How to Make your Smart Phone ADHD Friendly (Part 1 rebroadcast)
Dec 30, 2024
auto_awesome
Discover how smartphones can be both a help and a hindrance for those with ADHD. Explore the challenges of constant notifications and distractions that pull attention away. Learn practical strategies for decluttering your phone by purging unnecessary apps and reorganizing your home screen. Find out how to manage notifications more effectively to combat alarm fatigue and retain focus. Plus, uncover techniques to use your device mindfully, fostering deeper connections while minimizing digital distractions.
Purging unnecessary apps and organizing your phone strategically can greatly reduce distractions and enhance navigation for those with ADHD.
Managing notifications through disabling non-essential alerts and using features like Do Not Disturb helps maintain focus and reduces digital clutter.
Deep dives
Organizing Apps for Focus
A thorough purge of unnecessary and distracting apps is essential for better phone management. Sorting through apps reveals how many are rarely used or serve no purpose, leading to digital clutter that complicates navigation and accessibility. For example, deleting apps that are forgotten or guilty reminders can help streamline the user experience. Organizing the remaining apps intentionally places the most beneficial ones on the main screen, ensuring that distractions are minimized and valuable tools are prioritized.
Managing Notifications Effectively
Reducing alarm fatigue by managing notifications is crucial for maintaining focus and reducing distractions from the phone. By disabling non-essential notifications from social media, games, and other trivial apps, users can retain attention for important alerts like texts and calendar reminders. Implementing features such as Do Not Disturb during certain hours establishes clear boundaries around phone use. This practice allows for deeper work concentration while still being reachable during emergencies.
Utilizing Screen Time Features
Leveraging screen time tracking can provide valuable insights into actual phone usage patterns and encourage healthier habits. Setting limitations on app usage, such as restricting time spent on social media, creates a structured approach to phone engagement. Encouraging accountability by having a trusted person control access to these restrictions can further support impulse control. Ultimately, applying such strategies not only curtails mindless scrolling but also promotes mindful interaction with technology.
I've been carrying around a smartphone in my pocket for more than 10 years - I started off with the first iPhone and have since gone over to Android, dabbled with the Windows Phones for a few years and then ended back up with an iPhone again. Through my years with my phone I've learned that it can be a great asset and help me with a number of my ADHD difficulties; however, I've also felt the dark side of the phone as well. Games, social media, email and all those notifications.
ADHD makes it really easy for us to get off track so we want to be making sure that we're not letting our phones dictate our next actions. Through trial and error phone designers have been making it harder and harder for us to put down our phone. Since we have ADHD this means that it is almost too easy for us to get distracted when we pop open our phone to just check the time. The screen lights up and suddenly we're hit with a hundred different ways our attention should go.
This week we'll be focusing on ways to set up your phone to be less distracting and we're going to work on setting up our phones intentionally to make sure that we're paying attention to what apps we have on our phone and where those apps are located. We'll also be looking at other ways to reduce the constant stream of distractions that our phones can produce. Find the full show notes at: HackingYourADHD.com/ADHDPhone This Episode's Top Tips 1. Purge any apps that you don't need on your phone - both unused apps and also apps that pull you in too much. 2. Organize your apps so that your most useful apps are easy to open and your distracting apps are hidden. 3. Turn off most of your notifications and make use of your Do Not Disturb feature. 4. Check out your phone's screentime feature and set some sensible restrictions on how much time you are spending on your phone.
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode