the red badge notifications that sit proudly on the app icons.
Badges are the red dots with numbers in them that give you anxiety that there’s something important going on in that app. You’ll live longer if you never see another badge.
It's true - it can be incredibly frustrating when you open an app for the sole purpose of getting rid of the red badge and it. won't. budge.
99% of the red badge notifications are useless anyway.
ASOS sale? Don't care.
Suggested follows on Twitter? Didn't ask.
New emails in my inbox? What a surprise.
Turn them all off, apart from the phone app so that you can see missed calls, and apart from the calendar app ('Not missing appointments is basically the entire point of a cell phone').
Settings > Notifications > Select App > Badges [OFF]
3. ⌨️ Learn to swipe type
All iPhones and Android phones should have this feature by default, and if yours doesn't, download 'Google Keyboard'.
At first it'll feel weird, but learn to swipe from one letter to another to type out a word.
You'll write much faster, and the keyboard will learn as you go along to become more accurate.
This is great if you've got fat fingers too (like me). The keys are so small to peck type!
4. 📵 Turn Off Raise to Wake
I think this is an excellent tip.
When we pick up our phones, the screen lights up and gives us a snapshot of what we've missed.
Our natural impulse is to clear the notifications, just like wiping a slate clean. Ready for the next pull of the slot machine - maybe next time, it'll be a new Instagram follower?
Raise to wake often activates accidentally too, if it gets moved or knocked.
If you want to take a look at your notifications, you want it to be on your terms, not when you're midway through an email.
Settings > Display & Brightness > Raise to Wake [OFF]
5. ⏱ Add the Screen Time Widget to Your Home Screen
This one makes sense. I'm trying to cut down on phone usage, but more importantly, social media / not-useful app usage.
Having it right there on my screen when I unlock the phone is a great reminder, and one that I can't hide from.
It goes without saying that this works hand in hand with app timers. At the moment, I've set Instagram to 30 mins, and Twitter to 1 hour.
I always hit the 30 minute Instagram timer, and used to hit it when it was an hour.
Just think - 1 hour a day of Instagram, out of a total 16. 1/16th of my day staring at Instagram and comparing my life to others.
What a waste of my short time on this planet!
Anyway. Coach Tony's article is exceptional, and I've adopted about 75% of his suggestions.
Cheers! 😎
If you found this interesting and useful, feel free to subscribe. I send emails like this every Tuesday. Sometimes even Monday if I’ve got my life together.
How am I 1% better this week? 📈
I ran another half marathon and cut off about 2 minutes. Feeling good for October! I never thought a year ago I'd be writing out that sentence.
This Week’s Recommendation 🔝
Book 📺 - Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens
In a word - wow. Here's my Goodreads review:
I read this book expecting it to not be all that but turns out it was absolutely extraordinary.
The descriptions throughout are mesmeric - that seems like an appropriate word to use - and the slight shift to a whodunnit in the last third was a great change of pace.
Emotional throughout - at times I had to clearly remind myself that the story wasn't real. Very visceral at times, reminded me of Boy Swallows Universe actually
Believe the hype, the reviews really do reflect how good this book is. It is also the only book to make me cry (which I reckon I did about 5/6 times).
Go read it! It's amazing.
This Week I’m: ⬇️
Reading 📚 - The Four Hour Work Week - Tim Ferriss
Listening to 🎧 - Human Kind (Audiobook) - Rutger Bregman
Visiting 🏴 - Wales this weekend
Working on 📹 - 5 (yes 5) videos
Thinking about 🤔 - Our family friend has just started at high school and it got me thinking about what an amazing thing it is, to start fresh at school, sat there in your tutor group not knowing you could be sat next to a future friend for life.
Looking forward to ⛱ - Wales and then Ibiza the week after 😎
Pleased about 🤩 - Dipping under 20% body fat for the first time in 14 months
This Week’s Quote 💬
News is to the mind what sugar is to the body. — Rutger Bregman