How do you stop your phone and social media from eating your time?

Phone setup, screen-time tools, social apps, scrolling.

Axis: add friction: remove apps, delay them, keep the phone out of reach … rely on self-control

Answers by date: 5 records in 5 sources, newest first; the answers above are the current ones. The advice was refined (2020), never reversed, in these records.

date	who	answer	source
2020-06-17	Ali	Ali keeps only useful apps such as Notion, Drafts, Castro, Audible and Anki on his iPhone's first screen; Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and dating apps, the infinity pools, sit on the second screen.	How To Boost Productivity Without Apps 00:02:26
2020-06-03	Ali	At night Ali charges his iPhone on a chest of drawers on the opposite side of the bedroom from his bed so that he cannot have his phone in bed.	All the Apps I Use in a Day 00:10:19
2018-05-07	Ali	Against distraction Ali advises a clear goal: if you have a maths past paper to do, put your phone on the bed on silent and you won't get distracted.	Live Q&A + Hangout - Bank Holiday vibes - Ali Abdaal, Cambridge medical student 00:20:31
2018-04-24	a guest	A friend of Ali's works outside in the shade with headphones, starting a timer and growing a tree in the Forest app to make sure the work actually gets done.	Study with Me + Revision tips from friends - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #32 00:06:52
2018-04-12	Katherine	Katherine recommends apps such as Forest, which lock you out of social media and other phone apps for a set time so you cannot get distracted by them.	Motivation, Stress & Time Management - Exam Revision Q&A with Cambridge students 00:03:48