There is a saying that goes, “out of sight, out of mind”. That is the basis for the first productivity tip that I'm sharing on this journal. As you can tell by the title though, I added “Out of Reach” in between. The reason for that is explained towards the end of this post.
My usual routine when I got to work was to take out my phone and place it on my desk, right in front of me, between the keyboard and my monitors. The idea being that I would easily spot any notification and can act on them.
To the old me, this setup was perfectly fine. Years ago, I was so into apps and staying up to date on my notifications, that I didn't mind having a phone right in front of me. This was partly the reason I switched from a Windows Phone to an iPhone; the notifications system on Windows Phones were subpar and it just didn't have any of the cool apps available on iPhones.
I bought the Digital Minimalism book to try and find more ways to curb my smartphone addiction. It is an attempt to regain control of my attention and time.
Okay so here are my notes, findings, revelations, thoughts, etc... on how it went:
I had so much extra time to read books during this phase; I finished reading 3 books and I wasn't even trying to finish books. Finishing 3 books in a 30 day period is amazing to me, I never thought I could do that. Here are the list of books I finished reading during the digital declutter phase:
These are a list of rules that I'm going to be following during the 30-day digital declutter phase. I'm already trying to follow some of the rules on here, but I think I will officially start it on the 20th for a good round number.
Messaging Apps:
Text Messages/iMessage: Allowed
Facebook Messenger: Not allowed
Groupme: Not allowed
Emails:
Mobile Phone Apps:
Outlook: Allowed (needed for work) but can only be used during daytime, except on support calls.
Yahoomail: Allowed (needed for two factor authentication) but can only be used during daytime.