Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day

by Jake Knapp

20. Clear Your Homescreen Your phone is designed for speed. Scan your face or fingerprint and you’re in. And most people keep their favorite apps right on their homescreen for immediate access. Scan, tap, app! This friction-free process is great when you’re getting driving directions, but when you’re trying to get into Laser mode, it’s an autobahn to distraction. To slow things down, try making your homescreen blank. Move all the icons to the next screen over (and from the second screen to the third and so on). Don’t leave anything behind on that first screen except a nice clean view of your beautiful background image. A blank homescreen provides a tiny moment of quiet every time you use your phone. It’s an intentional inconvenience, a small pause—a speed bump keeping distraction one step away. If you unlocked your phone reflexively, a blank homescreen offers you a moment to ask yourself, “Do I really want to be distracted right now?”