4 ms·

What are other good mobile strategies? I need my phone to keep an eye on some work stuff + elderly parents on WhatsApp, but clearly parts of the phone are neur

What are other good mobile strategies? I need my phone to keep an eye on some work stuff + elderly parents on WhatsApp, but clearly parts of the phone are neurologically optimized to keep me distracted (and it works!) So what are other good ways to fight this?

gukov 4y ago
Go to accessibility settings and make the display grayscale.
- scottmcdot 4y ago
  This [1] was handy for me, a Pixel user: [1] https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/enable-hidden-grayscale-mode-your-pixel-nexus-no-root-needed-0178857/ https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/enable-hidden-graysca...
- codetrotter 4y ago
  Thank you. For anyone else on iOS you find this by going to Settings -> Accessibility -> Display & Text Size -> Color Filters -> On. The default color filter when turned on is grayscale.
  - maneesh 4y ago
    I set the Triple Click function to automatically trigger grayscale -- very useful!
- keyle 4y ago
  This is a neat trick. I wonder if my eyes would just get used to see B&W phone content and keep going. A neat app would be a 5' slow fade off that eventually locks your phone. You can just unlock to keep going but at least you know 5' have gone by.
exitb 4y ago
Disable automatic suggestions in your web browser when you only just focused the address bar. The only suggestions that may appear, should be contextual to what you started to type.
- pj_mukh 4y ago
  Ooo this is a new good one, I had not heard off before! Thanks
abawany 4y ago
I found that linking a smartwatch (Garmin VA4) to my phone enabled me to check relevant notifications without touching the phone for hours.
prox 4y ago
If you have something like donotdisturb on your device, use it and make exceptions for the really important. I used to think the phone was important, but my phone has been off for 6 months now. Needed to inform work and people but everyone is fine with it now. Most comms are email now. If there is something critical there is an always on device that alerts me.
littlecranky67 4y ago
You can get a phone pureley for work, and turn it off outside of working hours. As with your elderly parents, it might be a good idea to tell them to call you instead of text for important/time-critical things. Non-important stuff can go to Whatsapp, and you check infrequently. I myself gotten a non-smart feature phone as secondary device with a MultiSIM - i.e. both my smartphone and my feature phone ring when I get a phone call, and I can take it on any device. I also told my close contacts to call instead of text as I might be without smartphone. If I want focus time, I turn off the smart-phone or leave it at home.
pluijzer 4y ago
Apart from the already suggested tip to make your screen B&W (which makes everything just a little bit more boring) I do the following: - I have my phone permanently on "do not disturb" and only made exceptions for important colleagues, SO and parents. In those cases my phone actually makes a sound so I don't need to keep an eye on it. - I don't put any distracting apps (including browsers) on the home-screen of my phone. Making it a little bit harder to find them makes me often not bother. - No social media apps on my phone. - I used Leechblocker in the past to have me wait 30 seconds before entering sites like this. It worked but I started to find ways around it like using another browser.

gukov 4y ago

Go to accessibility settings and make the display grayscale.

scottmcdot 4y ago
This [1] was handy for me, a Pixel user: [1] https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/enable-hidden-grayscale-mode-your-pixel-nexus-no-root-needed-0178857/ https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/enable-hidden-graysca...
codetrotter 4y ago
Thank you. For anyone else on iOS you find this by going to Settings -> Accessibility -> Display & Text Size -> Color Filters -> On. The default color filter when turned on is grayscale.
- maneesh 4y ago
  I set the Triple Click function to automatically trigger grayscale -- very useful!
keyle 4y ago
This is a neat trick. I wonder if my eyes would just get used to see B&W phone content and keep going. A neat app would be a 5' slow fade off that eventually locks your phone. You can just unlock to keep going but at least you know 5' have gone by.

exitb 4y ago

Disable automatic suggestions in your web browser when you only just focused the address bar. The only suggestions that may appear, should be contextual to what you started to type.

pj_mukh 4y ago
Ooo this is a new good one, I had not heard off before! Thanks

abawany 4y ago

I found that linking a smartwatch (Garmin VA4) to my phone enabled me to check relevant notifications without touching the phone for hours.

prox 4y ago

If you have something like donotdisturb on your device, use it and make exceptions for the really important. I used to think the phone was important, but my phone has been off for 6 months now. Needed to inform work and people but everyone is fine with it now. Most comms are email now. If there is something critical there is an always on device that alerts me.

littlecranky67 4y ago

You can get a phone pureley for work, and turn it off outside of working hours. As with your elderly parents, it might be a good idea to tell them to call you instead of text for important/time-critical things. Non-important stuff can go to Whatsapp, and you check infrequently. I myself gotten a non-smart feature phone as secondary device with a MultiSIM - i.e. both my smartphone and my feature phone ring when I get a phone call, and I can take it on any device. I also told my close contacts to call instead of text as I might be without smartphone. If I want focus time, I turn off the smart-phone or leave it at home.

pluijzer 4y ago

Apart from the already suggested tip to make your screen B&W (which makes everything just a little bit more boring) I do the following: - I have my phone permanently on "do not disturb" and only made exceptions for important colleagues, SO and parents. In those cases my phone actually makes a sound so I don't need to keep an eye on it. - I don't put any distracting apps (including browsers) on the home-screen of my phone. Making it a little bit harder to find them makes me often not bother. - No social media apps on my phone. - I used Leechblocker in the past to have me wait 30 seconds before entering sites like this. It worked but I started to find ways around it like using another browser.