Ep. 396: Can I Learn To Love My Phone Again?

Remember that first iPhone rush? It was simple, useful, and fun. I want to bring that feeling back with what I call 2007 mode, a five-part makeover that strips noise without losing what makes smartphones helpful—welcome to Deep Questions.

Tip one is bold. Replace colorful icon grids with a clean, monochrome home screen that lists apps as text. Use a launcher widget like Dumbphone or Blank Spaces, make a single blank page your only home, and let the quiet layout do most of the discipline.

I grab the Dumbphone app, choose a handful of non-distracting essentials, then drop its widget on a fresh page. I clear the dock, add the widget, and reorder my short list so the basics are front and center.

Tip two borrows from Ryder Carroll. Rename apps to reflect outcomes, not brands, so Write, Connect, Learn, and Plan guide your intent. Seeing verbs changes how you use the phone.

Skip native social apps and go through the browser with a modifier like Social Focus; it can hide algorithmic feeds and recommendations. For YouTube, Untrap turns the page into a simple list, so it’s harder to tumble into a binge.

That’s tip three. Access sticky platforms only via the browser and reshape the experience so the hooks are gone but the utility stays. You keep the value and ditch the compulsion.

I catch myself doomscrolling news everywhere, even walking to appointments, and it wrecks my mood. I probably need to pull those news apps off my phone.

Yes—tip four is to remove news apps entirely and switch to one-and-done sources like a daily roundup or podcast. Live-updating headlines mimic social feeds and can darken your day fast, even if you avoid other platforms.

Tip five is my add. Identify why you reach for social—boredom, stress, inspiration—and map each urge to a healthier substitute, then pin those actions on your home screen. Tap Calm Anxiety and get a meditation, a short walk prompt, or a soothing podcast instead of a feed.

What about essentials like ticketing apps on game day?

Keep a minimalist first page, then add extra text-only pages or folders for occasional tools like tickets or transit. Setup takes roughly ten minutes, and some launchers even add a brief pause before opening social links to slow impulsive taps.

A listener asks about that HBR piece on AI causing brain fry.

The study found heavy oversight of multiple AI agents drains attention and spikes fatigue; the rhyme lands, but the cause is old news. Rapid context switching is productivity poison in any knowledge work, and agent-chasing just turbocharges it, so design flow to reduce toggling.

We also heard about phone rules on the set of The Pit.

No phones on set led to a rolling book cart and lots of reading. Since each season covers a single day filmed over months, extras sit in the same waiting room for ages—books make the grind feel almost cozy.

Adam wrote in that overload sounds like the human condition.

Exactly. Our brains evolved for the physical world, so abstract info needs careful limits and habits, just like our bodies need a sane diet.

Quick personal check-in. I’m testing a small Hobonichi notebook as a single-purpose lab for a tricky paper, and I’m upgrading my Halloween setup to a Raspberry Pi running FPP with networked controllers for sturdier, more ambitious shows.

If you want more, I joined Chris Williamson on Modern Wisdom and talked AI with Hank Green, and my AI Reality Check episodes on Thursdays aim to lower the panic while staying practical.

Reading and watching: Jill Lepore’s bicentennial piece stood out; I’ve started a few new books; and my wife and I are working through a slow-burn Brazilian period film with a gorgeous 1970s look. I saw Frankenstein on film, loved the visuals, and we still have a couple of Oscar picks to catch.

That’s it for today. We’ll be back next week, and until then, as always, stay