Life-Changing iPhone Hack Might Help You Resist The Urge To Check Notifications

If you're anything like me, the tiny red notification bubbles on your iPhone are overwhelming your home screen -- and you become distracted by them every single time you unlock your phone.

Earlier this morning, I woke up to three red Snapchat notifications, a red email bubble that says I have over 4,000 unread emails (yes, I am that person), and a bright little reminder that I have few new Instagram likes.

Of course, seeing those pretty notification bubbles is super enticing, because it pulls you into your phone almost instantly so you can check your notifications the moment you see them.

Luckily, there's an iPhone hack that might help you resist the constant temptation to check those tiny red notification bubbles, and it's called "Grayscale."

The hidden "grayscale" screen setting is a much-needed phone hack for anyone who's enticed by the vibrant colors of their apps and notifications, because it converts your entire screen to black and white.

So, basically, instead of waking up to bright colors and red notifications, all you'll see is a dulled black and white screen that's far less appealing than a technicolor one.

Recently, Lifehacker suggested using the grayscale mode to make your phone less distracting. Apparently, the trick was inspired by Tristan Harris, former Google Design Ethicist who runs the non-profit movement Time Well Spent.

Harris described the distracting notification bubbles almost perfectly, saying,

When we pull our phone out of our pocket, we're playing a slot machine to see what notifications we got.

He also allegedly suggests "Instagram and Snapchat are going to be a lot less appealing in black and white than they are in technicolor."

TBH, I couldn't agree with him more.

After reading about the hack, I tested it out for myself -- and my notifications are definitely a lot less appealing than they were before.

Before:

After:

See?! This is a life-changing, guys. Set your phone to its grayscale mode before bed or work, and I guarantee you won't be tempted to check your screen every few minutes.

In order to put your phone on "Grayscale," all you need to do is go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations > Color Filters (turn them on) > Grayscale.

Hopefully the hack works for you and you'll be less intrigued by your phone's vibrant colors while you're trying to get things done without the distraction.