Worried about working from home? Strategies to help you get stuff done

How do you stay sane and focused when working from home?

Managing oneself can be challenging, especially in stressful times. Over the past week, I’ve heard several people say:

“I’ll go stir crazy if I have to work from home!”

I’m here to tell you that working from home can be a lot of fun.

This way of life can provide a huge amount of flexibility and freedom. You can start work when you want and finish when you want. You can wear whatever you want. If you want to take a 2-hour lunch break and multiple power naps throughout the day, then you can do just that!

But you also run the risk of your usual routines going out the window.

I’ve always been my own boss, so I’ve had to develop routines and strategies to stay focused and get stuff done.

Here are some strategies I highly recommend to help you work at home and win the day.

1. Create a morning routine

Morning routine

Select three to five small activities to do first thing in the morning.

Here’s what my morning routine looks like:

• Get up and make my bed
• Exercise session (20 – 45 minutes)
• Shower and get dressed
• Have breakfast
• Meditate for 10 minutes

After completing my morning routine, I feel good. And when I feel good, it’s much easier for me to stay focused.

As Tim Ferriss says in his book Tools of Titans:

“If I hit 3 out of 5 [activities], I consider having won the morning. And if you win the morning, you win the day.”

Note: The worst thing you can do is start your day by checking your phone, scrolling through social media, etc. All this does is put you in a reactive state of mind (and this “Always on” state isn’t good for you).

2. Give your day some structure

What is it that you need and want to get done today?

Grab a piece of paper or a whiteboard. Jot down the things you need to do. Be specific.

Don’t go overboard with your list. The problem with long to-do lists is they can be demoralising. You can’t help but think, “How will I get all of this done?”.

So try this instead . . .

Take three tasks from your to-do list and write them on a post-it note or palm card. Put your to-do list away (out of sight).

By doing this, it makes it less scary for your brain. But that’s not the only reason you do this . . .

When you see two out of three items crossed off your to-do list, this is motivating for your brain. You’ll want to keep going. When you’ve crossed them all off, add three new tasks to your palm card.

Throughout the day, check your list to make sure you’re staying on track. This is half the battle when it comes to working from home (staying on task).

3. Implement tech rules

If you’re not careful, social media and sites like YouTube and Netflix can consume a huge chunk of your day. So set some rules. For example, I allow myself to watch one 30 minute show a day (only after I’ve completed the most important task for the day).

Consider using technology to help you stay off technology. I highly recommend an Internet blocker application called Freedom. This app locks me out of certain sites (e.g. Facebook and YouTube) when I need to be working.

Once you’re in control of technology (and not the other way round), you’ll feel a lot better.

4. Factor in time for fun and self care

Fun theory

Working at home can be isolating and draining. So this is where you need to apply Fun Theory. Any task you engage in, try to make it fun and/or interesting for your brain.

For example, if you’re mind mapping, grab your favourite coloured pens and/or make yourself a delicious smoothie to sip on while you work. Use a whiteboard, get dressed up in a crazy costume and teach a younger sibling or pet a concept. If you’re organising and cleaning, crank up some music.

5. Take regular breaks

Taking breaks isn’t a waste of time. Consider that regular rest breaks will make you more productive.

Here are some activities you could do on a short 5-15 minute break:

• Have a power nap
• Do some stretches
• Have a conversation (Note: face-to-face or on the phone is best)
• Play with your pets
• Go for a walk outside and get some fresh air and vitamin D
• Make yourself a healthy snack (e.g. a smoothie)
• Make a cup of tea

We all know how easy it is to take a break and never get back to work. This is where a timer can help. A timer going off is your cue to get back on track and knock off another item on your list of three tasks.

6. Mix things up

If you’ve established a good work routine but find yourself getting bored, shake things up a little. Try working in a different location and in different way around your house. In her brilliant book Use Your Words, Catherine Deveny suggests the following:

“ … shake things up occasionally when you are writing. Move to a different room to write. Drink something different, handwrite for a change, spend your first five minutes drawing about what you are writing about, then change hands and draw with the non-dominant hand. If you write inside, write outside for a bit. Change rooms. Write in the bathroom for thirty minutes. Normally sit in a chair? Try cross-legged on the ground. Write for an hour every day? Try two blocks of half an hour. Or try seventy-five minutes.”

