How to customize your smartphone for fewer distractions and more joy?

Do you own a smartphone? How often does it vibrate in your pocket? More like once per hour? Ten times? One hundred times?

I used a weekend away with my wife to shut down almost all the notifications on mine. After three days, it felt so good that I decided to leave it like this and more. I have a question for you:

What is your reason for putting an app on your Homescreen?

Efficiency, right? You want to have the tools you need the most, right there at your fingertips! Why should you swipe twice to the right, 150 times per day, to find the app you use the most?

Unfortunately, I didn't take a screenshot of my home screen back then. It was full of apps that didn't have a positive influence on me. Lots of apps with red badges reminding me that my inbox was not empty. Plenty of social apps telling me that I was missing something. Black holes apps that suck in whole hours via infinite scrolling capabilities.

So I did a short thought experiment. I went through the apps on my home screen and listened to my feelings. For each app, I asked myself which feeling it triggered in me. Was I calm, energetic, fortunate, curious, attracted, cheerful? Or more like irritated, ashamed, tired, empty or frustrated? And finally, I kept only the ones that positively influenced my life on the home screen. I moved the rest to the last screen.

Here's my home screen now:

Here's all that's left:

• Coffitivity, because chatter, while I am working, helps me get in the "Zone."
• Forest, because sometimes I need a little push to remain concentrated on a task
• Discourse, because there is a Keto site where I learn something new every day
• Calm, because meditating gives me so much energy
• Overcast, because podcasts are central in my life
• Audible, because beyond podcasts, I listen to audiobooks as well
• Camera, because capturing lovely scenery or the kids doing something (incredible) is always a source of joy
• Safari, because I read and learn a lot on the internet and I like discovering new things
• WhatsApp, because this is my lifeline to my family back in France
• Notes, because I write all the time - this is, in fact, the app I use the most
• Albums, because after taking pictures, I often stare at them again and again

What about YOUR home screen? I encourage you to try as well. Unclog your home screen. Keep only the apps that make you happy. Try it out for a couple of days. Then come back here to tell me how you feel!

Edit: here it goes to the Happy SmartPhone Experiment II

Photo by Luke Porter on Unsplash