Removing Smartphone Disctractions: 2 Powerful Hacks I Use
Too much screen time. Too many notifications. Doom scrolling. Going down rabbit holes on YouTube. I know it is bad and I have had good intentions to fix it for years. But I have always fallen back. So now I have, inspired by Alex Hormozi, yet again made some changes and some new ones and so far they seem to work better than before.
Why I don’t buy a dumbphone
I have thought about buying a dumbphone many times. A phone with a tiny screen, few/no apps, physical buttons and few distractions. However, I have come to the conclusion that it is too inconvenient to live in 2025 without a smartphone as our world get more digital day by day. Bus tickets, parking apps, school apps for the kids, identification (BankID), Bank app, payment (Vipps), authenticators, library app and so on. It is possible to be without these but in many cases it just too much of a hassle. For me.
Hack 1: Setting the phone in grayscale mode
This one I have never tried before and so far it is very promising. Simply make the screen and phone more unattractive by removing colors. Colors and notifications are used to attract us. One study conducted by New York University found that grayscale mode led to reduced smartphone usage. Some participants reported screen time reductions of 15-30% compared to full-color mode.
I have already noticed a positive effect for me so far. It is much less appealing to watch YouTube videos for example. There are multiple ways to enable grayscale mode, depending on your phone model, and I highly recommend looking it up.
Hack 2: Turning off notifications
Yes, I have tried this multiple times before and failed. But this time, I’ve taken a much stricter approach. Especially turning off notifications for Messenger and other chat apps has made a huge difference so far. I often forget checking messages for hours at a time. If it is urgent, people can call me. This has been very positive so far. The only notifications I still have are Bank/payments and national id (BankID app), Parking app and such that I really don’t want to miss.
The idea here is that I don’t want apps to interrupt me when it’s convenient for them (push). I want to check the apps when it’s convenient for me (pull). That’s how it should be.
Potential hack 3: Deleting apps
I have done this before, but not yet this time as the points have helped a lot so far. I deleted Snapchat years ago as it was only a distraction. I have never missed it or its constant notifications. It is possible to delete most distracting apps and only check them on a PC, and I have done this during certain periods. If I find myself slipping back into excessive usage, this will be my next step.
These small but intentional changes have already had a positive impact on my phone habits. If you struggle with screen addiction, I highly recommend trying them out.