(My spring Resource Receipt in case you missed it)

With many future articles dedicated to tools I use (like RSS), I decided to write about a few overlooked phone settings. The widely known phone settings I have heard from the digitally conscious (those making a consistent effort to spend their time online intentionally) were notification-based, like Do Not Disturb and disabling notifications from waking my device. This makes sense to me given that one of my critiques of a constant stream of notifications is its power to fracture my time, break my focus, and provide another unnecessary trail to get lost on.

A recent breakthrough, however, is how I overlooked tweaking the display settings. The display is the portal to my content. At any time, I can ultimately choose to override how I order my content and access it regardless. This identifies a problem: in some situations, tweaking the way I navigate my apps becomes redundant. Therefore, I must optimize how I access my phone.

1. One, I enabled bedtime mode that displays greyscale, sepia, or sunset colors. This prompts me at the end of the day to wind down and to disconnect from my phone.
2. Setting my screen timeout, the period between touch inactivity and screen shut down, to a few seconds eliminated the distraction during boredom between tasks: the time where I could decide to engage with another 15 minutes of internet amusement. After which, I must unlock the phone again.
3. When unlocking the phone, I found another helpful tool: restricting turning on the phone to physically pressing the power button. The friction provided by not lifting or tapping the phone provided another decision to avoid diversion.

Looking at each step of how you access your content is crucial. Analyzing the cues and responses unlocks potential in digital optimization. Your time depends on it.