Don't use your phone for productivity, it's counterproductive

How did I even end up with such a conclusion?

It was a surprising discovery for me, to be honest. Typically, I feel super empowered by all the devices that I use to get things done.

My iPhone has all my work-related apps installed, so I can do almost anything on the go. Unblock my team by quickly answering some puzzling questions. Quickly process my emails. Do some quick edits of the technical documentation in Craft. Even open SSH or database client and run some routine tasks on some of our servers. All while putting my kids to bed, or making myself some snack during the coffee break.

It's quite convenient to open Slack, Discord, Superhuman, Craft, ClickUp, OmniFocus, Prompt, SQL Pro Studio or any other work-related app on your iPhone and do some work quickly, without waiting until you reach your MacBook.

But here is the problem: time perception is subjective, and you do not notice the time you waste while performing a conversation or writing a note, an article, or a document on your phone. After a while, you "wake up" from your iPhone and wonder how did your coffee break expand from 10 to 40 minutes or more.

The inconvenient truth

I heard people say low productivity is mostly about distractions. We slow down because we get distracted and switch contexts.

I would argue that the real issue with using "productivity apps" on the iPhone goes way deeper than just mere distractions. The truth is: while being quite conveniently accessible all the time, mobile devices are still extremely non-efficient when compared to desktop devices. Yes, even those fancy "Pro" or "Max" labels and highly performant CPUs and GPUs do not make them efficient for productive work. The same thing is actually true about other mobile devices — Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, even all sorts of iPads that superficially seem to be pretty close to Mac.

Mobile devices deceive you into believing that they're making you more productive because they enable you to "work between the work". To achieve more during your coffee breaks, or during commutes, or while parenting your kids.

In case you don't believe it, bear with me and just make an experiment today. Measure the time it would take you to perform any task that involves any amount of writing using your Mac versus using your iPhone. Typically, you will notice (like I did) that you were able to complete the same task on your Mac in 2-3 times faster than on your mobile device.

You thought you'd be more productive during your 10-minute coffee break. If only you answered some Slack messages, or Superhuman emails, or processed your ClickUp inbox — all while brewing and drinking your coffee. Instead, you end up spending 40 minutes on your iPhone at the kitchen table… doing the same amount of work that you could do in 10–15 minutes from your Mac. Did you actually make yourself more productive? No, just the opposite!

Should I stop using my phone now?

The short answer is: no, of course you should use your phone. Just use it wisely, preventing it from deceiving you and sucking you in.

When I thought about it pragmatically, I realized that the main pivot point when I am starting to lose productivity by using iPhone, is when I'm trying to solve the problem immediately.

The things that I'm writing below are the way I preach to myself on this.

When you dive into problem-solving using one of your mobile devices, you instantly lose productivity.

When the temptation comes, just remind yourself that you will regret about the time you've wasted. Stop right now, and come back to your computer, your real power horse, instead of relying on the fake one.

All those mobile devices are actually great. But not for problem-solving at work. It looks like all of them are great for just these three things:

1. Capture. Instantly capture a photo, a voice memo, a reminder, a contact, etc. (you name it).
2. Stay informed. Glance at your notifications, widgets, complications, whatever. Or get a quick answer from AI to an instant question that you have (preferably using your voice).
3. Consume content. Read articles and books, watch videos, listen to music, podcasts, and audiobooks.

You've got to be disciplined and mindful, though.

1. When you capture, find ways to do that in the most efficient way, not only in terms of "here and now", but also thinking about your future self that is going to process that captured information.
2. When you are trying to stay informed, resist the temptation to react to everything that you see here and now. Make sure you'll be able to see that same thing when you come back to your Mac — and leave it unsolved until you actually get there.
3. When you're consuming content, remember that the majority of content-based apps are built to keep your attention infinitely. So when you are starting to consume content, it's the best idea to set a timer, and stop as soon as the timer runs out.

Rethinking the role of mobile devices in my life

For a very long time, I've been building a cross-device omnipresent productivity ecosystem around myself. I've been trying to take every device up to its full potential, make it as capable as it could ever be. To switch between devices seamlessly, and to be able to do meaningful work and solve problems wherever I am and whatever device I have at hand.

But now my eyes were opened to the fact that even the top-notch mobile devices (latest Apple Watch, latest iPhone Pro Max, latest iPad Pro, and even Apple Vision Pro that I never had) are not the productivity devices. And the way I was trying to use them was counterproductive.

So, I am excluding the "productivity" aspect from all those devices. I no longer use them to be "productive" and "do more". I no longer solve problems on them.

• No more SQL Pro Studio
• No more Prompt 3 or WebSSH
• No more Working Copy with my git repos for quick fixes and code reviews
• No more working on documentation in Craft
• No more writing articles in Ulysses
• No more scheduling meetings in Vimcal
• No more writing long-reads in ClickUp chat or task comments
• No more writing long emails in Superhuman
• …

Instead, my iPhone should become a device for three purposes:

1. Capturing — voice memos and photos (accessible via widgets) that will be transformed into notes or tasks.
2. Staying informed — widgets and notifications that keep me informed, but only about the things I really need to be informed about on the go or during the break.
3. Consuming content — apps where I just browse / read / watch / listen / clear my inbox, without actually performing any interaction with the content beyond a basic swipe.

