Modern smartphones are essentially portable computers and they can be incredibly addictive. It may start by checking a notification on your iPhone and before you know it, you spend an hour with it. If you have been wasting too much time with your iPhone, a more effective way is to make it less enticing. This way, you can be more productive and physically more active. Here are a few things to do:
Manage social media: Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and other social media platforms can cause you to waste too much time. On Twitter, you should disable retweets for anyone you follow. For YouTube, you should use RSS, so you will get notifications only when from subscribed channels when they release a new video. Consider unsubscribing channels that are not relevant to your preference. You may consider uninstalling TikTok or Facebook if they don’t provide anything meaningful to your productivity. You may still connect to your friends and relatives through other less addictive platforms, such as instant messaging and email.
Limit screen time
A straightforward way is to limit screen time in each app. You will be shut out of an app if a time limit has been reached. It is easy to set screen time. Go to Settings > Screen Time > App Limit. Tap Add Limit and set a time limit for each app, like social media apps. If you want to specify days in the week, you may configure the Customize Days option. This way, you can spend more time during weekends on social media, but restrict usage time during workdays. If you have restricted the use of Facebook, not only its dedicated app is inaccessible, but the Facebook website is also not accessible in your Safari web browser.
Schedule downtime
Even if you limit the screen time of certain apps, it is possible that you will continue using the iPhone for other things. It is important to take one step further to specify downtime. In Settings > Screen Time > Downtime, you can enable the Downtime feature. Enable the Scheduled option and specify the time of day and days of the week. You may include apps in the allowed list, especially if you need them for study or work. If you want to add or remove the app, you can tap the + and – signs. You may pick contacts by choosing “Allowed Communication” and then tap Specific Contacts.
Clean up Home Screen
If your Home Screen is cluttered and full of app icons, you could spend time unnecessarily with your iPhone. If it’s out of sight, it will be out of mind. It is easier to manage your time if your Home Screen is tidy. You can put app icons back on the Home Screen if you need to use them. It’s even better to uninstall unnecessary apps, by tapping and holding an app, then choosing Remove App.
Disable social media notifications
You may disable notifications manually on each social media app. You can check their Settings menu and look for ways to disable notifications. In the Twitter app, it’s in Settings > Preferences. In Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Tiktok, and Facebook, it’s in Settings > Notifications. Disabling social media can potentially be the best option for you to manage Time when using iPhone. Not having constant notifications mean you can concentrate on your life.
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