7. Tame your inner slob

Stay on top of mess and clutter. If your study space starts to feel out of control, you’ll start to feel mentally out of control, too. Don’t make life harder than it needs to be right now.

8. Use effective study strategies

the best study strategies

You can slash your study time in half by using highly effective study strategies. You can slash even more time off your study by staying focused on one task at a time (i.e. no multitasking). Check out my list of highly effective study strategies here and ideas on how to stay focused here.

9. Remember your Why

You are working from home for a reason: to protect you, your family and communities’ health. When I am feeling a bit of cabin fever, I say to myself:

“How would I feel if I went out, caught COVID-19 and infected my ageing parents and elderly neighbour?”

Obviously, not good.

So I choose to stay at home to work and study.

10. Practise gratitude

It’s easy to focus on the negatives. It’s human nature to do this. Yes, these are scary and uncertain times. But let’s not forget to be thankful for what we have in our lives. For me, I have a roof over my head. I have great cooking skills and time to cook. I also now have time to read.

What are you grateful for? Feel free to share in the comments section below.

To sum up

We are living through a 1 in 100 year event. This difficult period will pass. But it may last longer than we anticipate. The faster you can establish an effective daily work/study routine the easier it will be for you and everyone else in your household. Remember, we are all in this together.

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Make study easier

It’s the start of a new school year.

This usually comes with shiny new pens, fresh notebooks and renewed hope and optimism. But I recently heard someone say:

“I can’t believe it’s already the end of January . . . so much has happened. I feel tired.”

Can you relate?

A lot has been happening in the world. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the news, let alone the tsunami of information we’re bombarded with online.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed and tired (like many people are), let’s try to make life a little easier for ourselves. In this article, I share a strategy you can use to make difficult things feel easier to do. I also share how you can apply the strategy to studying challenging subjects.

Don’t waste your precious energy worrying

I remember having a brief conversation with a year 11 student at the start of the pandemic. It went something like this . . .

Me: How are you feeling given the situation (i.e., COVID-19)?

Year 11 Student: Some of us are stressed but not because of COVID. It’s because of what our teachers have just said to us.

Me: What have your teachers been saying to you?

Year 11 Student: They keep saying this year is going to be really hard. The subjects are going to be much, much harder.

Driving home from the talk, I couldn’t stop thinking about what this student had said as well as the worried look in her eyes.

This conversation reminded me of an awkward experience I once had in a school.

Here’s what happened . . .

I was booked to deliver a presentation to 150 year 10 students. My talk was scheduled for the last period of the school day.

In case you’re not aware, the last period of the school day is not an ideal time slot for a guest speaker. It’s usually a tough gig, as students are tired and they just want to go home.

Students don’t hide how they feel at the end of the school day.

When I arrived at the venue to set up my gear, I spotted two teachers. I approached them and introduced myself to them as the guest presenter. One of them said in an alarmed, panicky tone:

“Oh! You’re the guest speaker? I need to warn you that these students are a horrible group. They do not warm to guest speakers!”

She continued. . .

“Does your talk have a structure to it? Do you know what you’re talking about? These year 10s are a really hard group to work with!”

I felt my stress levels begin to rise, and by accident, I knocked my glass of water off the stage, and it broke. Glass shattered everywhere. Instead of helping me pick up the glass, the teacher said:

“Look! It’s a sign of things to come!”

At this point, the young IT guy arrived to help connect my laptop to the AV system. He overheard this teacher talking about what a bunch of ratbags these students were. His expression was a combination of shock and horror. He said to her:

“Why are you saying this to our guest presenter? I don’t think it’s helpful.”

The teacher reacted defensively. She blurted out, “She needs to know! It’s important we tell her!” and then she left in a hurry.

I took some deep breaths and continued setting up my stuff.

What happened next may surprise you . . .

The students arrived.
I delivered the talk.
The talk went really well. Phew!

It turns out these students weren’t horrible at all. They were a normal group of students who happened to be a bit tired and over it (it didn’t help that it was a boiling hot day).

That day, I learnt an important lesson: Worrying about how difficult something might be doesn’t help. It just uses up your precious brainpower and energy, which you could have spent doing something else (i.e., something more productive).

