Plan a week with less unwanted scrolling.

Start with your own recent screen time

Look at several recent days in your phone’s screen-time summary. Notice the difference between workdays and days off, which apps take your time, and which uses you want to keep.

Choose a daily target that leaves room for your actual routine and reduces scrolling you would rather skip. Write down the target and one reason for it, such as finishing a task or being present at dinner. There is no single right number for everyone.

This is an editorial plan to adapt yourself. PhoneLess’s built-in seven-day challenge is a separate option with its own rules, explained below.

Choose your apps and your support

Pick the distracting app or apps you want to limit first. Note when you tend to open them without a purpose. Choose a boundary for that moment, such as an app limit or a period with the app blocked.

If friends are joining, agree how you will encourage each other: a brief daily check-in, what progress you are comfortable sharing, and how to respond when someone has a difficult day. Each person can choose a realistic target for the suggested plan.

You can do this in an existing chat. If you use a PhoneLess group, review its members, visibility and shared information before joining. A group gives you shared progress and challenge tools; you can also use PhoneLess alone.

Your seven-day plan

Use these daily actions as suggestions. They do not run automatically in PhoneLess. Keep a short note of your screen time, what you changed and how the day felt.

1. Day 1: Set a starting point

   Write down your recent screen-time pattern, your target and the apps you want to limit. Choose one moment today to put the phone aside. If you are doing the week together, share your plan with your friends.

2. Day 2: Put a boundary around one app

   Apply a limit or schedule a block for an app that regularly pulls you in. Try your device’s controls or a PhoneLess Blocking Contract. Check what you need for useful tasks before choosing the boundary.

3. Day 3: Protect a focus period

   Choose a specific task and set aside a period for it. Put the phone out of reach or use a timed Focus Session in PhoneLess. Afterwards, note whether the boundary helped you stay with the task.

4. Day 4: Check in and adjust

   Compare the first few days with your usual pattern. Identify one difficult moment and change your suggested plan to make that moment easier. Ask friends what helped them, without turning a difficult day into a judgment. If you joined an in-app challenge, follow its rules for any changes.

5. Day 5: Make room for something else

   Choose something you want to do away from the screen: cook, read, walk or meet someone. Decide when it will happen and what you will do with your phone during it. Notice the activity, as well as the total minutes.

6. Day 6: Try a different kind of day

   Use your boundary during a less structured part of your routine, such as an evening or a day off. Prepare an alternative for the moment you usually start scrolling. Keep your notes even if you miss the target.

7. Day 7: Review and choose what stays

   Look back over the week. Which apps and moments changed? Which boundary was useful? Share one thing you want to keep with your friends, or write it down for yourself. Choose a manageable next step for the coming week.

Look beyond a single number

Compare your week with your own recent pattern, allowing for changes in work, travel or other necessary phone use. Review both the screen-time totals and your notes about attention, useful activities and difficult moments.

Keep a boundary you found useful, adjust one that did not fit, and choose when to review it again. The aim is a routine you want to continue. A missed target is information you can use in your next plan.

The built-in PhoneLess challenge has separate rules

PhoneLess also has a 7-Day Less Screen Time Challenge. It uses screen-time progress and is separate from the daily actions suggested in this guide. The published iPhone release notes describe two modes:

Solo: meet your chosen daily target on at least five of seven days.

With friends: compete for the most daily wins across the week. This is a competition, rather than everyone passing by meeting a shared target.

To use it, download PhoneLess, complete setup and the permissions needed for your chosen tools, then find the seven-day challenge in the app. Read the available mode’s setup and rules before joining. Availability and feature access can differ; the app shows the options for your device and account.

Use the tools that fit your week

Use app blocking for chosen boundaries, Focus Sessions for a particular stretch of time, and a group when shared progress helps. You can follow this suggested plan without enrolling in an in-app challenge.

If a friend sends you an invitation and you need to install first, keep that invitation. After setup, return to the original link or use its group code where requested. A store download alone does not automatically recover the invitation.