[msluyter]

A lot of articles on reducing phone use coming out at the moment. For example (older, but recently updated: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/break-up-with-you...) I think a lot about the fact that we carry on our persons the most addictive device ever created.

I've recently adopted the grey scale trick -- set your phone to grey scale display mode. It works pretty well! Of course, I can always disable it if severely tempted, but it creates another hoop to jump through. I also have one of the phone safes, which I use sporadically. Ironically, having an Apple watch makes the phone safe more effective, because I can lock up the phone but still answer critical calls if necessary.

Weird that in the 23rd century, a lot of us are replaying Oddyseus, collectively tying ourselves to the mast.

[AlwaysRock]

+1 for grey scale.

Other things that were hugely helpful for me:

- Turn off tap to wake on your phone. It sounds funny but having to press a button to turn on your screen will make you do it less.

- Remove social media apps from your phone. (duh). If you have to use them, use them in browser which generally sucks and will prevent you from using them for a really long time.

- Take apps off your home screen. My phone is a lot less appealing when there isnt a shiny bright a/b tested to death app icon telling begging me to click it. It takes seconds to search for and pull up apps.

- Turn off notifications for everything but calls/texts. (duh). I don't need any push notifications. Once you stop getting them you will stop looking at your phone expecting them to be there.

[HPsquared]

Cellular smartwatch (Pixel watch in my case) is great for minimizing distractions while retaining basics: calendar, note-taking, basic messaging, phone calls, maps, music (via Bluetooth) and payments. But WITHOUT the very distracting web browser and YouTube. Battery life can be pretty poor though if the phone is turned off, you really can't listen to music all day for instance.

I also use greyscale mode on phone, can set a keyboard shortcut. Some apps are also just far too colourful - e.g. Duolingo - and look better in greyscale I think.

Phone can be a productivity machine too though with a Bluetooth keyboard, phone stand. Can have full desktop environment with a keyboard and mouse and VNC client.

[the_snooze]

Seconding smartwatches. There's no reason to habitually check my phone (and risk getting distracted) when my watch tells me if I have notifications. My watch is basically a read-only beeper for high-priority notifications, so there's no fear of missing out on something important.

I don't even need a cellular watch. Just having the phone inconveniently nearby (e.g., in a backpack, or on the bathroom counter instead of a nightstand) adds enough friction to eliminate mindless phone use.

[keshet]

Another +1 for the smartwatch.

Before: Every time a message arrives the phone makes that noise, and a little lamp is lit in my brain which stays lit until I pick up and unlock the phone and look at the message, answer, etc.

After: The phone is in silent mode all the time. When a message arrives I get a little tickle on my wrist - I just glance down and see who it's from and the lamp in my brain has nothing to do anymore. I even sometimes forget to pull out the phone and answer the message later.

It's easier to leave the phone out of reach, I feel less need to have it on me. It's great having a phone which never makes a sound. If a call comes in I see it on the watch and can reject the call from my wrist and optionally send an SMS instead. And podcasts are not interrupted by annoying pings.

It's a Garmin, so only have to charge it once every 10 days or so, and there's not much to do on it.

[acedTrex]

Yep this is the primary benefit of my apple watch, i no longer feel the need to incessantly check my phone for notifications. i just glance at my watch

[NoraCodes]

> I think a lot about the fact that we carry on our persons the most addictive device ever created.

The device is not addictive. Some applications of the device are addictive. It may seem pedantic but I think it's an important distinction; it's the difference between, for instance, parents limiting "screen time" and parents engaging deeply with what their kids are doing on their "screens", which can range from learning programming to interacting with real-life friends to, yes, mindlessly scrolling Instagram or getting radicalized.

[graphe]

I've done grayscale but the truth is that I'd disable it with muscle memory over time. I got efficient.

At the end of the day I had no life and I didn't spend it on anything worthwhile so the phone it was. Once I did worthwhile things I naturally used my phone less. I'm glad you k kw your limits and it works for you, but beware your brains searches for efficiency!