Whenever I fixate on how hard something will be, I’m filled with fear. Imposter syndrome and self doubt kick in (“Will I be able to do this? What if I fail and it turns out to be a total flop?”). This usually leads to a bad case of avoidance and procrastination.

Imposter syndrome

In the book Make It Stick, Peter Brown explains:

A fear of failure can poison learning by creating aversions to the kinds of experimentation and risk taking that characterize striving, or by diminishing performance under pressure, as in a test setting.”

If you feel worried that you’re not going to be able to perform well in a subject, this is going to use up a big part of your working memory capacity. Instead of thinking about the content, you’ll be thinking, “Am I going to be able to do this? What if I can’t? Should I drop the subject?”.

In short, you’ll have dramatically less brainpower available for learning.

What makes a difference?

There’s a simple question I ask myself when something feels hard. And it’s this . . .

How can I make this behaviour easier to do?

Professor BJ Fogg calls this the Breakthrough Question. According to Fogg, there are three ways you can make any behaviour easier to do:

  1. You can increase your skills
  2. You can invest in tools and resources
  3. You can make the behaviour tiny

Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg

In his book Tiny Habits, Fogg explains:

“Regardless of what your aspiration is, increasing your skills, getting tools and resources, and making the behaviour tiny are what makes things easier to do. . .

Sometimes all you’ll need is the right tool to make a new habit easier to do, like using skinny floss [for flossing teeth], and other times all you have to do is scale the behaviour back to its tiniest version, such as flossing just one tooth. Think of making something easy to do as a pond with three different ways to enter the water. Whether you jump off the dock, wade in at the beach, or drop in from a rope swing, you’ll soon be swimming in the same water.”

In other words, you have options!

There are many things you can do to make studying those ‘hard’ subjects a little easier.

With that in mind, here is a short list of behaviours and ideas that will help you get a better handle on your challenging subjects:

1. Put your phone away from your body in another room

If you can focus better, you can learn and retain more information. If you constantly check your phone, put it on silent and away from your body before you sit down to study. My phone lives in pocket number 1 of a vertical wall hangar in my dining room (well away from my workspace).

2. Upgrade your study skills

Study strategies such as active recall (e.g., flashcards) and dual coding (e.g., mind mapping) are more effective than rereading and highlighting your notes. Like any new skill, they take a little time to get used to, but they’ll save you a lot of time in the long run.

3. Try a different textbook

Some textbooks explain ideas better than others. The textbook on your school booklist is not the only one or necessarily the best one out there. You don’t need to feel wedded to it. Check out other study guides and resources.

4. Build good sleep habits

A good night’s sleep allows you to focus better in class, retain more information and feel better. Make sleep your top priority. Here are some behaviours I engage in to get more and better sleep:

In the evening, I put my phone away in another room to charge (and I don’t touch it until the next day)
I don’t look at any screens at least one hour before bed
I go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time everyday

5. Keep chaos at bay

Create a system to organise your notes, past exam papers and handout sheets. Over time, you may need to tweak and refine your system, but that’s okay. I’ve been tweaking and refining my system for years.

For example, I used to store all my mind maps in an A3 flip file (in no particular order). But when things started to get out of control, I switched to cataloguing them alphabetically.My mind map organisation system

6. Ask questions

If you’re confused, don’t suffer in silence. Ask your teacher for help. That’s their job. If you feel shy asking a question in front of the class, approach your teacher after class.

7. Take notes in class

Make life easier for your future self by jotting down key ideas in class. If something is confusing, make a note (you can focus on that in a study session at home). Your memory has limits, and if you don’t write it down, chances are you won’t be able to remember it.

8. Make your study sessions tiny

Make the task tiny

If you feel overwhelmed by the idea of doing several hours of study each day, start with just five minutes. Five minutes of study is infinitely better than doing nothing!

Once you’ve developed the habit of sitting down and studying for 5 minutes, you can ramp it up. But start small.

9. Celebrate the little wins

When you manage to sit down and do a little study, congratulate yourself. Say to yourself, “Good job!” This positive reinforcement makes us feel good, which helps us establish a study habit.

