Defining Specific Email and Social Media Checking Times

Opening your email inbox or social media accounts is time and energy-consuming. Doing it constantly highly influences your productivity, attention, and general well-being. When checking for new messages, you shift your focus, get overwhelmed by all the new information, increase stress levels, and get mentally distracted.

The Tool: Schedule a daily limited number of times to check your email & social media accounts. Set specific times throughout the day to open your inboxes and check your social media notifications. That way, you make more intentional use of your time and avoid constant distractions.

Controlling Technology Usage with a Phone Drawer or Pouch

The environment surrounding us directly affects our behaviors and habits. Just from having our phones in sight, we lose focus, and our cognitive availability worsens. Automatically, we tend to get distracted.

The Tool: Use a phone pouch or choose a drawer to leave your phone in while working or studying. This way, picking up your phone becomes an active and intentional decision, forcing you to think twice. This Tool will help you save time from distraction and commit to more meaningful work. It is a visual reminder to focus on what truly matters and escape the urge to become distracted.

Changing your Devices Screen to Grayscale

Designers conceive smartphones that optimize the user experience. Within that framework, colors play a major role in making the experience highly satisfying and addictive. Our brains are attracted to bright and shiny things, making colors play an important role in making you stick to your screens.

The Tool: For the next week, activate the grayscale mode on your phone. You will force your smartphone to display everything in shades of gray, blocking the visual elements that generate addiction. It will make your phone less engaging to use, encouraging a more meaningful use.

How to turn Grayscale on: for iOS and Android.

Turning off Phone Notifications

Notifications' job is to grab your attention and inform you of incoming information. Their core purpose is to catch your attention, independent of what you are doing. However, knowing everything at all times comes with a cost. Notifications make you lose focus, get distracted, and generate addiction.

The Tool: Open your phone settings and turn off your notifications for the week. You will see how you gain control over your phone instead of vice versa. It will help decrease your stress and anxiety levels, the feeling of being overwhelmed, and increase your productivity and focus. You will feel more calm, in control, present, and conscious about your Digital Habits.

Establishing No-Phone Zones

It is our new reality - our phones have become part of our routines and are one of our major daily time-consumers. Being constantly online can increase stress, anxiety, loneliness, and sleep deprivation. Using your devices for insignificant matters decreases our connection to ourselves, others, the world, and reality.

The Tool: Choose places in your home or office to unplug from technology. You can choose a bedroom, kitchen, lunch area, or terrace. Don't take your devices there. Allow yourself to reconnect with and be present in the activities and world surrounding you.