Modify your Phone Like These and See the Big Changes to your Life
When I got my phone (which I have been using for 3+ years now), I was so excited because it’s my first smartphone.
I am excited to use it for my studies, social media, playing games, and for different uses that I can think of.
But time-to-time, I unknowingly developed a bad habit. It’s toxic and it’s uncontrolled.
Day and night, I endlessly scrolled through random videos, played music nonstop, visited my social media accounts, checked updates for the series I’m watching, and downloaded apps for entertainment without control. I can no longer recognize who I am or what I’m doing.
It’s like, phone is my oxygen. I can’t live without it.
Tick…
This cycle ended when something changed, and a part of my life was affected. I began to neglect my studies, which made things worse.
Sleepless. Affected eating. Stressed everyday even I am doing nothing.
I did some reflections and questioned myself: What is the cause behind this?
One thing I am certain of is that it’s my phone — the device I expect to help me build myself, support my studies, and enable me to be productive.
Honestly, it took years to change this habit. I tried several methods to reduce my screen time, such as turning off my phone, putting it in another room, and so on.
Yes, I have reduced my screen time, but the cycle remains the same. I feel so caught up in that habit that I thought it was ‘unescapable.’
I want to share these helpful and effective hacks for customizing your phone: turning it into ‘unknown.’
- Delete all apps that catch your attention.
- Mute your phone.
- Customize your home screen and make it ‘out of your style.’
- Customize your notification windows and buttons. Instead of setting these commands to ‘instant,’ configure them to require 'multiple steps’ to activate.
- Group your apps and make it ‘unorganized.’
1 — Delete all apps that catch your attention.
100 heart reactions. 200 reposts and retweets. 500 comments. That’s satisfying, right?
But pause for a while and ask yourself: What benefits does social media offer me? Is it really necessary to spend 5–6 hours every day scrolling through my status updates and feeds and seeing nothing change? Can social media help me solve calculus problems or complete two case studies simultaneously? Should I check the latest post from that person?
In some ways, social media can be helpful, but if users do not use them effectively—whether for referencing or business purposes—they may not realize their full potential.
I am sure that most users view social media as their daily journal, and I was one of them in the past.
In my second year of college, I changed this habit by cutting out my social media apps. I deleted them one by one, week by week, and observed the positive changes.
It’s not easy, I swear.
I kept only the accounts essential for everyday use, such as messenger (for announcements) and music apps (because music is life).
To make it more effective, I now use a single browser to manage both my applications and entertainment, such as watching videos during my free time, instead of relying on multiple applications.
Using a browser is more tiring than using instant messaging apps or downloaded applications.
What did I get from doing this? I am more focused on myself. Instead of comparing myself to others, I should concentrate on building the person I want to become
2 — Mute your phone if you want to be more focused.
Ting... Someone messaged or sent an email.
Continuous notification sounds from group chats and other software. It’s tiring to check, but it’s addictive.
To break this, I muted my phone always, and it’s effective. I am still doing it now.
I can’t bring myself to check my phone and neglect my work anymore. The satisfying sound is gone, and there’s no ‘dopamine rush.’
I am setting specific times to check my notifications. For example, I will check my email at 12 p.m., my messenger at 4 p.m., and so on.
Mute your phone. Make a specific time to check your notification.
What did I get from doing this? I can avoid checking my phone, navigating to other websites, and continuing the scrolling habit. It’s a pity.
Note: This is not applicable to those whose phone is their line of connection for their jobs.
3 — Customize your home screen and make it out of your style.
After getting my phone, the first thing I did was customize it because I knew that the ‘default’ settings were too boring.
Changing the wallpaper. I am making a folder for my applications. Adding widgets. Downloading apps. So much more.
Yes, a self-customized home screen is attractive. It’s satisfying to see it every time I turn on my phone.
But I don’t think it’s a good habit.
To avoid this, I changed how my home screen looks. How?
- Changing my wallpaper into a solid black (don’t use any wallpaper with a touch of your favorites—color, pet, anime, etc.)
- Adding calendar widget and that’s the only one.
- Making only one home screen.
- Grouping my applications.
My home screen is not as attractive as it used to be.
It’s completely OUT-OF-MY-STYLE and BORING.
What did I get from doing this? It’s boring to use my phone because I can’t recognize that it’s my phone. It’s unfamiliar because I made it like an ‘unknown.’
4 — Customize your notification windows and buttons. Instead of setting these commands to ‘instant,’ configure them to require 'multiple steps’ to activate.
Scroll down. Turn on the mobile data and Wi-Fi. Check the notifications. That’s quick.
How about stylized your notification window and make it minimal.
In my phone, the buttons in my notification window are:
- Mute
- Focus Mode (effective feature that my phone has)
- Eye Protector
- Bluetooth
- Screen Mode
- Flashlight
These buttons are for emergencies and are not distracting when I turn them on.
I removed the other commands, such as Wi-Fi and mobile data, that trigger me to scroll when I turn them on and sometimes, I tend not to do them.
Instead, I’m doing this: Go to Settings > Scrolling > Turn On. This method takes 5 seconds longer compared to quickly turning it on through the notification window.
What did I get from doing this? Simply stopping and avoiding myself to do the ‘non-stops’.
5 — Group your apps and make it ‘unorganized.’
Contradicting?
But this hack is effective, I guess.
Like for example:
Browsers are categorized as social media or search apps. Instead of grouping it where it belongs, I dragged it to another folder that is unusual to see, like in ‘Tools and Utilities.’
Mislead yourself on your own phone like it’s your first time seeing it. Group them where they don’t belong. Make it random.
I grouped my apps to look neat. But I grouped the apps without considering their primary use.
Conclusion/s:
A digital phone is undoubtedly amazing. It can make our lives easy and instant. Our lives became better when these devices were invented and welcomed into our world.
But if these things were put in a place that is undisciplined and uncontrolled, like these devices are your dextrose, stop them.
It’s in your hands. It’s at your fingertips as to how you are going to use your phone. All we have to do is put ourselves in the reality that these phones are breakable, but ourselves is more important than those.
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