How Turning My iPhone Into a Dumb Phone Skyrocketed My Productivity

Like many people, I’m guilty of spending an absurd amount of time on my iPhone. But after recently clocking a shameful eight hours and thirty-six minutes average per day for a week, I knew something had to change. So, I decided to try turning my iPhone into a dumb phone. Here’s how it went.

The Logic Behind Dumb-ification

Until this experiment, I used my phone for almost everything. Sound familiar? If so, it’s not surprising, considering a recent Statista poll indicated adults spend an average of four hours and 30 minutes on their phones every day.

As a remote worker, my iPhone has been the primary way I communicate with my bosses, my coworkers, and my spouse throughout the day. It acts as my camera, my music player, my internet portal, and my social media machine.

But I’ve come to the realization it’s also a massive distraction. And lately, I’d found my first impulse was to pick up my phone and start scrolling whenever I had a few free moments. Moreover, I began to notice that not having my phone close by was starting to incite slight bouts of anxiety. I hate that feeling.

Apparently, I’m not alone. Another recent survey indicated that Gen-Z and Millennial consumers are significantly concerned about the impact that device usage has on their overall well-being. And 53% said they “struggle to limit their screen time to a comfortable level.” The struggle, as they say, is real.

In other words, more and more people are recognizing they might not be in control of their device usage. I’m one of those people. Perhaps that’s why feature phones are making a comeback. I would rather not spend extra money on one of those, but I still wanted to break this cycle.

How Did I Dumb-ify My iPhone?

I started this journey by first removing all social media. Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok were first on the list. Then, I combed through my remaining apps, one-by-one, until I whittled everything down to the essentials.

Anything I could use a computer for, Quickbooks, or Figma for example, got the axe. Gaming apps like the PS Plus app and Steam were also deleted. I also broke up with Spotify and invested in a used iPod Classic.

I narrowed my essential app list down to only nine. I also silenced all notifications save for my work messengers, and used Focus mode to isolate those notifications to appear only during my scheduled work hours.

What Did I Keep?

Despite wanting to wipe everything, I knew I had to be realistic. So, I kept my work messaging apps, iMessage, and my email client. I also kept my calendar, task manager, and Safari just in case. Obsidian is my writing app of choice, so that stayed. And finally, I kept Quboz for its CarPlay support. I may eventually switch to my iPod for the car, but for now, Quboz is the only streaming music app I use.

I also purchased a matte screen protector, and set up Color Filters to turn my screen grayscale. I figured fewer bright colors meant I would be less tempted to engage with anything unintentionally.

The Blank Spaces app helped to reconfigure my home screen. This app turns your iOS icons into a purely textual list. There are no notifications, and the home screen is limited to basic colors like black, white, and gray.

Download: Blank Spaces for iOS and iPadOS (Free, in-app purchases)

What Changed About My Productivity?

At first, this new setup was jarring, and it took me a week or so to get used to it. But, I noticed some positive effects shortly thereafter. The biggest was an increase in my focus. Previously, I could only work for a couple of hours before getting the itch to scroll. It was easy to talk myself into that scroll time if I had completed a few items on my task list.

However, two hours of work with a 30-minute social media break meant, in an eight-hour day, I would spend roughly two hours scrolling. Not accounting for the time it took to get back into “work mode” once my break ended, or the time I spent on my phone after work.

Without scrolling, I’ve crossed significantly more stuff off my task list. I’ve caught up on a few latent projects, and last week was my most productive writing week in a long time. I finished eight articles in a five-day workweek, which is over twice what I normally complete. I’m still taking breaks. But these are usually just to stretch, grab some water, or to use the restroom. It’s also been easier to reorient myself back into “work mode.” Additionally, I’ve spent more time reading instead of mindlessly scrolling during non-work hours, as my access to distracting apps is limited.

I also saved some money. I didn’t realize that social media often served me ad content that influenced my spending. Without these ads, my Amazon purchases have become a bit less frequent. How much less frequent isn’t really quantifiable at this point, though.

Lastly, I’ve discovered I’m slightly less anxious when I don’t have my phone nearby. I’m well aware that this may be attributed to the placebo effect. Nevertheless, it’s been noticeable. And without the algorithm serving me content in an endless loop, I feel more in control.

That’s the good stuff. But in the effort of full disclosure, not everything has been sunshine and roses. There are always going to be drawbacks to dumb phones, and I did discover a few that were notable.

The Limitations of This Experiment

If you decide to undertake an experiment like this, know it won’t be easy. We live in a world where technology is a ubiquitous component of our everyday lives. We share memes, we laugh at viral videos, and we frequently discuss things we’ve seen online.

Swimming against that current over the last few weeks has often left me feeling like a digital troglodyte. Especially considering some of my friends and family members have similar phone use habits to mine pre-experiment. And honestly, it’s been difficult to find things to talk about that aren’t somehow social media-related.

Until this experiment, I didn’t realize how many times a day online content crept into the conversation. That’s a hurdle because people still derive a lot of conversational fodder via their online interactions, even if I’m not doing the same. This fact makes me feel slightly socially alienated. And therein lies the largest drawback of this entire dumb-i-fication experiment: isolation.

The sheer social pressure of being connected, at all times, makes anyone who isn’t feel as though they’ve been cast off to Elba. Over the past few weeks, I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve frequently reconsidered the terms of this experiment for that reason alone.

I think that’s the more prominent issue for folks who’d like to tread this path. Because even for those who want to cut down on their phone use, or any screen time for that matter, to do so is to potentially elicit social ramifications more consequential than the alternative. Ultimately, you’ll need to decide if you’ll be okay with that choice.

Overall, despite the drawbacks, I would call this experience a net positive. I’m happy to have loosened the stranglehold my iPhone once had. And I’ve enjoyed the increased focus, time, and cost savings. Plus, this experiment has been a boon to my productivity. Those aspects are great.

But the downsides still leave me a bit bereft, and I’m not sure if I’ll eventually succumb to the social pressure. For that, unfortunately, all that’s left is to wait and see.