[kmtrowbr]

The reason that comprehension is decreased, is that when using a smartphone, you are mentally in the "world" of the smart phone, no doubt different for each person, but for me involving a bunch of unconscious behaviors such as: swiping, changing from app to app, scrolling, etc. The phone is a focal point & battleground of the attention economy. So many forces attacking your attention, few of which are in your best interests or serve your goals.

An iPhone can be configured to work in your interests, but it takes quite a bit of effort. Aggressively curate the notifications. Turn most of them off. Put the phone on silent. Turn on all the "humane" features Apple has developed: the focuses, "wind-down," the sleep aids, etc. At night, leave your phone on your desk. Do not take it into your bedroom. Read a book in the bedroom.

Try to use the phone to achieve specific goals, which you pre-mediate. That's the goal.

Paper books exist in a totally different and simpler economy. It's not that they're perfect, but they're simpler. They're more about authors genuinely communicating their thoughts directly to you. There's an innocence lacking from smartphones.

You can feel this if you pay attention. A smartphone gives me a stimulated, "something cool around the next corner," "on the verge of fulfillment" kind of feeling. That's why it can suck you in for literal hours if you let it. The feeling in many cases is a lie. You'll find yourself just swiping and tapping for no reason at all, just automatically, unconsciously. That's the trick of "variable rewards" e.g. a phone is a slot machine. A book is a quieter more peaceful feeling. You're just reading the author's words, one after another. You have no option to switch to something else. The magic of books is created by your own active attention & focus. Some people can probably achieve this on a phone, but it's definitely harder.

[rattray]

One thing I found really helpful on Android is using "Extreme Battery Saver Mode" basically all the time.

It turns off ~all apps fully, and makes you click through a dialog to enter one - and then click again after 5 minutes or the app turns off again.

The downside is that you don't get notifications from messaging apps, which can be a problem (or amazing) depending on your situation. Whitelisting messaging apps would defeat the battery-saving purpose, of course.