The Crunch-Time Cellphone: Stay Focused in Stressful Times

This time two years ago, right before finals began, my beloved cell phone was destroyed. I lost everything on it – text messages, photos of memories, photos of class notes, contacts, videos, but most unfortunately, my photos. I never retrieved them. But I learned a valuable lesson about my cellphone usage in this time (apart from lesson 1: I should back up my photos).

I realized I didn’t need a cellphone. I realized I could contact people through Facebook Messenger, I could do mostly everything I needed to do using my laptop, and I managed to get through exams without ever having to set my non-existent phone on silent.

But I did get another phone. Since then, I think I’ve become quite a phone addict. It’s always in my hand, always on the table, always in my pocket. It seems to be an extension of my body. I seemingly managed to live parts of life while not being present in the moment – with notifications, messages, and getting the perfect snapchat taking away from the real moment. I also forgot how to be bored because this distraction is always at my disposal. We all do this.

What is happening to us? 

Technology has changed everything about how we interact with life. It changed the way we communicate, the way we perceive ourselves and others, the way we date, and the way we focus. How many of you just cannot get through a good book anymore? Our minds have been reprogrammed because of technology – we can’t even focus for long periods of time as well as we used to. 

This has to do with many factors, the fact that light reading has obstacles of ads in the corners that reduce focus, the clickbait-y articles that we find so appealing have no real substance, and the dopamine-producing posts we find on social media, as I discussed in another article, are just trying to keep us on these sites longer. 

So at your own pace, figure out that the notifications can wait. In times of stress – whether it is deadlines at work, exams at school, or an ever-increasing to-do list – figure out what strategies work best for you to combat this addiction that so many of us have.

I am reducing my cell phone usage during one of the last final exam sessions of my life. Wherever you’re at in life, you should consider taking steps to be more focused on the moment, and not on the technology.

1. Stop keeping your phone in your pocket.

Seriously. I’m guilty, you’re guilty. Life lesson of the day: nothing is so important that it can’t wait. 

Put the phone down. When you are working, just work. Don’t check messages every half hour. They can wait. When you are with people, don’t pull your phone out. The face-to-face interaction that you encounter through spending time with others will only be diminished if you check your phone.

For this reason, I advocate keeping it in your backpack, or keeping it in your purse. Basically, give yourself one extra step to looking at it so that it is not a subconscious decision. Think about how you are using it less, and notice how much others use it. Often times, just observing this encourages you to put it down and not want to keep picking it back up. 

When you work on deadlines, don’t use your phone. For example, while writing this blog post, I looked at my phone, and therefore got distracted. But once I put it away, and once it isn’t in my peripheral vision any longer, I use it less. Trust me, the benefits of being present in the moment far outweigh the late responses to non-urgent messages.

2. Deleting non-essential apps.

I am something of an app shopper. I love browsing through the app store, downloading anything that seems mildly interesting, and using this app once or twice,  to which it then remains on my phone forever. Focus is key during crunch times. I delete all non-essential apps, all games, all distractions. While I won’t quit social media entirely, I commit to only using it when appropriate. 

Treat this as a social media cleanse, and you will notice a difference in how you work, interact, and communicate. The same way you can give yourself an extra obstacle to using your phone by putting it away, you can likewise do this with the social media apps that distract you the most. Delete your favourite social media apps when you're working to meet deadlines and if you really must use them, re-download them. This extra step in downloading the app gives you more difficulty to cruise through Instagram during your down time. That being said, it means you are not doing it mindlessly, but rather, if you choose to download your favourite app again, you are doing so intentionally. 

After deleting the non-essential apps, the ones that remain on my phone are important for me to get about my every day life. Everyone's essential apps are different, for example, you may not use Spotify, Fitbit, or Whatsapp as much as I do. Nonetheless, I am simply trying to use my phone to create healthy habits, and not depend on it. 

3. Setting phone to greyscale

To explain the most extremist (but most valuable!) of all of the tips I'm providing today, I encourage you to go back in time during crunch-time and set your phone to greyscale! This gives you a weird feeling, but trust me on this. Many don’t realize that even the interface of our phones are addicting. With a colourful interface, moving images, and smooth transitions between different pages, you literally find yourself addicted to opening your phone “just because”.

Turning your phone to greyscale almost immediately turns it from being a device on which you are codependent, back into being a functional tool. 

The first time I saw a phone in greyscale was a friend who saved battery by doing this. I never realized that a greyscale screen takes up less battery power. Besides that, setting it to greyscale takes away your subconscious desire to check your phone. Try to scroll through social media on greyscale, and you'll realize quickly that it's really not the same. For this reason, it allows for more intentional phone usage and more productivity in those crunch-hours. I will provide the steps to set your phone to greyscale on Android and iPhone.

In short, these are some of the ways that I make my phone more of a productive tool to use during my exam time and during deadlines. It doesn't matter what you're working on, I still believe that these tips will help you improve your attention span and focus. If you liked this blog post, please do take a look at the rest of my website!