To sum up

When your teachers say, “This subject is going to be really hard”, I think they’re trying to communicate to you, “You need to sit down and study. You can no longer wing it.” They may be afraid that you’re not taking things seriously.

Instead of worrying, be in action. Pick up some flashcards and start testing yourself. Tidy your desk. File away your notes from today. You’ll feel better and do better if you focus on doing the things that make studying that subject a little bit easier.

The practice of working like a sprinter

How often is your work interrupted by notifications or distracting thoughts that you find hard to ignore?

In our modern world, overwhelm and distraction threaten to constantly derail us.

As artist Austin Kleon states in his book Keep Going:

“Your attention is one of the most valuable things you possess, which is why everyone wants to steal it from you. First you must protect it, and then you must point it in the right direction.”

In this article, I share a powerful practice that can help you protect your attention and point it in the right direction: working like a sprinter.

The focused energy of an athlete

As a teenager, I remember watching Australian Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman run in the 400-metre race at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

In that incredible race, Cathy did one thing and one thing only: she ran as fast as she could in a focused, intense burst.

She was 27 years old and had been training for this event for 17 years. Having won silver at the previous Olympics, the pressure was on. The entire nation was watching Cathy.

Cathy Freeman wins gold

To this day, I still get goosebumps when I watch the footage of this race (you can watch it here).

Cathy was in the zone. She was completely focused on the task at hand. She knew what she needed to do: run.

Shortly after crossing the finish line, Cathy sat down to catch her breath and process what she had just accomplished (she had won gold). The crowd went wild and was completely absorbed in the moment, too.

Back in the year 2000, during the Sydney Olympics, smartphones and social media didn’t exist. Not everyone had access to the internet (my family did, but it was slow, expensive, and could only be used at home on a computer). In this environment, it was much easier to focus.

It’s fair to say that the early 2000s were simpler times.

Some scholars (e.g., Dr Jonathan Haidt, and Dr Anna Lembke) argue that smartphones and social media have caused several harms to society, including a reduced capacity to pay attention and an inability to tolerate discomfort.

Despite the noise and chaos of the modern world, it’s possible to train yourself to focus better.

How do we cultivate better focus?

One way is to tackle our work like sprinters.

The Practice: Working like a Sprinter

The practice of working like a sprinter is refreshingly simple: You work in a short, focused burst (25-45 minutes), then take a break to rest and recover (5-15 minutes). After that, you repeat the process a few times before taking a much longer break (30 minutes).

 

Sprint-rest-sprint-repeat

I usually work this way for about 3 – 4 hours a day.

But I’m not fixed and rigid about this practice. This technique is adaptable. The key is to listen to your body and tune into what it needs. Make this practice work for you.

If you develop the habit of working in this focused way, you’ll be amazed by how much you can get done. More importantly, instead of feeling mentally fried at the end of the day, you’ll feel energised. You’ll also experience a delightful sense of calm and peace.

In short, this is a practice well worth cultivating.

 

How to work like a sprinter

In a nutshell, working like a sprinter involves three distinct phases:

  • Warm-up phase: You prepare yourself to do the work
  • Sprint phase: You do the work in a short, focused burst
  • Rest and recovery phase: You take a break to re-energise

 

It’s simple, but it’s a practice that takes practise.

Below, I delve into each phase in more detail and share some things that help me work in focused sprints.

 

The Warm-Up Phase (5 minutes – 120 minutes)

Warm up phase

I do my best work sprints in the morning between 9am and 12noon. But these focused sprints don’t just magically happen. It’s not like I roll out of bed and dive straight into a work sprint. First, I need to warm up.

The warm-up phase allows me to get in the right headspace and set up my environment to be focus-friendly. It has a dramatic impact on my brain’s performance, affecting my ability to focus, creativity, productivity, and mood.

Just to be clear, the stars don’t have to align, and the conditions don’t need to be perfect to kick off a work sprint. I’ve simply noticed that I can work better after engaging in a few behaviours and morning practices.

Here’s what I’ve found makes a difference . . .

 

1. Figure out the things that hijack your attention

What distracts you when you’re trying to work? What things frequently derail you?

Take note of the things that hijack your attention and throw you off track.

In one of my favourite books on getting organised, Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD, Susan Pinsky writes:

“The more you explore the distractions that keep you from working, as well as the tools that help you to focus, the more organized and productive you will become.”

