These 2 Phone Customizations Turned Me Into a Productivity and Motivation Machine

Stop letting your phone drain your energy and time.

My phone has always been the worst killer of my productivity, and there’s no doubt millions of people will agree with me.

The constant notifications from social media, email, and other apps have conditioned us to check our phones every other second. And when we do, we also end up getting sucked into the trap of opening apps and doom-scrolling our feeds.

In the past, I’ve tried many tactics to become more productive with my phone.

I deleted social media, only to redownload the apps when I realized I needed them for certain aspects of my work.

I’ve muted the notifications on all my apps, but that got annoying when I missed essential reminders.

What has worked best so far was setting a time limit on my apps. It has helped to remind me not to scroll through the apps for more than a certain amount of time, but it doesn’t stop the notifications.

Recently, however, I began to approach my problem differently. Instead of removing the obstacle, what if I worked around it?

I got an idea while thinking of Etsy store ideas. I thought having a piece of wall art in my room would be nice, reminding me what was most important.

For example, having a frame that said, “Focus on yourself, always give your best, and control how you react” would be nice to wake up to.

But then it occurred to me. Why didn’t I have this on my phone instead?

I began thinking about how I could benefit from checking my phone so often and made two customizations that drastically improved my motivation and productivity.

A Reminder Wallpaper

If you have been following me for a while, you’ll know I’m a principles maniac since reading Ray Dalio’s Principles.

Having a list of principles to live by just makes so much sense. But I often wondered where one stores these principles.

When I thought about having reminders on my phone, I realized my phone wallpaper was a perfect spot to put principles.

Here’s what my home screen currently looks like:

Every time I check my phone, this is the first thing I see. I am immediately reminded of the principles I must follow, and the constant reminder makes these principles second nature.

Having this as my wallpaper has made a powerful difference.

I can tell when I play badminton (most of these were designed for me to succeed in badminton).

Whenever I find myself losing focus or giving up, a little voice that grows louder and louder in my head tells me, “Always give 100% and control your emotions.” Whenever I’m about to vent or complain about something, I always remember, “Never complain.”

It’s been so powerful because it allows me to take control. Instead of submitting to instinctive urges, I’ve been able to control myself and think about the best action to take before I act.

Making one of these wallpapers is super simple. I used Canva to make one by opening a new design under 1080 x 1920 px dimensions and writing my principles in a font and layout I liked. Then, I set the images as my wallpaper.

A Vision Board Phone Case

Seeing the effects of having this motivational reminder wallpaper made me want to expand on this idea. Getting a phone case that served as a vision board was the next idea that came to my mind.

I’ve been dated for a phone case change for a long time now. If I get a new phone case, I should get something that constantly motivates me.

I decided to go with a simple image of one of my dream cars:

By changing my phone case to this image of a Ferrari Roma, I’m inspired daily to work hard and not lose sight of what I want to accomplish.

My regret is that I didn’t make it a proper vision board. Instead of one singular image of a supercar, I could have scrapped multiple images together of things I want in life.

For example, I could have had images of a car, a nice house, success in badminton, and other things to make it an actual vision board.

But it’s okay; the supercar does serve its purpose. Getting one of these phone cases is pretty simple, too.

You can search for phone cases for sale, but I would recommend making your own. This can be done by putting together your vision board in Canva and then going to a platform like Printify to have them custom-print your image onto a phone case and ship it to you.

Turning Problems Into Opportunities

Sometimes, it’s not worth trying to eliminate the obstacle. This is the case with checking my phone. Unless I switch my career, I will ultimately have to touch my phone.

Why not work around the obstacle instead?

Switching my phone wallpaper and case has helped me so much. Instead of wasting my time every time I check my phone, I get more motivated and reminded of what I need to do, making it much more productive.

You can do the same, too. Making these wallpapers and phone cases is a simple process. The little time you spend on these customizations will pay off drastically over the long term.