Sustaining Progress 2-Week Plan
Week 1: Awareness and Digital Boundaries
Congrats on completing the Attention Advantage program. You are well on your way to conquering the battle with distractions and interruptions. Each step moves you closer to improving your well-being and reconnecting with the world around you.
What follows is a two-week plan to help you continue your progress.
The goal of the first week is to build awareness of your current habits and create intentional boundaries around smartphone use. It’s not about going cold turkey, but about recognizing the problem and starting to take control.
Day 1-2: Audit Your Usage
Track your time: Use your phone’s built-in screen time tracker or a third-party app to get an honest look at how much time you spend on your phone and which apps you use most. Be a neutral observer, not a critic.
Identify triggers: Pay attention to when and why you pick up your phone. Is it out of boredom, stress, or a habit when a new notification pops up?
Create a "No-Phone Zone": Designate specific areas where phones are off-limits at home, such as the dinner table, your bedroom, and at work, such as during a team meeting.
Communicate your plan: Inform your team and family that you're working on reducing your phone use. This sets expectations and models a healthy behavior.
Day 3-5: Schedule Your Attention
Batch your notifications: Turn off all non-essential notifications for social media, news, and games. For work-related apps, schedule a few specific times throughout the day to check them instead of reacting instantly. This shifts you from a reactive to a proactive state.
Implement "Focus Blocks": Block out 30-60 minute periods every day on your calendar for consequential, focused work with no interruptions. Put your phone on silent and out of sight during these times. Use your Pomodoro timer and technique.
Transition to a physical alarm clock: If you haven’t switched already, consider getting a traditional alarm clock instead of relying on your phone. This prevents you from starting your day by immediately checking emails and social media.
Day 6-7: Take a Digital Sabbath
Choose a day: Pick one day each week (weekend is fine), to go completely without your phone , or at least to keep the phone out of reach. This practice can reveal just how much you rely on it and help you find other ways to fill your time.
Plan analog activities: Have a book ready to read, go for a walk, write in your journal, or spend time on a hobby that doesn’t involve a screen. Go all in and subscribe to a daily newspaper.
Set an away message: If you must, set an away message on your work email and messaging apps to let people know you will respond on the next business day.
Week 2: Reinforcing Habits and Leadership
This week is about solidifying your new habits and leveraging them to become a more present and effective leader.
Day 8-9: Optimize Your Device
Declutter your home screen: Delete unused apps and organize similar ones into folders. Move distracting apps like social media and news to a second screen or into a folder to make them less accessible. Alternatively, consider being an overachiever and limiting your social media checks to your desktop computer or laptop.
Switch to grayscale: Turning your screen to black and white can make apps and notifications less visually appealing and addictive.
Set a new routine: Instead of reaching for your phone in the morning, try a new habit like stretching, meditating, or journaling. At night, keep your phone out of the bedroom if possible. If you need it for emergencies, put it on the other side of the room.
Day 10-12: Lead by Example
Model good behavior: Start meetings with a "no phones" rule. If you're running the meeting, set the example by placing your phone face down or leaving it in your bag. Encourage others to do so. Now that you are conquering your dependency, focus on helping others on your team do the same.
Practice active listening: When in conversations, especially with your team, keep your phone completely out of sight. Give your full attention. Take analog notes. This builds trust and shows respect.
Establish team norms: Work with your team to create a shared understanding of when to use communication tools and when to put them away. Consider designating certain hours as “consequential work” time for the entire team, where messaging is discouraged. Set up a couple of “no meeting” days if you have the authority.
Day 13-14: Reflect and Sustain
Review your progress: Look back at your initial screen time data. How have your numbers changed? Acknowledge your progress and identify areas where you can still improve. Keep journaling your experience.
Plan for the long term: Choose 1-2 new habits you want to make permanent. Maybe it's the "no-phone zone" at the dinner table or a dedicated hour for consequential work each day.
Share your success: Talk about your experience with your team or peers. Sharing your journey can inspire others to manage their own digital habits and create a more focused work culture. Encourage others to share their journey.
This routine is a starting point; keep expanding the no-phone time periods. Shift as much of life to analog practices as possible. Continue to increase the amount of consequential work time each week. Be aware of how your well-being improves, anxiety decreases, and relationships improve.
