Put your phone on a diet…

I have a friend that colour codes their phone screen pages based on the colours of their apps. 

Think about that for a second.

That blows my mind in a way that I did not expect. I mean sorting your apps out by colour and then arranging your pages based on that and not on the type or the purpose of the apps. This takes some mental and finger gymnastics that I am not prepared to do. 

However, when I explored the idea of colour coding further, I realised there is a sense to it. It works because my friend is super particular about what apps live on their phone. They are selective, engaging in a minimalistic approach to their phone real estate. They run a lean and mean app regime.

It’s run like a busy Saturday night at a dance club. One app in and one app out, and any fresh addition to that controlled number has to go through a rigorous regime of checks to get to know the boss before it is allowed entry.

My takeaway from this was twofold. 

The first takeaway was how different people are in the way that they organise themselves. I am an organised person, but colour coding is not for me. I have seen people colour code their bookshelves, and it looks good, but I am not sure if it is practical… but then, I am arranging by type and size, so is that any better?

Who knows, but one person’s organisation strategy can be different from another’s. Thank goodness for the standard practices that we have introduced over the many years that humans have been obsessed with organising and filing stuff.

Now my second takeaway is for sure a great tip. This came from my friend’s comments when they saw the number of apps I had on my phone.

“You need to put your phone on a diet man, that is not good for your health. All that stress from having too many apps to choose from. Have you never heard of decision fatigue?”

I had never linked the number of apps on my phone to any idea of fatigue or stress, but I fully understood the minute they said it.

They were right. All the unnecessary apps added to my stress of finding stuff on the phone or choosing an app to get the job done. I would default to a couple of handfuls of apps that I would use regularly. Everything else was gathering digital dust.

I did not need to free up the space because I had plenty of room on my phone. I just needed to free up the mental weight of having so many apps on my phone and so much pointless choice.

Twenty-three different photography apps is a bit of an overkill.

So I sat on the couch and attempted to reduce the number of apps on my phone. This is not an easy thing to do. Even though you may not have used an app in absolute ages, you can still feel emotionally attached to having it where it should be, on your phone.

Like any diet, an app slimming diet is not easy. It takes commitment.

I had to dig into my reserves of perseverance to reduce the number of apps on the phone. It was tough going, and I often had to go back and forward between pages and app types to find the correct balance. 

This is a first-world problem, I get it, but the stress is real.

The more I thought about it, the more I knew the crazy volume of apps on my phone was causing me to lose productivity, choice and causing find-ability anxiety. 

Many of the apps had to go. So with another review session, which was beginning to feel like the stages of a talent show, I was able to more than half the amount of apps.

Instantly I felt lighter in the head, and my phone also felt a bit lighter. I know that sounds daft, but I dare you to try it. Dump half of your apps from your phone and see how you feel. If you feel the difference in the weight of your phone, leave a comment below. I would like to know if you are as daft arsed as me.

I am pleased with the results. I have slimmed down a considerable amount. If I had to fit into an old pair of digital trousers from my high school days, I think I would be able to do that with no problem.

However, the question I have now is… should I colour code my phone pages?

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