Stuff - UK (2020-01)

BE GOOD TO YOURSELF GET SOME PEACE

QInfuse good habits
Get a habit-tracker on your
phone, and use it to define
a handful of ways in which
you’d like to improve your life
and tech use. Don’t be overly
ambitious – between two and
six items is enough – and do
give yourself a break if streaks
are broken.

QGamify your health
Conscious tech use can prove
transformative on health with
the right apps. Have your
smartwatch encourage you
to move and exercise more,
or go all-in with Zombies, Run!
to combine a Walking Dead
dystopia with getting fit.

TODOIST

A list manager arguably

means more busywork

and another reason to

pick up your phone, but

it can also be a great way

of consolidating tasks

and making phone use

more conscious. Use this

as the hub for your day,

and place it prominently

on your homescreen.

£free / Android, iOS

HABITICA

If you need a nudge to

get things done and tend

to spend too much time

playing games, check

out Habitica. It gamifies

self-improvement,

transforming your

to-do list into an RPG...

and success in the real

world translates to the

virtual one.

£free / Android, iOS

BFT – BEAR

FOCUS TIMER

There are plenty of

timers that attempt

to carve your day into

work/rest sprints. But

BFT has you place your

phone face-down during

work periods – great for

focusing on tasks.

£1.19 / Android

£1.99 / iOS

APPS FOR

THE MIND

QTame notifications

Android and iOS both have

mature notification systems.

When new notifications come

in, quieten or disable them

entirely. Chances are, you only

really need a handful active.

The rest are a distraction that

suck you back into apps.

QSet contact ringtones

Similarly, most phone calls

fundamentally don’t matter.

For key contacts, such

as a spouse, best friend

or boss, assign a custom

ringtone so you know

it’s them and can answer

immediately. Everyone else

can go to voicemail.

QDelete social apps

Social media apps tend to be

the ones that eat into most

people’s time. If that’s you,

add friction. This might mean

gating usage with a screen

time system, or removing

native apps and using inferior

web interfaces to put you off.

QOffload on iOS

When fixated on an iOS game,

too regularly tempted to play

but unwilling to lose all your

progress by dumping it,

offload it in Settings. Your

device will retain the app’s

data, but the game will only

run when reinstalled.

QRefine device usage

If you’re fortunate enough

to own multiple devices, clear

your daily carry of cruft. Have

a ‘gaming’ or ‘social’ device

ready and waiting for you

when you get home, for your

allotted faff time.

PRUNE

YOUR APPS