My #1 Productivity Hack for Business Owners and Graphic Designers

What makes me most productive as a business owner and graphic designer? You guessed it, putting away my phone. 

Yes, saying “no” to my phone is my #1 all-time productivity hack. 

Rationalizing I need to post something to my business Instagram account, I pick up my phone and start scrolling. And scrolling. Not necessarily engaging, but turning down rabbit holes. An entire half hour can go by before I realize my mistake. 

I’ve learned over time that shaming myself or feeling bad about thirty minutes lost rarely helps, but what does, is making it harder to use my phone. 

Here are three tools that I’ve used, in order of helpful to most helpful in staying off my phone and on task. 

#1 The one sec App

I used the one sec app for one month on my phone and still use it on my computer browser. I first heard of it on the Search Engine Podcast. Essentially, the one sec app is triggered when you open a distracting app, for example, Instagram. A breathing exercise pops up asking whether or not you really want to proceed, prompting you to justify your reasoning. While helpful at first, over time I noticed that I started ignoring the prompts and just waited for the app to open. While on its own I didn’t find it effective, in combination with the two following tools, it is effective. 

#2 This Phone Lock Box

I know that there are plenty of other lock box options out there, but this is the one I purchased. Having my phone stowed away first thing in the morning is important to me, along with deep work sessions, and is vital to the success of my productivity. The challenge here is that you have to keep it charged. Though not often, there is an occasion where you need to send a last minute text in the morning or double check a meeting time, so sometimes this device can get in the way.  

#3 The Brick

The Brick is by far my favorite no-scroll enforcer. You scan the Brick and it locks the apps that you set to lock. I love it especially when I want to be out and about, not have access to social media or email apps, but still be able to use my camera, GPS, etc. I keep the brick on my kitchen refrigerator, making it too easy to Brick and un-Brick when I’m home relaxing. Yet, overall, I find this gadget the best at keeping screen time to a minimum. 

Again, these are only tools, and generally work best in some sort of combination. Simultaneously, training my brain that a doom-scroller is not who I want to be, is something that I identified while listening to the Power to Change by Craig Groeschel (it does have a religious bent, but I think the insights are helpful to anyone). 

To summarize James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits: “Make it harder to do the things you don’t want to do and easier to do the things that you do want to do.” I hope this is helpful. I will continue to update as I iterate on what does and doesn’t work for me as new tricks and tools are developed. 

Kayla Phillips Boerkcel is a graphic designer and the creative brain behind a small but mighty studio located in the Midwest. Besides drooling over perfectly set type, she loves running, reading, and decaf oatmilk cappuccinos.

Disclaimer: This blog post contains some affiliate links. If you click on these links and make a purchase, I'll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you to help keep these blog posts rolling.