Hey everyone,
As probably everyone who has a smartphone knows, I also spend too much time on it.
For me, YouTube is my weakness. I can watch a short video during a break, and then I click on a recommendation, and another one, and yet another. For other people, it might be Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or any other app.
Fortunately, it's now possible to set a daily timer for each app. If you set 20 minutes per day for Facebook, well, that's how much you can actually spend on it each day. It's a simple fix, but it solved most of my issues!
However, there's one app that refuses to be controlled: Email.
I usually use the Outlook app on my phone to read emails. I've set a strict 5-minute daily timer, which should have been sufficient since I read and respond to most emails on my laptop anyway. BUT I constantly check for new emails on my phone. When there are no new emails, the check only takes one or two seconds, allowing me to check my phone over 100 times per day within those 5 minutes.
When looking at these numbers, consider Chris Bailey’s data insights in his fascinating book Hyperfocus: On average, we check emails 88 times per workday, and each distraction costs about twenty minutes to get back on track. Twenty minutes! Thankfully, apps such as One Sec, StayFree, and AppBlock exist precisely to help us tackle this hidden problem.
After many iterations, I've been able to reduce my app usage. So next time you set a metric or a goal, don't worry about changing course along the way. It's all part of the discovery and learning process.
So, how many times do you check your email each day?
See you next Wednesday!
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