Like many, I’ve been trying to reduce my screen time use on my phone so I can be more present with family and friends. I’ve been very judicious about what notifications I allow to interrupt me (only my wife’s, kids’ and a few close friends’ messages immediately ping me — everyone else can wait until I have a moment to look at my messages). I’ve been using focus modes and scheduling to hide certain pages of apps from me so I don’t mindlessly scroll my work chat or email when I’m not working.
And when I wake up first thing, my phone is in black and white mode automatically. My phone is perfectly usable, and I still often scroll Instagram for a few minutes, but the black and white filter helps remind me I don’t want to spend my whole morning on the ‘Gram.
So I really enjoyed reading the Brooks Review post incorporating all of the above into a focus mode he activates on-demand when he wants to be present. I particularly like that he activates his black and white filter on demand — I’ll have to think about having a similar focus mode!