How I Stopped Checking My Phone During Work (A Deep Focus Setup That Actually Works)
I was checking my phone 15+ times per hour during work. Here's the setup that dropped that to near-zero—without turning my phone off.
Key takeaways
- I spent months convincing myself I needed my phone nearby "in case something comes up." In 6 months of this setup, not once has something truly urgent happened that couldn't wait 90 minutes.
- Focus Mode: Helped with notifications but didn't stop me from picking up the phone myself.
- Screen Time App Limits: I'd just tap through them.
- Keeping the phone face-down: Slightly helpful, but I'd still pick it up.
- Phone in a drawer: Better, but I'd still open the drawer.
My embarrassing starting point
I thought I was pretty focused until I actually measured it. I set up a simple tally for one day: every time I reached for my phone during work hours, I made a mark. By 3pm, I had 47 marks. In about 5 hours of "focused work."
Most of these weren't even intentional checks. My hand would just... reach. Mid-sentence while writing something. Between browser tabs. While waiting for something to load. It was muscle memory, not conscious choice.
The worst part? I wasn't even using the phone for anything. I'd pick it up, look at the Lock Screen, see nothing interesting, put it down. Five minutes later, repeat. It was pure compulsion.
What didn't work (and I tried a lot)
Before I found something that worked, I tried all the obvious stuff:
- Focus Mode: Helped with notifications but didn't stop me from picking up the phone myself. The urge came from inside, not from external triggers
- Screen Time App Limits: I'd just tap through them. "Ignore for 15 minutes." Repeat indefinitely
- Keeping the phone face-down: Slightly helpful, but I'd still pick it up. The visibility wasn't the main issue
- Phone in a drawer: Better, but I'd still open the drawer. And then I'd tell myself "while I'm here, might as well check..."
- Telling myself to just stop: Laughable in retrospect. If self-talk worked, I wouldn't have had the problem
The setup that actually worked
The breakthrough was treating my phone like a colleague who can't be in certain meetings. It's not banned from my life. It just doesn't get to be in the room during deep work blocks.
- Phone lives in another room during focus blocks. Not a drawer in my office. A specific spot in another room entirely. The "getting up" barrier is crucial
- I use 90-minute blocks. That's about how long I can maintain real focus, and it's short enough that I don't feel like I'm missing emergencies. Between blocks, I can check the phone deliberately
- I use a visible timer. Something physical on my desk (an hourglass, old-school kitchen timer, whatever) that I can see. It helps me stay in "focus mode" mentally
- Essentials stay available differently. If I genuinely need to be reachable, I leave my phone on loud and visible in the other room. I'll hear it ring. But I won't be able to mindlessly scroll
The "what if I need it" trap
I spent months convincing myself I needed my phone nearby "in case something comes up." In 6 months of this setup, not once has something truly urgent happened that couldn't wait 90 minutes. Most of us dramatically overestimate how immediately reachable we need to be.
Extra challenges for remote work (and how I handle them)
Working from home makes this harder. There's no social pressure, no one watching, no office norms. It's just you, your phone, and an endless supply of good intentions.
- Physical separation matters more at home. The phone needs to be genuinely inconvenient to reach, not just "not in my hand"
- I created a "start work" ritual. Phone goes to its spot, timer goes on my desk, and I begin. The ritual itself is a mental signal that focus mode has started
- I take phone breaks instead of having phone-with-me time. I work for 90 minutes, then deliberately go check my phone for 10 minutes, then start the next block. This is the opposite of having it nearby and "just not checking"
The results after 3 months
Measuring this is imprecise, but here's what I observed:
- Phone pickups during work hours: from 50+ to around 6-8 (once between each focus block)
- Deep work sessions completed per day: from ~1 fragmented session to 3-4 solid 90-minute blocks
- Overall work quality: hard to quantify, but I'm finishing more substantial work. The kind of work that requires sustained thinking
- Stress: counter-intuitively lower. I thought I'd be anxious not checking. Instead, I feel calmer knowing the phone is handled—it's in a specific place, and I'll check it at specific times
Want lower iPhone Screen Time without willpower battles?
Apptoken adds a real-world pause before distracting apps—so you don’t have to win the same decision 50 times a day.
FAQ
What if my job requires my phone?
Define "requires" carefully. If you mean you need to receive work calls, keep the phone on loud in another room—you'll hear it ring. If you mean you need Slack/Teams, use the desktop version during focus blocks. If you genuinely need the physical phone in your hand all day (sales calls, on-call support), this approach needs modification, but you can still batch check times rather than constant availability.
What about quick lookups—calculator, checking a fact?
Use your computer. If you genuinely need to calculate something or look up a fact during work, you're already at a computer. Opening your phone for "just a quick lookup" is one of the most common trap doors back into scrolling.
How do I handle the urge to check during a focus block?
I keep a small notepad. When I feel the urge to check something, I write it down instead. "Check if package shipped." "Reply to mom's text." Most things can wait 90 minutes. The notepad captures the thought so my brain can let it go. After the focus block, I usually find half the things on the list no longer feel urgent.
Keep reading
I tried every sleep-focused Screen Time hack for 3 months. Here's the routine that finally worked—and why most "just put your phone down" advice fails.
Deleting apps doesn't work for most people—you just reinstall them. Here's how to keep social media while breaking the endless scroll.