Is your phone distracting you? Put it an arm's length away

Most of the time we pick up our phone without thinking: the hand reaches before the mind catches up. The simplest fix is to make reaching a little harder.

Why willpower isn't enough

Phones are built to be picked up. Every notification, every red badge, every quick check is a tiny reward, and your hand learns the habit faster than you notice. Telling yourself to resist works for a few minutes, then a moment of boredom or a hard question comes along and the phone is in your hand again.

That's why changing your surroundings works better than trying harder. If the phone isn't right there, the habit has nothing to grab.

More than an arm's length away

Put your phone somewhere you have to stand up to get it, like a bookshelf behind you. Those few seconds of getting up are enough to ask yourself whether you really need it.

If you can, go further: another room, a bag zipped shut, or with a friend who's also studying. The further away it is, the less space it takes up in your head.

Turn the screen face down

If you can't move it away, turn it face down and switch off vibration. When you can't see notifications light up, you're less tempted to check.

Let your settings help

• Turn on Do Not Disturb or a focus mode for your study blocks, with only important calls allowed through.
• Turn off notifications for social apps and games completely. You can still open them on breaks.
• Move tempting apps off your home screen, so opening them takes a few extra taps.

Keep a “later” list

Often you reach for your phone because you just remembered something: a message to send, a thing to look up. Keep a scrap of paper on your desk and write it down instead. On your break, go through the list. Most things can wait 25 minutes, and some won't seem important at all by then.

If you need your phone to study

Sometimes the phone is part of the work: a flashcard app, a dictionary, a photo of the board. In that case, decide before you start which one app you'll use, and close everything else. Or move that task to a laptop or tablet, so the phone itself can stay away.

You don't have to fight your phone. You just have to make it a little less convenient than your work.