Once you know what distracts you, you can figure out ways to deal with those distractions, which brings me to the next point . . .

 

2. Implement distraction blockers

For each distraction, think of ways to make it harder to engage with it. What barriers or strategies could you put in place? Are there any tools that could help you focus better?

For example:

  • Your phone keeps buzzing? Put it away from your body in another room (I put my phone in pocket 1 of a vertical wall hanger in the dining room, well away from my workspace).
  • Keep having distracting, random thoughts? Write them in a notebook and come back to them later.
  • Feel tempted to use chat groups or social media? Use an app like Cold Turkey, Freedom, or one sec to block yourself.

 

Dealing with distractions from the outset (before you sit down to do your work sprints) makes it easier to stay focused and on track.

 

3. Meditate (even just for 3 minutes)

Many of us have become used to constant stimulation; without it, we feel anxious. This is why we reach for our phones and scroll through our feeds as soon as we experience a slight pang of boredom.

If you can relate to this, you will benefit from engaging in a daily meditation practice.

If you’re new to meditation, I recommend starting with the following tiny habit of doing a micro-meditation:

After I put on my shoes, I will pause and breathe in and out three times.

Not sure how to meditate? Close your eyes and focus on your breath, going in and out. If a random thought enters your mind (and it will), notice it and let it go. Then, return your focus to your breath.

Alternatively, you could listen to a guided meditation using an app such Insight Timer.

 

4. Move your body (even just for 5 minutes)

Clinical psychiatrist Dr John Ratey describes exercise as “like a little bit of Ritalin and a little bit of Prozac”. It’s powerful stuff.

Research shows that physical movement can help us focus better and learn faster. In terms of counteracting stress and boosting our mood, movement is like getting a biochemical massage.

This is one reason getting on my treadmill and doing interval training has become a non-negotiable part of my day. In the words of Tara Schuster:

“[Working out] is my preventative measure against the anxiety that lurks in my mind. I must throw myself out of bed in the morning and make it to the gym because I will always, always feel better for it.”

By warming up my body through physical movement, I’m able to warm up my brain by bathing it in feel good chemicals.

Deliberately exposing myself to the discomfort of running also helps me sit with the unpleasant feelings that arise when faced with difficult work. As Alex Soojung-Kim Pang states in his book Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less:

“Exposing yourself to predictable, incremental physical stressors in the gym or the playing field increases your capacity to be calm and clear headed in stressful real world situations.”

On the days when I skip my morning run or a weightlifting session, my wellbeing and productivity take a hit. I don’t feel as mentally sharp or confident about tackling my work. I’ve also noticed that I’m more likely to get distracted and give in to instant gratification during a work sprint.

 

5. Help your future self

Can you do anything in the evening to prepare for your morning work sprints? Completing a few quick tasks before bed can help you conserve energy the next day.

Here are a few simple things I like to do in the evening to get ready for the day ahead:

  • I make my breakfast (overnight oats with berries)
  • I write a short list of the three main things I want to work on the next day
  • I lay out my exercise clothes and running shoes
  • I clear away clutter from my work desks
  • I avoid all screens an hour before bed (I plug my phone in to charge in my office and don’t touch it until the next day)

 

Doing these simple things allows me to carry out my morning routine with ease. Then, I can hit the ground running with a clear, focused mind for my first work sprint.

 

6. Design a distraction free environment

If I check my phone for messages and engage in frivolous texting first thing, I crave distraction and the dopamine hits that come with it for the rest of the day.

For these reasons, I have implemented the following tech rules:

  • No engaging in chat groups for the first 6 hours of the day
  • No checking email or looking at screens for the first hour of the day

 

This may sound extreme, but these restrictions are incredibly liberating. As the author of the book Stand Out of Our Light, James Williams states:

“Reason, relationships, racetracks, rules of games, sunglasses, walls of buildings, lines on a page: our lives are full of useful constraints to which we freely submit so that we can achieve otherwise unachievable ends.”

By blocking myself from digital distractions and all the noise that comes with it, I can focus on chipping away at the projects that are most important to me.

