Although a generalization is never true for everyone, chances are that you struggle with distractions, and that one of those distractions is your cell phone.
TASK SWITCHING IS COSTING YOU
It takes approximately 25 minutes (you read that right) to refocus on your original task after task-switching from one quick thing to another.* Imagine what you could accomplish with fewer interruptions. I’m sure you’ll be able to come up with many reasons not to attempt any of the following, but I encourage you to test at least one or more of these time management tricks so you can focus on getting the right things done instead of trying to jump back and forth between email, phone pings, social media, and your project at hand.
BUT WHAT IF…
One major argument against reducing distractions is our fear of the “what if” in case of emergencies. In a recent “Nest” call, one of the members remembered a time that her parents went away on vacation overseas and left her and her siblings at the grandparents’ house. With no smartphones or even email, the parents simply left a phone number of the hotel they would be staying at and which return flight they planned to be on.
If this sounds difficult to do today, I hear you. But I think there is a middle ground. I’ve included a few alternatives for how you can still reduce mobile phone distractions but remain reachable to loved ones. And let’s be honest, many of our work fires and emergencies aren’t really emergencies… We’ve created a culture of being available to anyone, at any time and many agree that it’s hurting us more than it’s helping us.**
CONVENIENCE
Although having a phone on us 24/7 has its conveniences (Google Maps! Camera in my pocket!), people and society managed to function effectively without them for the majority of human history. The prospect may sound daunting initially, and you may go through a little withdrawal at first, but give some of these solutions a try and see what kind of impact it makes on your day-to-day.
Here are a few ideas you can try today to get that pesky cell phone out of your way:
Turn it off
Turn off your cell phone for the duration of a work sprint or Pomodoro session. I’d also suggest putting it in another room. There is something psychological to having it near you, even if you can’t see or hear it. In my household, we have a specific place in our home where phones go - in a fabric hanger on the wall near the front door.
Leave your phone off for a couple of hours. A day? A weekend?
Silence It
Put your phone on “focus” or “do not disturb” mode for the duration of your sprint.
Put your phone on silent, not vibrate.
Unsubscribe from everything that calls for your attention. If you need it, you’ll know where to find it.
Turn off all notifications from every app. If you need to make one or two exceptions go ahead - but anything other than calls from a small list of people, texts from a small list of people, and calendar reminders - the rest of your notifications can probably go. Try it and see how you feel.
Limit it
Remove all apps from your home screen and replace them with a lovely image of something you’d rather be doing instead.
Install software that helps curb your impulsive checking by blocking certain apps or websites on a predetermined schedule.
Block times to check your phone, including email, text messages, social channels, etc. Limit yourself to a certain number of minutes per check and stick to that limit.
Make it boring
Change your color scheme to black and white if your phone allows that feature.
Change your OS to the most simplified version where apps are simple, large, and less enticing.
Consider downgrading to a “dumb” or “brick” phone.
Get rid of it (temporarily)
Give your phone to someone else if you want some space but are worried an emergency might come through. Make sure you can’t hear it and give that person a short list of situations for which they should give it back to you.
Get rid of it (for good)
Remove specific apps from your phone altogether.
Get rid of the phone and have a place-specific phone (home, work, car) instead of a person-specific one.
Even if you aren’t interested in getting rid of your phone entirely, in what ways might you like to adjust your usage and behaviors so that it works better for you and your time management?
Remember that these phones and apps were designed to be addictive - to grab and keep our attention for someone else’s gain - i.e. “the attention economy” where companies profit off of our views.***
What can we do to take back our time for our own lives? What would you do with that time instead?
I also recommend Cal Newport’s "Digital Minimalism" for further reading.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Thank you for supporting LK Consultants and other independent booksellers through bookshop.org links included in this post.
*This statistic comes from Gloria Mark who studies Digital Distraction at The University of California, Irvine. Here’s the study as well as a link to an interview with her in Fast Company.
**Here’s an article by Janna Anderson and Lee Rainie at The Pew Research Center to back up this claim.
***Tristan Harris, former Facebook employee, started The Center for Humane Technology after realizing that Facebook was part of a new machine wreaking havoc on our humanity. Check out this article to learn more about the Attention Economy.