Habit technique · Environment & friction · 10–30 minutes

Redesign your phone

Level: Beginner · Free — no account needed to read

Change your phone’s layout and settings so it supports your intentions: move tempting apps, hide badges, sign out, use focus modes.

Why it may help

A phone is an environment full of cues and zero friction. Redesigning it applies cue and friction tools where many habits live.

When to use it

• Scrolling you didn’t mean to do
• Distraction during focus time
• Phone use at bedtime

How to apply it

1. Move your two most tempting apps off the home screen.
2. Put helpful apps where they were.
3. Turn off badges and most notifications.
4. Try signing out of one app you want to use less.

An example

Ali moved social apps to a folder on the last screen and put a clock on his lock screen.

The common mistake

Making changes so drastic you reverse them the next day.

Practise it

Spend five minutes rearranging your home screen.

What the evidence says

Emerging: Early or small studies look promising. Worth testing on yourself; too soon to rely on.

The approach applies well-supported cue and friction principles, but research specifically on phone redesign is still emerging, and research on phones and wellbeing is mixed.

Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy (v1) codes: 12.1, 12.3, 7.3.

Sources

• Digital Minimalism — Cal Newport (2019)
• Indistractable — Nir Eyal (2019)