 

7. Prepare the mise en place

Just like a chef prepares all the ingredients before cooking a dish (i.e. they create the mise en place), set yourself up with everything you need to do your work. The last thing you want is to get a few minutes into a work sprint and realise you need to go find a pen that works.

If you have everything you need within arm’s reach, it’s easier to stay focused on the task and get into a flow state.

 

Sprint phase: Doing the Work (25 – 45 minutes)

Once the warm-up phase is complete, we move into the sprint phase. Now, it’s time to do the work.

If you’ve done the work in the warm-up phase, the sprint phase is a lot easier. All you need to do is:

  • Set a timer for the period you intend to work for
  • Do your best to focus on the task at hand until the timer goes off
  • If you get distracted, it’s okay. Write down the distracting thought and gently bring your focus back to your work.

 

There’s no need to feel rushed as you work. You’re not competing with anyone else. This is not a race. It’s totally fine to take things slow.

Don’t expect the sprint phase to be pleasant. Even after a fabulous warm-up, you will most likely feel some discomfort and resistance about doing the work. This is normal.

You’ll feel the urge to run from this discomfort. But instead of running from it, befriend it. Remind yourself that the point of these work sprints is to move the needle on the things that really matter to you.

 

Rest and Recovery Phase (5-30 minutes)

When the timer goes off, take a moment to acknowledge yourself for showing up to do the work. Remember, this practice takes practise, and you just got some reps in.

Now it’s time to rest. You’ll probably have some momentum by now, so you’ll feel like pushing on but stop what you’re doing and step away from your work. As Ali Abdaal mentions in his book Feel-Good Productivity:

“Rest breaks are not special treats. They are necessities.”

I’m not going to lie: this phase has been the hardest for me to master. As someone with workaholic tendencies, I’ve had to work hard at getting rest.

Why is the rest phase so important?

Because the longer you focus, the harder it is to maintain your focus. The act of focusing depletes your brainpower.

The best way to recharge a depleted brain is to rest.

Like focus, rest is a skill. It takes practise. You have to be able to resist the lure of busyness and our fast-paced, always-on culture.

Here are some of my favourite ways to rest and recharge at the moment:

  • Go for a short walk out in nature
  • Do some stretches from Bob Anderson’s excellent book Stretching
  • Chop vegetables in silence (no podcast or music playing)
  • Take a power nap
  • Cut out pictures and glue them down on paper (zine or collage making)
  • Lay on the floor with a bolster under my legs
  • Tidy up a surface
  • Journal in my notebook
  • Prepare a toddler tray of healthy snacks (this is for myself, not a toddler!)

 

Whenever I find myself wondering whether to keep working or take a break, I ask myself:

“What kind of boss do I want to be for myself? A mean-spirited, hard taskmaster? Or a generous, caring boss who looks out for their employees’ wellbeing?”

The answer is simple: I choose to be a generous boss to myself. Therefore, I give myself permission to rest.

To sum up

I’ve come to see each of the phases of working like a sprinter (Warm-up, Sprint, and Rest and Recovery) as critical to staying healthy and balanced. Through trial and error, I’ve learned that skipping the warm-up or rest phase or going too hard in the sprint phase can lead to chaos and exhaustion.

As you cultivate the practice of working like a sprinter, significant things will happen to you. Not only will you notice that your productivity goes through the roof, but you’ll experience mental calm and clarity like never before.

As digital distractions no longer dominate your day, the noise of the world gets dialled down. You’ll find it easier to tune into what you need and what matters most to you.

I cannot stress enough that this is a practice that takes practise! One or two sprints won’t cut it. You need to persevere for long enough to experience the incredible benefits of this powerful practice.

One sec app

 

Are you happy with how much time you spend on your phone?

When you feel slightly bored, do you feel a reflexive, gravitational pull to check your phone?

If you spend hours each day clicking, scrolling, and posting, I want you to know that it’s not your fault.

It’s not that your weak willed, lacking discipline, or a lazy person.

It’s none of these things.

It’s no mystery or secret why so many people waste so much time on social media. Like a poker machine, these platforms are designed to be highly addictive.

Apps like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, SnapChat, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube contain persuasive design features that hijack your most valuable and precious resources: your time, energy, and attention.

 

Why are these Big Tech companies in an arms race to capture and hold people’s attention?

