• No push notifications (except for one human, and that too via SMS).
• No "social media" accounts (never had it on the phone to begin with; and removed my FB account 5+ years ago).
• Use gray scale (this turned my phone into a very peaceful device). On Android, this can only be enabled via the "Developer options" (and then select "Simulate color space" --> "Monochromacy")
• The "apps" on my phone are most practical ones: Maps, English & Dutch dictionaries, Orgzly (Org-Mode-based note taker), Spotify, Signal, WhatsApp, a couple of train look-up services, Firefox and an OTP generator.
This has been instrumental in making sure that my attention is not splintered all over the place. And lets me retain the ability to concentrate and read books in 2-hour, undistracted blocks. Go me!
I loved the grayscale mode, but in the end I had to set so many exceptions via tasker for apps where I do need color for the UI (Such as Google Maps, Uber, and Calendar), that it proved to be more of a hassle.
I use an iPhone with a home button. I bound greyscale to a triple-click of that so I can switch on and off at will pretty handy if that’s possible on your end.
Good point that I’d never considered—though I honestly didn’t notice and adjusted to it pretty easily. Could see how it would bother some people, though.
• No push notifications (except for one human, and that too via SMS).
• No "social media" accounts (never had it on the phone to begin with; and removed my FB account 5+ years ago).
• Use gray scale (this turned my phone into a very peaceful device). On Android, this can only be enabled via the "Developer options" (and then select "Simulate color space" --> "Monochromacy")
• The "apps" on my phone are most practical ones: Maps, English & Dutch dictionaries, Orgzly (Org-Mode-based note taker), Spotify, Signal, WhatsApp, a couple of train look-up services, Firefox and an OTP generator.
This has been instrumental in making sure that my attention is not splintered all over the place. And lets me retain the ability to concentrate and read books in 2-hour, undistracted blocks. Go me!