The smartphone presents a myriad of enticing advantages for business users, ranging from hardware diversity to customization potential. However, out of the box, a typical phone lacks optimization for productivity. Most popular phones exhibit ineffective home screens, mediocre keyboards, and untapped potential. However, a few simple tweaks can transform your phone from an unrefined gadget into a finely tuned work companion. Here is our vision of ways that will allow you to set up a smartphone for productivity at work and in your personal life.
#1 Home screen customization
Your smartphone’s home screen is likely packed with your go-to apps like Instagram, Spotify, Facebook, and Twitter. However, consider replacing these apps with others that can significantly enhance your productivity (think Todoist), well-being (like Pact), awareness of current events (such as Circa), or language skills (like Duolingo). By having these apps appear on your phone’s initial display, you’ll be motivated to use them more frequently and keep them at the forefront of your mind.
#2 Take care of your autonomy
Smartphone users often worry about battery life. You can extend your device’s battery longevity by managing power-hungry features. Adjust the screen brightness to an optimal level and enable auto-brightness for automatic adjustments. Turn off push notifications that are not necessary and restrict background app refresh to improve energy efficiency. Moreover, utilize battery-saving modes or enable adaptive battery features in your device’s settings to prolong battery life throughout the day.
#3 Unload your smartphone
The more apps and data you have on your device, the slower it is and the more distractions there are. You can use CleanUp cleaner to quickly get rid of junk. This phone cleaner will not touch your personal files except for duplicates. With the app cleaner, you can get rid of various junk and free up memory. Among all the options on how to cleanup an iPhone, this is the simplest. The app also has file compression features. If necessary, you can delete unnecessary personal data yourself.
#4 Focus Mode
Almost everyone has experienced mindless scrolling at some point, whether they admit it or not. You get into the flow of work, pick up your phone, and think you’ll reward yourself with just five minutes on Instagram. Next thing you know, half an hour has passed and you’re still scrolling through reels. Not only does it make it difficult to refocus on work, but your break doesn’t feel as refreshing as it should.
So what’s the solution? Enter Focus Mode. Remove access to distracting applications completely during work hours.
On your iPhone, navigate to Settings > Focus Mode.
To customize productivity using Focus Mode, you can either create or find a custom “work” profile. This profile will hide all distracting apps for a specified period. You have the flexibility to customize your iPhone home screen, set who can call you during this time, manage app notifications, and much more. You can even schedule the “work” mode during specific hours, like 9 to 5.
#5 Use a widgets
If you utilize widgets effectively, they can greatly simplify your day. Here’s how you can maximize the potential of iPhone widgets:
- Customize your home screen by including personalized widgets
- Gain valuable insights and information, including news, stock trends, and more
- Obtain a comprehensive overview of your day, such as to-do lists, step count, and daily schedule
- Stay notified about work meetings and presentations through the calendar
- Create shortcuts to frequently used apps to minimize the time and effort spent searching for them.
#6 Launchers
The phone launcher acts as a gateway, controlling the appearance and behavior of everything on your device. Through launchers, you can enhance focus and reduce screen time. The default launcher is intentionally designed to keep you distracted. Now, let’s explore three minimal and distraction-free Android launchers that promote productivity and concentration.
- Sentien Launcher: When you launch Sentien for the first time, you will be greeted by a minimalist home screen that is completely black. To conserve battery, instead of using a wallpaper, the home screen features a black background. It is intentionally designed to be simple and clean, without any floating app icons that can clutter your device.
- Slim Launcher: The ultimate minimalist launcher is Slim Launcher, which aids hard-core phone addicts by maintaining a distraction-free environment. Slim’s home screen exudes minimalism to the fullest extent, devoid of wallpapers and icons. With its minimal design, Slim ensures your phone cannot distract you. It allows you to have only 5 apps on the home screen.
- Indestructible launcher: Its purpose is to decrease screen time by removing unwanted clutter from your phone. The home screen provides valuable information without any distractions. Swiping left takes you to the app drawer, which is organized in a clean and focused layout, with apps easily accessible in a simple list format. There are no app icons, keeping everything as straightforward as possible.
#7 Turn off your notifications
People often claim that notifications are the biggest enemy of productivity. Countless discussions have been had on this topic, and studies reveal that it takes more than 23 minutes to regain focus on a task after being distracted by a notification. Surprisingly, many are reluctant to completely disable push notifications or smartphone alerts.
However, it’s understandable. What if someone urgently needs to contact you on WhatsApp? Or if you receive an important notification from your bank’s mobile app? One effective workaround is to utilize your phone’s Do Not Disturb function, similar to how a Pomodoro Technique helps with productivity. If you need to fully concentrate on an important task for the next hour, activate the Do Not Disturb mode for 60 minutes.
Conclusion
Your productivity depends not only on your attitude but also on supporting tools. If you set up your smartphone correctly, it will help, not distract. Yes, you will have to spend some time setting up the device immediately, but it will pay off in the next week.
