I was thinking about Ali Abdaal and he has great productivity podcasts. He had recommended some software recently that I tried to increase productivity but it was not solving my main problem. It is very easy to be distracted. The only solution I have really found that works for me is to create barriers to the distraction.
So for example:
- Remove social media from my phone. For the most part I don’t have any social media on my phone. Every once in awhile I’ll download it for some really *important* reason that I can’t remember now. And then I find that I have spent hours scrolling through it wasting my time again. And then I remove it again.
- Block Safari and any web access on my phone. I found that I will use Safari to access social media including twitter. So the only solution that works is to block safari now. I use Apple’s built in screentime to do that. I find that I don’t default to check the news on Safari.
- Set up software on my laptop to limit access to the web. I used StayFocused. It will let me block all website except a handful so that I can not get distracted when I’m working on something tedious for work.
- Even better – I will often turn off my phone altogether when working.
The phone is really an unbelievably addictive device that serves up dopamine hits and makes sure we are never bored again. But as many people have already discussed, boredom is necessary to give our brains a break and let us dream a little.
When the default is junk food, we will eat more junk food. When the default is a phone in your pocket with access to everything all the time, we will be distracted by it more often.
So if you are trying to quit booze or eat less chips, don’t buy it or have it around you. Same thing with your phone.
Forget about habit tracking software on your phone. And forget about productivity software unless it blocks your distractions. Try going offline.
I don’t want more software or more reasons to use my phone – even if the intention is to make me more productive. I want to use my phone less.