Strategies to Put Your Phone Down and Focus

If you’re like me, you probably find yourself checking your phone more often than you’d like.  These checks often come when there’s a lull in the action, such as when you’re in line at the grocery store, waiting for an elevator, or between commercial breaks (remember those?).  Since our phones and the apps that we use are designed to keep us engaged, many of us have a steady stream of notifications which keep us attached to our devices.  Clearly there are benefits to all of this technology, the frequency at which we use these devices can be very frustrating.

This is particularly true for those with ADHD.  While the sense that we’re on our phones too much is nearly universal, there is evidence to suggest that people with ADHD are especially susceptible to these kinds of distractions.  Those with ADHD may often have difficulty with reigning in certain impulses, disengaging from activities they find very enjoyable, and may often avoid more complex tasks by doing something more satisfying among other difficulties.

Though whether you have been diagnosed with ADHD or not, we could all probably benefit from a few strategies to keep the phone down.  In my practice of ADHD skills training, I typically offer several suggestions to help limit distractions from devices.  The following are a few of these suggestions that could be helpful the next time you find yourself picking up your phone.

Stimulus Control, Or Putting Your Phone Away

The first strategy is probably the most obvious and straightforward.  In psychology, the term “stimulus control” is the concept that a specific behavior will occur in the presence of a specific stimulus.  In this case the presence of the phone is necessary for the behavior of using the phone.  An example of stimulus control in this situation would then be removing the phone from your environment.  See, simple!

Of course, it isn’t so simple but there are a few specific recommendations I make that make the process of using the phone harder.  Again, the most obvious would be moving the phone to another location, such as keeping the phone in another room while you’re working or otherwise do not wish to be distracted.  Additionally, your phone could be put into airplane mode to cut off access to data (assuming you’re not connected to a Wi-Fi signal).  The phone could also be powered off entirely during times when you do not want to be distracted.

Each of these strategies makes accessing the phone harder, though not impossible.  The idea behind these strategies is to increase the time between impulse and action to allow for cognitive processes to kick in.  Or put in simpler terms, there’s more time for you to think twice about checking your phone if you must go to the other room or power it back on first.

It’s in these windows between impulse and action that I encourage my patients to use coping strategies that can help resist the urge to check.  This could be identifying the costs of checking (e.g. “I’m likely to get sucked into social media for way longer than I want”), or identifying a more manageable on-task goal (e.g. “let me start the first sentence of this e-mail first and see how far I get”) instead of giving in to the urge to check the phone.

Notification and App Review

While hiding, removing or powering down your phone is a useful option to reduce distractions, these aren’t realistic options all the time.  For as frustrating as our devices can be sometimes, they may also be necessary for our lives.  If you cannot leave or power down your device, consider taking a moment to review the apps you’ve installed and their notifications.

Regarding apps, it’s possible that there are a number of apps installed on your device that you simply don’t use which contribute to the number and frequency of notifications you receive.  The otherwise might visually clutter your home screen and contribute to the uncomfortable sense of disorganization.  Deleting these apps is one way to turn the volume knob down on these distractions and feel a bit more digitally put together.

Consider the apps that while not necessary are ones you use only occasionally.  It could be helpful to do a quick cost/benefit analysis of these apps and the impact they have on your day to day life.

Take a social media app for instance.  A reasonable argument for using social media is that it helps you keep up with friends and family and offers some entertainment value.  In addition to these benefits, there are costs associated with its use.  Are these benefits worth the cost of using them?  What other activities would you do if you had some of that time back?  What are the negative aspects of your use of these apps?  Do you find yourself being more self-critical or depressed after using them?  Do they interfere with your sleep routine?  These are the kinds of questions I pose to help patients determine whether certain apps are more beneficial than they are detrimental to their lives.  This process can help prune the installed apps that send you notifications, which reduces how often you find yourself pulled towards your device.

Moreover, notifications can be addressed directly in your device’s settings.  You could take a moment to review which apps are sending you notifications and disable the ones you either don’t need or want.

Additionally, many devices can be programmed to have certain focus settings, so only approved apps can send notifications when those modes are active.  For instance, it’s possible to set up a focus that will allow incoming texts and calls from your partner or other family members while disabling all other notifications.  Many devices have a built-in do not disturb feature that will block nearly all notifications and doesn’t require any programming on your part.

Practice Makes Progress

“Cognitive rehearsal” is a bit of psychology jargon for “walking yourself through” a task.  In cognitive rehearsal, a person begins to think about how they might approach the task at hand and how they might manage potential distractions that could develop.  In this way, they’re setting intentions for action and developing a plan to stick to those intentions as opposed to running blind.

For example, you may want to get through your e-mail inbox first thing in the morning.  You also know that given how daunting that task can be at times, the lure of a device can seem particularly tempting in these moments.  Mentally rehearsing how you will go about it will help set expectations and build confidence in your ability to tolerate not giving in to distraction.

This kind of self-talk could sound like, “Okay, I’m going to walk in the office, set down my things and power up my laptop.  I’m going to open my e-mail right away and avoid opening any other tabs.  I’ll get through the first 5 e-mails before taking a short break by just standing up and taking a few deep breaths.  After that, I should be ready to dive back into the next five.  Should I get the urge to (check social media, check the news, check the weather), I know that I can do so after I’m finished and remind myself there’s probably no real benefit I’m going to get when I scratch that itch.”

This mental rundown can act as a bit of exposure to help a person tolerate the distress associated with not giving in to impulses.  Visualizing yourself being able to tolerate and avoid temptation can help improve confidence for when you it happens in real time.

Conclusion

None of these strategies are foolproof, but then again, we don’t have to be perfect!  Any reduction in distraction and unwanted device use is a step in the right direction.  It’s quite possible that taking a moment to implement one of these suggestions can result in some meaningful improvement, even if you’re still distracted some of the time.

For those who would like additional personalized assistance with maintaining focus and reducing distraction, consider skills training with RPA.  The cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) based approach I use helps those with ADHD build and sustain organizational skills while identifying better ways to think about how you approach your responsibilities.