How To Use Your Phone To Stay Focused Instead Of Getting Distracted?

In a few of my recent posts, I shared some of my tried and tested methods to stay focused and productive. In this post, I’ll only talk about my phone. How I use it and how I don’t use it to stay focused instead of getting distracted.

Most of us have a reflex to open Instagram or other social sites after unlocking it immediately. Let’s accept it, we all waste a lot of our time mindlessly scrolling social media while eating, traveling, or even walking on the road. It’s not just about wastage of time, we get so much involved in knowing the updates, that we tend to forget our own goals and aspirations.

There is always a choice

We always have a choice in how we use our resources. The mobile phone that we are carrying is probably one of the most powerful motivational tools in your pocket.

Success in life comes down to how motivated a person is about their journey. An individual has to find their own fire and internal purpose to push through difficult tasks. Out of so many ways to succeed in life, setting goals is the initial and the most important stage. However, distractions do come in between, and in 2022, many still think smartphones to be a major distraction. 

But let’s think it this way,

A smartphone is literally a power-packed tool; you have an audio recorder, camera, video camera, TV set, music player, notepad, bank, a remote control unit, everything in it. And all of this together brings so many opportunities to the user. All it takes is a little creative transformation to turn your smartphone into a powerful motivational tool, and here’s how I did it: 

1. Keep it decluttered

Many of us probably waste a lot of time finding the right apps on the phone. A good way to use the phone for motivation is by getting rid of the time-consuming process. Hence, make sure to move your apps to folders. Set up only the most important apps on the main screen that encourage you to get things done. You can keep distracting apps like social media platforms away from your sight, unless you are using those for business. 

Many times social media platforms force users to answer meaningless messages, get into mindless arguments, and needless conflicts. For this, you can even switch off notifications from such apps, and turn them on just for the important ones. Other than this, you can even dump gaming, photo, and shopping apps that might be distracting you.

Notifications are the killers of focus and attention — The obstacle that prevents you from doing great things.

Using “Do Not Disturb” mode during productive hours is a great way to stay focused and get more done. Though, I have kept social media notifications permanently on mute. I just keep important notifications on such as phone calls or text messages.

2. Write affirmations on the folder name

Positive affirmations naturally motivate an individual to act and not waste more time. It keeps the user’s mind focused on the goal zone. One of the brilliant ideas that worked best for me is grouping similar apps into folders as mentioned above. Later, I labeled all those folders with “I am …” statements.

For example, I have grouped all my social media apps in a folder and renamed it as “I am happy”. This affirmation helped me stay positive about me using that platform without feeling any guilt. Next, I grouped my banking apps into a folder, named it I am wealthy, and education apps into a folder called I am learning.

3. Set Your Vision board as wallpaper for your screen

The power of visualizing the dream before it gets into reality is real, and manifestation also works wonders. Looking at a vision board just once a day can set up your mood, motivate you to work towards your goal and make them come true. The best part? There’s no set rule to creating a vision board, you can add anything and everything.

For example, to make a vision board that aligns with your dream, desires, and goals, you can cover the key areas of your journey. You can add pictures of your workplace, happy family, relationship, leisure, and health. Including motivational quotes and sayings also works best, that said, you can do anything with your vision board, but first, make one for yourself, for your phone!

3. Place a to-do list

Did you know that with your smartphone by your side, you can never really forget anything?  A great advantage of smartphones is that you can make a list of work you want to do in a day, and can change the list every morning. This super easy-to-use list will help you stay motivated and confident all day long about plants and events that would happen. 

4. Read books or newspapers from your phone

With a smartphone by your side, you don’t have to carry books along with you. Instead of playing games and wasting time on social media, you can quickly read books and newspapers to stay updated with the recent trends. For example, I use the Amazon Kindle app, and it offers access to over 8 lakh+ books. Because of this, I can read any genre at any given time, without bothering to buy one physical copy of the same.

Brownie point – Follow personalities on social media who inspire you

The best advantage of having a smartphone is getting the opportunity to stay connected with inspirational personalities. Following such people on social media can actually help you stay motivated, and without smartphones, it was never possible before!

Closing Words

Merely knowing how to use a phone for staying focused instead of getting distracted isn’t enough, you have to take action. The above action points have really helped me stay positive all day long, and even you can feel the same, by just applying three of these tips right now. Know that, phones can be a productivity enhancer instead of a time-waster, it’s all about YOU!

Featured Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay