If you’re having trouble moving through your day without constantly reaching for your phone, you’re not alone. Phones continue to become more addictive with each new release. And, in case you’re wondering, this is intentional.

App developers, social media platforms, and technology companies employ teams of psychologists and designers whose entire job is making their products as engaging and difficult to put down as possible. That means the solution isn’t just trying harder to resist. You have to get serious about implementing structural changes that allow you to use more discretion over how much screen time you have on a daily and weekly basis.

Understand Your Distraction Patterns

Before you can reduce phone distractions, you need to understand when, why, and how often you’re actually getting distracted. Most people dramatically underestimate their phone usage and can’t accurately identify their worst distraction triggers without objective data.

Use your phone’s built-in screen time tracking or download apps that monitor your usage patterns. Check these reports after a few days to see which apps consume most of your time, how many times per day you pick up your phone, and what times of day show peak usage. This data often reveals surprising patterns.

Pay attention to what precedes reaching for your phone. Do you grab it immediately after completing a task? During difficult or boring work? When you feel anxious or uncertain? Identifying these emotional or situational triggers helps you address root causes rather than just symptoms.

Modify Your Physical Environment

The easiest way to reduce phone-related distractions is to make it physically harder to access your phone during focused work periods.

Put your phone in another room when you need to concentrate deeply on something. This simple action dramatically reduces spontaneous checking because the friction of having to get up and retrieve your phone interrupts the automatic reaching pattern.

If leaving your phone in another room isn’t practical, place it face down and out of arm’s reach. Even these small physical barriers can help.

Take Control of Notifications

Notifications are designed to interrupt you, and the default notification settings on most apps are way more aggressive than necessary. Here are some suggestions:

• Turn off all non-essential notifications immediately. Go through every app on your phone and disable notifications except for truly time-sensitive communications. You probably don’t need notifications from social media, news apps, games, or most other apps. Text messages and phone calls might require notifications, but most messaging apps can wait until you check them.
• Use Do Not Disturb mode strategically during focused work blocks. Most phones allow you to customize Do Not Disturb settings so that only specific contacts can reach you during these periods.
• Schedule specific times to check notifications rather than responding to them as they arrive. Batch-processing your communications two or three times daily is far more efficient than the constant context-switching that occurs when you address each notification as it happens.

Redesign Your Home Screen

Your phone’s home screen should support your goals rather than undermining them with tempting distractions. That’s why it can be a good idea to remove social media and other time-wasting apps from your home screen. Keep them installed if you must, but bury them in folders several screens deep so that accessing them requires deliberate navigation. This added friction gives you a moment to reconsider whether you really want to open the app or if you’re just responding to habit.

Consider making your home screen intentionally boring. Some people find that removing app icons entirely and leaving a blank or neutral wallpaper makes their phone less psychologically rewarding to look at, reducing the urge to check it.

Get Serious About Addressing Robocalls

Beyond self-imposed distractions, your phone probably interrupts you with unwanted calls and messages that fragment your attention. Robocalls are one particularly intrusive form of distraction. And did you know that you actually have legal protection against these calls?

According to attorney Jibrael S. Hindi, “A robocall is an automated phone call that is made with autodialing technology. This special computer software dials numbers automatically and requires no human intervention. The TCPA forbids these types of calls without express written consent.”

If you’re receiving repeated robocalls despite being on the National Do Not Disturb Registry, or without having given consent, you have rights under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). You can file complaints with the FCC and potentially pursue legal action against persistent violators. While this doesn’t immediately stop the calls, knowing you have recourse can provide a little bit of hope.

Build Alternative Habits

What if you chose to fight back against digital distraction by building out some alternative habits into your daily routines? Here are a few ideas:

• Carry a book, notebook, or something else productive for moments when you’d typically reach for your phone.
• Practice tolerating boredom without immediately reaching for stimulation. The discomfort of a few minutes with nothing to do isn’t an emergency. Learning to sit with that feeling, even briefly, strengthens your ability to focus when it matters.
• Replace phone-based activities with tangible alternatives. If you use your phone to relax in the evening, try reading physical books, doing puzzles, or engaging in hobbies that require your hands.

Monitor and Adjust Your Approach

The goal isn’t achieving perfect phone discipline or never experiencing distraction. It’s ultimately about regaining control over your attention so that you use your phone intentionally. Hopefully, this article has given you a few helpful places to start!