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Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

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Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#211

Post by riho »

WhyNotHugo wrote: post #39

I'm constantly amazed at how the mainstream population uses phones. Most people tend to have phone with alarming-notifications, so they get informed that they have a message, or email or whatever. The phone interrupts them and directs their attention. They train themselves to be controlled by their phones. I'd go crazy trying to live like that. I have no audible notifications, and vibration only for actual calls. Eve…

The problem is boredom. We've become accustomed to having an instant excitement dispenser, and are now addicted to it. Boredom has become even more uncomfortable than it used to be, because we're no longer used to being bored.

No study or links to cite, just my observation.

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#212

Post by balfirevic »

chrisweekly wrote: post #201
balfirevic wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I used to stay up till midnight or 1am as often as not. That's not a night-owl (midnight I mean, 1am might barely be).

Fair enough. But FTR the 12-1a habit was itself a form of restraint against my prior tendency to stay up much later than that -- as a parent of school-aged kids, w/ no plausible option to sleep past 7a or so. Staying up till 3 or 4 and getting less than 4h sleep would've been a non-starter.

Yeah, I feel the pain. I usually go to sleep between 3-5 and need 8-9 hours of sleep. If my work didn't allow for very flexible schedule I fear I'd also need to resort to extreme measures (cold showers - brrr).

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#213

Post by bootlooped »

ryanmarsh wrote: post #100

When I wake up I put my phone on Do Not Disturb.

One of my favorite features of my phone is to turn on silent whenever the phone is placed face down. It's a dead simple physical action you take, and the vision of it face down is a reminder of your intent.

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#214

Post by pc86 »

chrisweekly wrote: post #107
pc86 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're making huge assumptions that a) people who cultivate this skill are late night folks and not morning people; b) people who cultivate this skill are unable to do deep work during the day; c) even ignoring the fallacies in A and B, that these folks' counterparts are blind to their accomplishments and assume they're lazy because they come in late; d) that someone cannot be capable of both completing meaningful de…

I am living proof that it's possible to change from a night owl to an early riser. I used to stay up till midnight or 1am as often as not. By nature? and lifelong habit, for over 40 years I was in the "stay up late, sleep in to compensate" camp. But a couple years ago someone I respect and admire challenged me to reset the pattern. I started setting a daily alarm and jumping into a brief ice-cold shower at 5am. It on…

Same - part of it may have been natural shifts in circadian rhythms - in college I'd often be up until 3am during the week, not even particularly busy. Just not tired, so I stayed up. Any class up to and including 10am was an active struggle to get to. Now I am regularly up before 5am to work out and typically start work around 6:30.

People absolutely have natural tendencies one way or the other, but if you want to change you can. Too many people approach it as if they're stuck in one or the other.

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#215

Post by bootlooped »

I have a strategy of layered speedbumps to screwing around on my digital devices. Next DNS to block some time wasting sites wholesale, Leechblock to limit time use on certain websites or during certain time frames, and Digital Wellbeing to time block whole apps and keep track of my usage.

It would take me 1 minute to turn all of that off, but the time to instant gratification on a stock phone is so rapid, all I find I need is a very minor hindrance and it helps a lot.

If every time I unlocked my phone it had a screen that displayed for 30 seconds that just said "what are you doing right now, and how long do you intend to do it?" I think it would probably have a similar positive effect.

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#216

Post by sumtechguy »

whytaka wrote: post #32
sumtechguy wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that worked well for me was to uninstall the attention grabbing apps. Helped immensely with battery life too :) Pretty much all that is left on my phone is 'augmented reality' sort of applications. Translate, maps, 'what song is that', barcode scanner, etc. Anything that pops a notification for something I do not really need to know about right now gets uninstalled pretty quickly. I then use the actual webs…

The problem for me is the browser. Unfortunately iOS doesn’t let you put safari into restricted apps on screen time. I’ve managed to train myself to regard my computer mostly as a work machine but that just means my phone is my mindless browsing machine.

I can not stand using the built in browsers on phones so I guess I am in luck :)

Either the pages are designed with you having a mouse. Or they are infinite scroll time sinks. Ok maybe not that bad but sometimes I feel that way... Also my eyes have recently decided 'oh you want to be able to see?! that aint a good idea anymore'. I went from being able to read 4pt to 12 to 15 being readable. You can guess how well that is working on a phone...

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#217

Post by augustk »

hintymad wrote: post #140
augustk wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Integrated circuit? https://blog.mitchjlee.com/2020/your-writing-style-is-costly

My bad. You’re right, and thanks for the link. Unfortunately the window for editing is closed.

It's okay to use a non-standard abbreviation if you spell it out the first time it's used followed by the abbreviation in parentheses, like "individual contributor (IC)", and then use the abbreviation in the rest of the text.

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#218

Post by mrunseen »

y2bd wrote: post #165
mrmuagi wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only exceptions are "VIP" contacts from close family. Curious how you configured this? I'd be interested in this as well.

If you have an iPhone, you can flag certain contacts as allowing "Emergency Bypass". This lets their calls (and text messages if you flip another switch) vibrate and/or ring your phone even if you're in do-not-disturb mode. Can't speak for Android, but I'm sure it has a similar feature (and due to system access it allows third-party apps, maybe you can do the same for third-party chat apps as well).

In DND settings, there’s also option called “Allow Calls From” which user can choose from:

  >Everyone
  >No One
  >Favourites
  >Specific Group

Re: Phones and apps reduce your ability to focus even when they don’t distract you

#219

Post by ldbooth »

StanislavPetrov wrote: post #172
ldbooth wrote: post #17

I tried a flip phone for a week but got tired of explaining to people why I didn't receive the picture they texted me, and I was carrying my no-SIM smartphone around for the audiobooks anyway. It does feel like taking the proverbial digital leash off, and rather than text replying I was calling everyone back for convenience. I sure have strayed socially. I shall find this middle ground and report back.

I've stuck with the flip phone all along with no regrets. Pictures can be forwarded to your email for later viewing (though at a reduced resolution). There seems to be no way to see emojis, though, as they all appear as little squares (whether you perceive this as a benefit or a drawback).

You have motivated me to try it again... Switching the sim today. The hands free calling while driving is another feature to solve for. I'm going wired headset.. 2000 is back! =)
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