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The 5-Day Phone Reset: a Free Screen Time Course

Five small changes, ten minutes a day. You are not trying to quit your phone; you are making the mindless scroll a little less automatic. 5 lessons · about 10 minutes each · free, no sign-up.

Get a reminder each day: Works with Apple, Google and Outlook calendars. Starts tomorrow.

What you’ll do

  1. Find out where the time actually goes
  2. Add friction to the one app
  3. Make the screen less interesting
  4. Create places your phone doesn’t go
  5. Plan for the hard moments
Day 1

Find out where the time actually goes

You can’t fix a number you’ve never looked at.

  1. Open Settings › Screen Time › See All App & Website Activity, and switch to Week.
  2. Write down three numbers: your daily average, pickups per day and your top three apps.
  3. Circle the one app you open without deciding to. That is the one this week is about.

Today: Pick a realistic target: 30–60 minutes a day less than now, not zero.

Day 2

Add friction to the one app

Habits run on ease. A few extra seconds of friction is often enough to interrupt autopilot.

  1. Move the app off your Home Screen into the App Library (press and hold the icon › Remove App › Remove from Home Screen).
  2. Set a limit: Settings › Screen Time › App Limits › Add Limit, choose the app, set a daily time.
  3. Sign out of the app on your phone, or use it only in a browser for the week.

Today: Notice how many times today you reach for the missing icon.

Day 3

Make the screen less interesting

Bright colors and constant badges are designed to pull you back in.

  1. Turn on grayscale: Settings › Accessibility › Display & Text Size › Color Filters › Grayscale.
  2. Make it switchable: Settings › Accessibility › Accessibility Shortcut › Color Filters, then triple-click the side button to toggle.
  3. Batch notifications: Settings › Notifications › Scheduled Summary, and turn off badges for apps that don’t need them.

Today: Try an evening in grayscale and see how it feels.

Day 4

Create places your phone doesn’t go

Distance beats discipline. If the phone isn’t within reach, you don’t have to resist it.

  1. Choose two phone-free zones: the table at meals and your bed are the classics.
  2. Charge your phone outside the bedroom tonight. Use a cheap alarm clock if you need one.
  3. Set Downtime: Settings › Screen Time › Downtime, for the hour before bed.

Today: Put a small sign or a basket where the phone now lives.

Day 5

Plan for the hard moments

Most scrolling happens at predictable times: boredom, stress, waiting, bedtime.

  1. Write your two riskiest moments (for example: “right after work” and “in bed”).
  2. For each, write a replacement: a walk, a book on the nightstand, a podcast while you cook.
  3. Check Screen Time again. Compare it with Day 1 and keep the changes that worked.

Today: Decide which one change you are keeping for the next 30 days.

Questions

Will this work without an app blocker?

Yes. Everything in the course uses settings already on your iPhone. A blocker helps if built-in limits are too easy to ignore.

How much screen time is normal?

It varies hugely by job and life stage. Focus on the time you don’t choose, not on a perfect number.