New(ish) iPhone setup

Capturing

1. Tasks and reminders. I have already mentioned that I am using Godspeed indie startup app as my personal task manager. For efficient capturing, I should primarily use my voice and utilize OpenAI Whisper to transcribe it into task. Here is an Apple Shortcut that I'm using.
2. Notes and ideas. I've written about note-taking before, and mentioned another wonderful indie startup called Reflect. This note-taking app has built-in voice transcription (again, based on Whisper, so the quality is remarkable), and I'm using it literally every day. But I'm also experimenting with Granola nowadays, to see if it's any better.
3. Links to interesting content. I'm using Readwise Reader to capture links to articles and videos that I would like to "consume" later.
4. Transactions. I prefer capturing my expenses on the go because it would be challenging to remember them later. So, YNAB is always there on my screen.
5. Music. I don't stumble into new and unfamiliar music that I like very often. But for the rare cases when I do, Shazam will always be there, ready to recognize it for me and find it on Apple Music.
6. Photo. Obviously, the camera app is always there for me.
7. Book quotes. When I'm reading a paper book (which does not happen commonly in the digital age, but still) there is no better app to capture quotes than Readwise.

Staying informed

Notifications are the most distracting, disturbing and annoying invention in the world. So my basic rules remain unchanged:

1. Disable red badges on all the apps. Rely on push notifications instead, they are less intrusive nowadays.
2. Disable push notifications for the things that do not require immediate attention. Time-based reminders and alarms stay on. Emails, messengers, social media and everything else — no pushes.

Widgets that help me stay informed:

1. Weather. You just need to know about that afternoon rain.
2. Batteries. You would rather not get caught with a low battery while getting your kid to the classmate's birthday party.
3. Tasks. My plans for today should always be somewhere in sight to actually get done.
4. Calendar. My meetings and appointments should be front and center, to be prepared and not to miss anything.
5. Fitness. I almost forgot about being aware of my activity level. Health should be of more importance to me, not an afterthought 😅

Finally, the apps that could be categorized as "staying informed" for me are these few:

1. Find My. I frequently use it, either to find my devices around the house or to track the members of my family when I'm worried about their whereabouts.
2. Apple Maps keeps me informed on the road, to know where I'm going, when I'll be there, and when and where I should make a turn.
3. Messages. I'm lucky enough not to use Messages extensively, it's mainly for quick updates from my lovely wife, or some sms informing about transactions, codes, and updates.

Consuming content

Surprisingly, there are numerous types of content that I consume nowadays (and that's even though I'm staying off the grid on social networks!). Anyway, here they are:

• Curiosities. This is one of the most innovative, the most spontaneous, and the most useful ways to "consume content". I am talking about using AI to get answers to everyday questions that pop up in your head. Personally, I've been using and loving Perplexity for this purpose, it proved to be really great in answers presentation, reliability, and contextualization. I also have access to ChatGPT Pro for some work-related deeper research and experiments. And, of course, Safari for some casual browsing, which is actually needed quite rarely these days because of AI.
• Music. I listen to Apple Music whenever possible — in a car, on a couch, on a playground with my kids, in bed, and during focused work.
• Video. YouTube is my main place to go to relax, but it's addictive, so I need to limit myself with a timer. And for more thoughtful video consumption, Readwise Reader always has some videos saved for me, not only articles.
• Articles. There is always more to read in Readwise Reader than I am physically able to read. But my rule of a thumb is to read one or two articles in one shot, no more.
• Books. I've written about that before, but let me praise the Amazon Kindle once again for the best experience for reading (and highlighting) the books. I've also had some great experiences with Amazon's Audible that I could highly recommend.
• Bible. The Bible is a special book (if you can even call it a book, too small a word for this life-changing thing), so it deserves a separate app in my arsenal, specifically built for the purpose: BibleStudy from OliveTree.

Reading the inboxes should be either avoided on iPhone, or done cautiously, to avoid jumping into responding and problem-solving right away. Preferably with a timer, too. By "the inboxes" I mean:

• Messengers. Slack, Discord, Telegram, Viber, WhatsApp, Signal, ClickUp Chat… can you imagine how many of them we have these days? No wonder we need to limit ourselves!
• Emails. They really do not need to be checked from your phone, they don't require immediate attention most of the time. But if you do process them on the go, the only things you should do are archiving, snoozing, unsubscribing, and 2-second replies.
• Tasks. You really should not process your inbox from your phone, it's highly inefficient, regardless of what app you're using. If you do, limit yourself strictly.

Conclusion

TL;DR of this article is this: let's stop pretending that our mobile devices are efficient productivity tools. They're not.

If we only stop texting and solving problems on our phone, and start using them as voice-powered capturing tools and informative dashboards, this could help us use our time and energy much more efficiently.

But if you don't agree, and have your life hacks that transform the iPhone into a real power horse, you might contact me back and share your opinion, will be glad to discuss :)