My smartphone is an indispensable companion for me. I would even go so far as to call it my digital Swiss army knife. However, as with a Swiss army knife, it’s important to use the right tools at the right time and not mindlessly open a can with a corkscrew, even if this is theoretically possible. The can opener function is much more suitable for this.
Similarly, conscious and targeted use of your smartphone can help you get the best out of it without falling into the traps of distraction and overuse. Here are some suggestions on how you can use your mobile phone sensibly and efficiently when you’re out and about.
What do you need your smartphone for when you’re out and about?
Firstly, it is important to realise what you actually want to use your smartphone for. To do this, simply make a written list of what you want to do with your smartphone and what use you want to avoid. You may find it easier to unlock your smartphone and sort your installed apps by category and go through the categories step by step. Here are some recommendations based on my own usage analysis.
I want to avoid this usage on my smartphone:
- Use of social media apps: These apps can spy on my usage behaviour, motivate me to spend money and take up an unnecessary amount of my time.
- Use of shopping apps: They encourage rash shopping and tempt me to buy unnecessary things.
- Use of gaming apps: Although games can shorten my waiting time when commuting on the train, they also distract me from important tasks. I therefore only use them to a very limited extent (i.e. only educational games) or not at all.
- Use of video streaming apps: Not only do they consume a lot of bandwidth, they also track my viewing habits and tempt me to spend hours watching videos that the algorithm makes appealing to me instead of being productive.
I want to be able to use these functions on my smartphone:
- Making phone calls and using messenger apps: Making phone calls and using messenger services are essential for me. I make sure that I only use messengers that offer end-to-end encryption to protect my communication.
- Taking photos: I often use my smartphone’s camera app to capture important moments or to remind myself of certain things, e.g. taking a photo of the cover of a beautiful book instead of buying it, as I can also download it as an audio book or borrow it from my local library.
- Keep an eye on the calendar: Looking at my calendar app helps me keep on top of my schedule and add new appointments (especially time blockers for tasks) quickly.
- Use a password manager: Accessing my password manager is also important to be able to access my online accounts securely and easily.
- Use cloud accounts: My cloud accounts allow me to access my digital filing system when I’m on the move.
- Use language learning apps: I use language learning apps to practise languages such as Spanish and Danish.
- Use fitness apps: My fitness apps help me track my workouts and stay motivated.
- Synchronise emails: Sometimes I need to check and reply to my emails on the go, but I only sync them once a day to minimise distractions from my email inbox. Also, the Mail app has disappeared from the home screen of my smartphone and can only be accessed via the search function, which helps me not to constantly check emails.
- Use music and podcast apps: I use music and podcast apps to listen to music on the go or while exercising, although I avoid podcasts after 9pm (using screentime settings) so I don’t spoil my night’s sleep with ‘true crime’ or ‘real crime’ on the news.
- Use navigation apps: Navigation apps are also very useful, however I make sure that these services don’t track me unnecessarily or flood me with adverts by not signing up to these services.
- Use audiobook apps: Last but not least, I consume many of my books, as audiobooks, as I can still go for a walk or exercise on the side, and get through my reading material much quicker than reading printed books or vial reading app on my tablet.
That’s it! The list will certainly look different for you, but it’s important to be aware of what you really want to use your smartphone for when you’re out and about and where your mobile phone is just ballast and a time waster.
If this detailed analysis of usage takes too long or if you are keen to experiment, you can also do the following to get an accurate picture of your optimal smartphone usage.
Step-by-step instructions for an alternative approach
A useful experiment is to set the colour display of your smartphone to ‘black and white’ for a week (or better still, a month). This significantly reduces the attractiveness of your device and therefore also the pointless use of time-consuming apps. It’s best to switch on the ‘screen time’ settings during this time and make a note of what you mainly use your smartphone for.
As soon as your experiment week, or better yet experiment month, is over, you should only switch on the functions that you have used consistently during this ‘black and white’ time and delete the remaining apps or at least remove them as tiles on the screen. Shopping or social media apps usually lose out in the ‘black/white’ setting. At the end of the experiment, you should only switch on the functions that you have been using for a long time. All unnecessary apps can be safely deleted or at least removed from the main screen.
Finally, you can remove the ‘black/white’ filter again. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with using the colour filter in the long term, but it makes my life unnecessarily difficult, for example when using navigation apps or by making practising with my language learning app less fun.
Either way, this usage analysis has taught me to get the most out of my smartphone and to be more conscious of how I use my mobile device. By realising what I really want to use my phone for and what I don’t, I’m less likely to download unnecessary apps that steal my data or my time. I hope these tips can also help you to use your smartphone more consciously.
Checklist:
- Carry out a demand analysis: What do you need your smartphone for when you’re out and about? Make a note of what you want to do with your smartphone and what usage you want to avoid.
- Once you have analysed this, delete all apps that promote a use that you want to avoid, or at least remove them from your smartphone’s home screen.
- Alternatively, try the following experiment:
- Set the smartphone’s color display to ‘black/white’.
- Activate ‘Screen time’ settings and note down usage times.
- At the end of the experiment week or month, delete all apps that encourage usage that you want to avoid, as described above.
- Enjoy your newly gained time thanks to less distraction from your smartphone!