How to Architect Your Smartphone for a More Focused Life

Use the Pyramids of Phone Productivity to design a digital environment that aligns with the lifestyle you want

Photo: GeorgePeters/Getty Images

NOTE: The example here makes use of an iPhone, but the principles of organization are applicable to other operating systems.

When it comes to habit formation, self-improvement author James Clear writes, “Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior.” The spaces we find ourselves in—how they’re arranged and the things within our reach – can either serve us or work against us in our attempts to become our best selves.

But there is a space, where we spend a copious amount of time, that we may have overlooked as an environment: our smartphones.

For better or worse, we go about our daily lives in this digital palm-sized space. For better, it’s a place where we connect with our loved ones and colleagues, meet new people, run errands, learn, work, explore, create, and take breaks. For worse, it’s a place that distracts us for too long and too often, drains our energy, and erodes our mental health without us knowing it. We now live with the twitch — that darn reflex to grab your phone the moment a notification pops up or you get just a little bit of downtime.