At the time I’m writing this, it’s 5:24 PM and my phone screen time for the day is 38 minutes, mostly from calls, some texts, music, and GPS.

Like many people (maybe you?), I got addicted to my phone in the past few years and I was losing a lot of time mindlessly scrolling through stupid and random content on social media.

I wanted to get this time back and use it for work (I’m a solo-entrepreneur, working online from home).

I spent a lot of time researching tools and methods and found a solution that, I believe, could work for anybody, only using free apps and easy-to-set-up systems.

You’ll notice that I mention having an Apple Watch and an iPad because I’m lucky enough to have these, but if you don’t, it will work too.

1. One Sec App

One Sec App is an app blocking app that adds friction by adding a few seconds delay before you try to open your favorite apps.

I purchased the pro plan (only $29.90 for a one-time payment lifetime), but you can use the free plan to start.

Intervention Schedule (adding a delay and confirmation before opening the app):

• Here I added all my favorite time-wasting apps, any day of the week at any hour.

Blocking Schedule (totally blocking the app):

• Same apps, all blocked from 10 PM at night until 10 AM the day after.

Morning Countdown (totally blocking the app, synced on your phone wake up alarm):

• Also the same apps, blocked for at least 1 hour after I wake up.

2. Beeper

Beeper is a chat app that allows you to chat with friends on 15 different chat networks (Instagram, Facebook, Discord, Twitter, etc…) without having to open the related app.

It’s totally free, but there’s a waitlist. If you need access codes you can comment below and I’ll send you some.

This one is helping me a lot because I was used to opening Instagram to answer a message, but then ended up watching stories, posts, etc… and losing a lot of time. With Beeper, that’s not happening anymore because there are only chats,.

You could even delete apps like Instagram, WhatsApp, etc… from your phone to have it all in one place. There’s also a desktop version, if, like me, you use it for work, so you don’t even have to touch your smartphone.

3. Work Focus mode on iOS

If you have an iPhone with iOS you can set up different focus modes to block notifications. I don’t know about Android devices but I guess you could do the same.

I’ve set a schedule for Work Focus to be activated from 7:00 AM until 12 PM and then 1:00 PM until 5:00 PM during weekdays.

What it does is that it simply blocks any notifications, except calls.

4. Sleep Focus mode on iOS

This is the same as the Work Focus mode but for Sleep.

I’ve set it up from 2 hours before my sleep time, until my wake-up time.

5. Entertainment and Social Media

I still go on Instagram to check my friends and family stories, on 𝕏 or Reddit to follow some business news, etc… but I do it exclusively on my iPad (or on my laptop), after I finished work. But no TikToks, Reels or Shorts though, that’s too much dopamine and brain-damaging content for me.

This adds enough friction for me because using an iPad (or a laptop) isn’t that convenient, it’s big, I don’t always have it next to me, it doesn’t feel as natural as using a phone so I’m not tempted to use it that much.

6. Daily Schedule

I usually go to sleep at 12 AM and wake up at 8 AM, so not that late but not that early.

At 10 PM, I put my phone in my office downstairs so I can’t use it anymore (everything is blocked by the One-Sec app anyway). Then I usually watch a movie with my girlfriend or read.

I sleep with my Apple Watch that acts as a sleep tracker and as a wake-up alarm.

When I wake up, I get breakfast and meditate using the Headspace app on my Watch and then start working on my laptop.

Around 11 AM I go to the gym, and I use my Apple Watch (it’s a cellular model that I can use without my iPhone) to listen to music or podcasts so I don’t have to bring my phone.

I then go back home to eat, and that’s when I touch my phone for the first time of the day, to check my messages on Beeper (sometimes I’ve done it before in the morning on the desktop app to make sure I don’t miss something important that happened overnight).

I then eat and go back to work for the afternoon.

When I’m done working around 6 PM, I usually watch some YouTube on TV, spend time with my girlfriend, browse social media for a bit, play with my dogs, meet some friends, read, … etc.

That’s my planning during the week, I don’t work on Sundays so it’s a free schedule, and I usually spend Saturday doing some 'shallow’ work on my couch or researching and learning marketing/business stuff.

Conclusion

And that’s it!

As you can see, it’s not that strict and it doesn’t require totally cutting away social media from your life or waking up at 5 AM like most productivity gurus would teach, but it’s really working.

I think that it’s all about balance, and totally switching to monk mode would either be really hard to start or maintain in the long term (at least for me). That’s probably beneficial for elite high-performance athletes or entrepreneurs dedicating their entire lives to their sport / work, but it may not suit most people, even if you have high productivity goals that can still be achieved with an organized and balanced lifestyle.

And if that approach seems interesting to you, join r/n0glitch, a new community where we share and exchange ideas about living a better life and performing to reach our goals. It’s still new, but everyone is welcome! Join to be among the first so you don’t miss out on future free guides and posts.

BONUS

If you’re interested in productivity and deep focus work, I also create my own tools like my free Chrome Extension called ABF (Audio Brain Focus): chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ohlfpeiaekgemgbffdkahiljfemoifcl

Feel free to install and try it, there’s nothing to pay - it’s just a little and fun side project of mine.

Maybe you’ll like it and I hope it will help you! I’m also really happy anytime I get user feedback to improve it, so let me know if you find bugs or have ideas for new features. 🙂

TL;DR

To fight my phone addiction and increase productivity, I use a combination of tools and strategies: One Sec App for delaying access to time-wasting apps, Beeper for consolidating all chat apps and avoiding distractions, and iOS Work and Sleep Focus modes to hide notifications. I also restrict social media usage to my iPad or my laptop post-work for added friction, and maintain a balanced daily schedule with designated tech-free times.

Note: I’m not affiliated with any of these apps or companies.