Because the more time we spend on their apps, the more data they can extract and sell for social influence.

The business model of Big Tech companies is simple: Keep people glued to their platforms for as many hours a day as possible.

In other words, your time and attention equal massive profits for these companies.

In his excellent book The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Dr Jonathan Haidt presents data showing teens aged 13-18 spend an average of six to eight hours every day on social media apps. That’s close to 50 hours a week.

 

 

Dr Haidt notes that this is just the time spent on the app. It doesn’t factor in the time spent thinking about social media while they multitask in the real world.

So, that’s 50+ hours that could have been spent outside in nature, learning a language, working a part-time (or full-time) job, making art, cooking, exercising, getting more sleep, and hanging out with friends.

Let’s also not forget that these apps intervere with and harm our wellbeing and ability to think and learn.

The multi-tasking that takes place as we engage with these apps throughout the day drains our brainpower, weakens our memory, and makes us tense and anxious.

The social comparisons we engage in on these platforms also warps our perception of reality and leaves us feeling like we’re not enough.

So, here’s something to consider . . .

 

What if you could protect your time, energy and attention from social media companies?

It’s possible, and I’m going to show you how.

I recently discovered a simple tool that helps people stop mindlessly consuming social media and other addictive apps.

It’s an app called one sec.

one sec is a self-nudging tool that helps you to create barriers to Big Tech that align with your goals and values.

 

 

Here’s how it works:

As you open up an addictive app, one sec intervenes by creating a 10-second delay in opening the app.

one sec creates the little bit of friction needed to make you pause and reconsider your behaviour.

After the delay, one sec presents you with a choice: Do you want to proceed with opening up the target app (e.g., TikTok)? Or close the app and do something else?

The creators of one sec explain it works by utilising three intervention strategies:

  • Creating friction (i.e., the time delay)
  • Giving you the option to not proceed and close the target app
  • Deliberate messaging

 

It’s important to highlight that you’re in control of the whole experience. You specify what apps you want one sec to target. You can also modify the time delay (making it shorter or longer) and change the deliberate messaging.

The question is, does this app work?

Or is it just another gimmicky product that fails to change your behaviour in a significant way?

I’ve been experimenting with this app for the last month, and I’m pleased to say it’s working for me!

Even though I don’t have social media and the wicked algorithms that come with them, I recently noticed that I was spending far too much time in group chats.

one sec has helped me be more intentional and deliberate with how I engage with these chat groups.

Instead of mindlessly checking these apps whenever I have time to kill, I now have dedicated periods when I engage with them. I’m following Dr Faye Begeti’s advice when she recommends in her book The Phone Fix to “Set a finite number of times for checking social media, condensing a large number of short checks into defined, longer ones.”

This is what one sec has helped me to do, and as a result, my focus and well-being have improved. I feel calmer. My days feel longer and less frenetic.

But I realise I’m a sample size of one. Plus, I’m highly motivated to reduce my time on addictive apps.

Is one sec effective in helping others to reduce their social media consumption?

The short answer is yes.

This research study found the app one sec helped people to significantly decrease their social media consumption.

 

 

In this study, 280 participants used the one sec app for a six-week period. Here’s what the researchers found:

36% of the time participants attempted to open a target app, they chose to close the app using one sec (i.e., they did not proceed with using the target app).

 

 

Over time, participants also opened the target apps less.

 

 

Opening problematic apps less or choosing to close problematic apps before engaging with them is actually a really big deal. Here’s why . . .

Less engagement with these addictive apps means less hits of dopamine.

Every quick and easy hit of dopamine you get from social media leads you to crave more stimulation from these apps. Before you know it, you’re in a full blown dopamine driven feedback loop.

Whenever I’m stuck in a dopamine loop, I’m not #livingmybestlife. Far from it! I feel overstimulated, chaotic, and jittery. Here’s why . . .

In his book How to Calm Your Mind, Chris Bailey explains that the brain networks for dopamine and calm are anti-correlated.

What does this mean?

It means when the dopamine network is activated, the calm network isn’t.

Imagine every time you mindlessly reach for your phone to check social media, you’re moving further and further away from a state of calm.

This may explain why participants in the one sec study reported experiencing increased satisfaction and happiness after decreasing their consumption of problematic apps.

