Phone vibration feels softer than a ringtone. It still owns the first minutes of a focus sit. Silence phone vibration before the focus sit starts so the chair meets one job, not a buzzing pocket.
Silent does not mean unreachable forever. It means the sit has a closed door until the timer ends.
Put the phone face down and out of reach
Place the phone across the room or in a drawer. Face-down on the desk still shows light leaks. Distance beats willpower.
Pair this with say the next three steps out loud before focus so the sit opens with verbs, not badge checks.
Kill vibration in system settings, not only Do Not Disturb
Some apps bypass Do Not Disturb with critical alerts. Turn vibration off for calls and messages at the OS level for the sit window. Confirm with a test text from another device.
Park one worry line before you sit
Write the one worry that will tempt a phone grab. Keep it on paper beside the keyboard. Cross it off after the timer.
Use the same habit as park one worry on paper before deep work.
Define true interrupts in one sentence
True interrupts are sit blockers: a fire alarm, a dependent waiting on your unblock, or a safety issue. A like, a group chat joke, and a news push are not blockers.
Reopen only when the timer ends
Set a hard reopen rule. If you must remember a ping, write the name on the sticky. Do not open the phone mid-sit to check.
Protect the exit the same way you write a return line before you leave deep work.
Train on short sits first
Practice on twenty-minute sits for a week. Count vibration grabs. Lower that count before you chase ninety-minute claims.
Keep a charging station outside the work room
If the phone must charge, put the cable outside the focus room. Charging on the desk recreates the habit loop.
FAQ
Does airplane mode count?
Yes if you can still use offline tools. Prefer OS vibration off plus distance if you need local Wi-Fi.
What about smartwatch buzzes?
Silence the watch or leave it outside the room. The same rule applies.
Can I keep Slack on the laptop?
Close or mute it. Laptop badges steal focus the same way.
What if my role is on-call?
Schedule focus sits around on-call windows. Do not fake focus during a live pager shift.
How do I prove it worked?
Track sits completed without a phone open. Raise that streak before adding length.
