7 iPhone Tricks for Gen Z That Will Make You 95% More Present

Unless you take and view a ton of photos/videos on your phone at work — let’s be honest, who does — the color makes the distraction even more distracting. If you’re not ready for that yet, I suggest at least turning on Night Shift to reduce the stimulating impact of your phone at night.

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6. Turn off notifications while traveling

Each stop on the way to the target app is an opportunity to confirm what you want, but also an opportunity to get distracted. That’s why it’s so important to set up notifications correctly. Of my 32 apps, only 8 send notifications in some form or another.

• Badges are useful for apps that you check once a day or less often, such as only when they have news. In my case, these are Telegram, Reminders, Phone, and App Store to check for updates.
• Banners only work well for call and calendar notifications, as they interrupt your work when you’re using the app or moving around.
• I don’t use alerts at all, they’re simply worse than banners.

You’ve seen my approach to messages: not on the lock screen, but in your notification history. That’s it! Your phone is now optimized for maximum attentiveness. There’s just one more thing left to do.

7. Install exit prompts

This is a utopian dream: a phone that tells you to put it away when it’s no longer useful. I can’t think of a good way to implement this yet, so my best shot is to pick the perfect question for my wallpaper.

I initially set this to “What are you looking for?” However, this only applies to your trip down phone, not outside. After answering the call, you can “look” for fun and entertainment.

“Why am I in your hand?” is a better option because the question is just as valid once you’re done using the app.

“Why am I Still in your hand?” if you want. To use it well, you can:

1. When you’re done working in an app, press the Home button.
2. Press it again to return to the oasis and hopefully lock your phone.

I’m fascinated by the fact that no one has come up with a good solution to this problem, though I’m not surprised. You can’t sell medicine to healthy people, and you can’t sell apps to people who don’t use them. Master your tool before it masters you.

RELATED: The Psychological Reason You Can’t Stop Checking Your Phone

Niklas Goke is a writer whose work has been featured in Thought Catalog, Medium, TheMuse, and others.