 

Other one sec features worth exploring

The main intervention features (i.e., the time delay and option to not proceed with the target app) will help you decrease your consumption of addictive apps.

But there are many other features available with this app.

As you explore the additional features, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. There’s a lot of extra bells and whistles. For example, there is the “Don’t get lost” notifications (i.e., scheduled reminders to close the target app when you are using it) and website blocking.

But like a lot of things in life, more features don’t necessarily result in a better user experience.

Ultimately, I decided to follow BJ Fogg’s behaviour design principle of ‘Simplicity changes behaviour’. I stuck with using just the basic features of this app.

I knew if I overcomplicated the app, I probably wouldn’t use it.

All that being said, there were two additional features I incorporated:

1. Strict Block Feature

I use the strict block feature every day. To be clear, the strict block feature is not to be confused with the basic block feature. What’s the difference?

If you select a basic block, you’re not really blocking yourself from the app. But there’s a barrier in place. If you try to open the target app, it brings up the following message:

 

“Be honest with yourself. Do you really want to stop this block?”

 

Whereas a strict block is a genuine bona fide block. You cannot use your target apps until the block is over.

If you have developed a mindless habit of reaching for your phone and checking certain apps, you need a strict block in place until your brain has had a chance to recalibrate itself.

Here is the tiny habit I created to give my brain a chance to rewire to lower hit of dopamine from my smartphone:

 

After I pick up my phone in the morning, I will open one sec and press strict block for six hours.

 

Activating a strict block means I’m in charge for the first six hours of my day (and the addictive apps are not running the show). This sets the tone for the day and puts me in proactive mode rather than chasing quick hits of dopamine. It also helps me stay calm and grounded.

 

A word of warning:

Even when you feel like you have regained control over your target apps, you must remain vigilant. It’s super easy to get drawn back into a dopamine-driven feedback loop.

 

2. The Journal Prompt Feature

The journal prompt is simple and effective. Before accessing the target apps, I am prompted to write about what I have done and what I feel grateful for.

I write 25 words before proceeding to the target app. This gives me a moment to reflect, which is always a worthwhile practice.

 

 

Free alternatives to one sec

There is a free version of one sec you can use, but it limits you to applying one sec to only one target app.

If you have multiple addictive apps on your phone (as most of us do), I recommend the paid version to unlock all the features.

It costs $25AUD for the year, which is value for money if you ask me. The app has already paid for itself in terms of the time, energy, and attention I’ve reclaimed.

I should mention that I had trouble initially installing one sec and getting it to work on the target apps. The process was a little finicky, and I nearly gave up after 20 minutes of trying to figure out how to get the app to work.

You can find similar intervention apps that are free and easier to install, such as ScreenZen. ScreenZen appears to be based on similar mechanisms (i.e., introducing a time delay and friction to the target app).

My brother recently started using ScreenZen to help combat his mindless habit of scrolling through social media. When I asked for his thoughts on this self-nudging app, he said, “It’s annoying.” But then he quickly added, “But that’s the point. It’s annoying, and that’s why you use the apps less.”

Another great feature of ScreenZen is that after spending seven minutes on the target app, it puts a stopping mechanism in place by prompting you to think about if you want to keep using the app.

 

Final thoughts

I don’t think anyone consciously sets a goal to spend 20, 30, or 50+ hours a week on social media. But if you don’t have strategies to combat the addictive apps on your phone, one thing is certain: Big Tech companies will hijack your time, energy, and attention.

As Michael Harris states in his book The End of Absence:

 

“Never forget that you live in an ecosystem designed to disrupt you, and it will take you for a ride if you let it.”

 

So, don’t be taken for a ride. You can easily access self-nudging tools, such as one sec and ScreenZen, to help you defend your time, energy, and attention.

Think of the things you’ve always wanted to do but tell yourself, “I don’t have the time. I’m too busy”. What if you could reclaim a significant chunk of time to do those things today? Would it be worth taking a chance on a self-nudging app?

You’ve got nothing to lose except potentially $25.

I encourage you to test out one of these apps to protect your most precious resources (i.e., your time, energy, and attention).

 

Note: In case you’re wondering, I have not been paid or sponsored by one sec to write this article.