Less input on the go and no Spotify

12 July 2023. Having successfully completed my master's degree, I was now just waiting for my final certificate. While I still had one month to enjoy my student status, I made ample use of the cafeteria. While having coffee and cake in the cafeteria, I continued experimenting with my phone settings and made further life upgrades. According to ScreenTime, I had already reduced my phone usage from five to an average of two hours per day. I wanted to reduce my phone time even more because I noticed that less time on my phone was beneficial for me. I could generate more ideas, was more attentive to my surroundings, interacted more with other people, and felt overall more satisfied.

Determined not to listen to podcasts and music on my phone anymore, I deleted Spotify, which was not a problem for me since I rarely used it anyway. Instead, I used my laptop. I also wanted to limit Googling on my phone, so I disabled the browser. To avoid the temptation to install apps, I also disabled the app installation function in ScreenTime. To make phone use even more boring, I activated the grayscale function, turning the colorful display into black and white. Background app refreshes were also disabled to save resources and extend battery life.

I also disabled the annoying PIN for the SIM card, which I had to enter every time I restarted or intentionally turned off the phone. Mobile data access was turned off for almost all apps to reduce phone use on the go. While out and about, I only wanted access to WhatsApp, the Maps app, and the Deutsche Bahn app, avoiding checking stock prices or random Googling.

To avoid being kept awake by the blue light from the display at night, I turned on NightShift from 9 PM to 7 AM and set the maximum blue light filter.

1. I do not listen to podcasts or music on my phone, either at home or on the go.
2. To extend my phone's battery life and spend even less time on it, I have set the screen to black and white, disabled background app refreshes, and allowed mobile data access only for essential apps like Maps and WhatsApp. I have disabled my SIM card's PIN and turned on NightShift.