The steps I’m taking to live a focused life
How often do you find yourself so motivated to do something, but instantly distracted by something else as soon as you open your phone or laptop?
Sometimes I have the willpower to turn away from the distractions and do what I want to do, but generally I spend so much time consuming many things I don't even want to consume.
I have been battling this for years—feeling imprisoned by my instincts and betraying what I really want to do.
It is so frustrating to have ambitions that aren't matched by attention. In other words, I am distracted.
My current solution? Extreme environment control.
Nothing distracting on my phone
I think I’ve finally gotten to a point where the use of my phone is more often than not, an experience I don’t regret.
I started around a year ago by turning my iPhone into a "dumb phone".1
This process starts by deleting most of the apps on your phone and Safari browser extensions to moderate distracting content.
This didn't solve the problem
Although I blocked YouTube shorts, recommended videos, and the home page, I still found myself able to go down YouTube rabbit holes—still taking time and attention away from the things I actually want to do.
For a very short period of time, I removed Safari from my phone completely. But as you can imagine, modern life requires browser access.
Moderating through screen time didn't work either. It is absurd to think that I'm not going to click "Allow for ..." when I'm 2 minutes into my 4 minute video.
Current setup
I used parental controls to completely block YouTube.com and Reddit.com.
Expected outcomes
I expect to be bored. And for me, this is an ideal state of being.
When I'm bored, I'm far more likely to sit down and:
- Write and share my thoughts with the world
- Feel the urge to go for a walk
- Work on a personal project
- Come up with a creative meal to cook
While these activities aren't as instantly gratifying as watching a short form video, these activities bring long-lasting joy and fulfillment that are extremely gratifying in retrospect.