Stop Pretending You ‘Need’ Your Phone ‘for Work’

The reader begins by saying they hate their phone: its size, the energy it demands and how much time it sucks up. At the same time, their job — like many — requires being contactable at specific times, and personal circumstances make near-constant accessibility necessary.

The simplest, if slightly awkward, fix is a single-minded work phone. Give it a different number and a different look from your personal device. Load only the email, calendar and messaging tools your job requires; avoid TikTok and Instagram and ideally skip a web browser.

Make the work phone just unpleasant enough that you instinctively put it away when your task is done. Then set up a personal phone the way you prefer: fully loaded and locked away during work, or stripped down to calls and texts for off hours. The point is to remove the convenient excuse that you must keep your attention-draining phone with you “for work.” Yes, you still need a phone for work — but let it be the Work Phone, without your usual hypnotic pull.