HOW TO STOP BEING CONTROLLED BY YOUR PHONE!
Episode Description
One phone setting could give you an hour of your day back.
During this conversation, I learned about an experiment where simply changing people's phone screens to greyscale led them to spend an hour less on their phones every day.
This is Dr Sahar Yousef, a cognitive neuroscientist at UC Berkeley who's spent over 15 years studying how to improve our focus, memory and productivity.
One of the things Sahar explains is how much of the way we work today goes against how our brains naturally function, and how a few small changes could make a huge difference to how we think and feel every day.
I wanted to understand why so many of us struggle to concentrate, even when we know exactly what we need to be doing.
We discussed things like:
- Why we now spend just 47 seconds focused on one work screen. - The phone setting that could save you 7 hours a week. - Why multitasking is making us less productive. - How to work with your brain's natural energy levels. - Why AI could be weakening our ability to think for ourselves. - The simple changes that could help prevent burnout.
At one point, Sahar asked me to do a multitasking exercise, and I was 60% slower when switching between two tasks.
It made me think about how often I work in exactly the same way, constantly jumping between emails, meetings and whatever else needs my attention.
What I found useful about speaking to Sahar is that she explains the science behind these habits and what we can actually do differently.
If you're someone who feels constantly busy but struggles to get your most important work done, I think this conversation is worth watching.
Out now on all platforms ❤️👊🏾
Brief Summary
A productivity expert demonstrates the cost of task switching and recommends grayscale phones, long-form content, and focus sprints to reclaim attention.
Key points
- The hidden cost of switching tasks. A quick demonstration leads to a striking estimate: switching between tasks can cost a person 60% of their productivity. The discussion also cites more than two hours a day lost to bouncing between screens and tasks.
- The infinite-scroll buffet. Technology is designed to maximize engagement, and infinite scroll is compared to an endless buffet with no stopping point. The guest says reverse neuroscience can help undo those effects.
- Make your phone less tempting. Putting a phone in grayscale can make it less neurologically stimulating. Research from the guest’s lab found people spent an average of one hour less on their phones each day.
- A toolkit for deeper focus. The guest introduces a clock and a focus sprint, saying the sprint can help people do up to twice as much. They also tease another tool to strengthen focus.
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Episode highlights
- The hidden cost of switching tasksA quick demonstration leads to a striking estimate: switching between tasks can cost a person 60% of their productivity. The discussion also cites more than two hours a day lost to bouncing between screens and tasks.“So, multitasking is a myth.”0:17Oct 15, 2026
- The infinite-scroll buffetTechnology is designed to maximize engagement, and infinite scroll is compared to an endless buffet with no stopping point. The guest says reverse neuroscience can help undo those effects.“There's no backstop, but we can use reverse neuroscience to reverse this entire thing.”0:48Oct 15, 2026
- Make your phone less temptingPutting a phone in grayscale can make it less neurologically stimulating. Research from the guest’s lab found people spent an average of one hour less on their phones each day.“Put your phone in gray.”1:02Oct 15, 2026
- A toolkit for deeper focusThe guest introduces a clock and a focus sprint, saying the sprint can help people do up to twice as much. They also tease another tool to strengthen focus.“There is a focus sprint to help people to do up to two times as much”1:26Oct 15, 2026
