Your Cell Phone Could Be Killing Your Productivity: Here’s How To Detox

Most of us have our cell phone attached to us every second of the day. What used to be a source for only making calls and sending texts, is now how many of us shop, bank, track our diet and exercise, play music and even work. Sure, it’s convenient to multitask with our phones and have all of these abilities available at our fingertips 24/7, but oftentimes it can be a distraction, killing productivity at work and at home. A CareerBuilder study confirmed many of our worst fears in a survey when they asked employees to name their biggest productivity killer at work. Cell phones and texting were at the top of the list. There have been countless other studies that have shown that dopamine responses in the brain cause us to engage in phone usage and there is even a phone addiction, called nomophobia, in which some people get addicted to alerts and messages from their phones. Besides killing productivity, smartphones are decreasing personal interaction and can be a distraction in relationships. Although there’s no cure-all, or way to completely disconnect your phone from your life, there is seven-day detox that can help you feel re-energized, more productive and less distracted by your smartphone. While the detox doesn’t have you putting your cell phone away completely for a week (that’s just not feasible for a lot of people), it does give you an action plan for decreasing your phone usage in real ways. Here’s how to get started!

Day One

Delete 10 apps.

Day Two

Go gray for a day. Put your phone in grayscale and turn the color off.

Day Three

Take a 24-hour notification fast. Turn off all notifications including texts and emails.

Day Four

Free up storage by cleaning out all media, including texts and photos.

Day Five

Commit to only checking your phone once per hour and set a time limit. Don’t let yourself look for more than five to ten minutes.

Day Six

Don’t touch your phone once you get into bed. Set your alarm and keep your phone out of reach until the morning.

Day Seven

Minimize your home screen by clearing it of every app. Leave only phone, text and email in your tools and put everything else on a separate page. Feature Image: Adam Katz Sinding/Le 21ème