Whenever I try to study these days, I find myself surrounded by distractions. My mind wanders aimlessly.
“You’re thirsty, now you’re hungry.”
“I bet you are missing out on all of your friends’ Instagram posts.”
*9 minutes of scrolling later*
“I need to check my emails.”
“What if someone texted me?
I forgot that I need to call my doctor’s office to make an appointment!”
“When’s my next class?”
“Great, now I only have fifteen minutes left of my break to study. I guess I’ll try again later.”
I know I could just turn my phone off and log out of my social media accounts, but clearly that hasn’t been working. When I delete my Twitter app during finals week, I always cave and redownload it that same day. I am not strong willed, as you can tell. Even when I was in the zone and studied for a solid hour, the second I treated myself to a break, I would always end up on Instagram for hours. I needed something to make me study.
After three years in college, I finally found the perfect app that will force me to study, “Flipd”. Basically, you set a timer for how long you want your phone to “lock.” For example, 30 minutes, an hour, 4 hours, or 8 hours. Once you select “go”, the app temporarily removes all of your social media apps, and any apps that could be a distraction to you — Safari, games, or Venmo.
I like this app because it leaves the iMessage App enabled. Instead of completely turning my phone off, I can still contact people if needed.
If you are new to the app, I would test out the time limit with a minute or 5 minutes before you fully commit to 4 hours without Instagram or Snapchat. Trust me! One time during finals week, after a snap decision I set the timer to hide my apps for 8 hours. Even though I desperately needed to study, I subconsciously kept opening my phone and pressing where my apps usually are. It was brutal. Once you set it, you cannot get your apps back until the clock runs out. Even if you turn your phone off and on again, the apps are still hidden.
While I really only use this app during major study sessions, it can definitely be beneficial for getting work done at a job, finishings chores, or even limiting your daily intake of social media. I wanted to share this app because I think it can help students study productively and efficiently without distractions.