The 7-Day App Cleanse: Reset Your Home Screen (and Your Head)

Why an "App Cleanse"?

We tidy closets; we rarely tidy phones. An app cleanse is a short, structured reset: remove what hijacks attention, keep what supports your life, and rebuild with intention.

Think of it as Marie Kondo for your digital life — but instead of asking "does this spark joy?", ask "does this serve my values?"

Before You Start (10 minutes)

📊 Baseline:

Note your Daily Average, Pickups, and Most Used apps (Screen Time on iOS / Digital Wellbeing on Android).

💾 Backup:

Ensure iCloud/Google backup is current.

👥 Partner up:

Ask a friend to join — accountability helps.

The 7-Day Plan

Day 0 (Prep):

Set a simple goal: "Reduce daily average by 30 minutes" or "Under 60 pickups/day."

Day 1 — Triage Every App

Create 5 lists:

• Essential: banking, maps, messages, authenticator
• Useful weekly: transit, grocery, airline
• Create/learn: camera, notes, Kindle, music creation
• Social/entertainment: feeds, short-form video, gaming
• "Slot machines" (delete-prone): infinite scroll + variable rewards³

Day 2 — Delete and Offload (20% Rule)

Remove at least one in five apps — start with "slot machines." Offload rarely used utilities (you can still re-download).

Day 3 — Notifications from Zero

Turn all app notifications off. Add back only:

• Person-to-person messages
• Ride/food delivery updates
• Banking fraud alerts

No badges for social. No sounds/vibrate unless time-critical. Research shows that turning off email for a week can reduce stress and multitasking fragmentation.¹

Day 4 — Home Screen Surgery

• One home screen only
• Dock: 3–4 true essentials
• Grid by verbs: Pay, Move, Read, Capture (not brands)
• Hide everything else in the App Library/Drawer

Day 5 — Time Guards

• Focus/DND: work, family, sleep
• App limits: e.g., Social total ≤ 30–45 min/day²
• Downtime/Bedtime: apps off after 9 pm (keep phone + texts if needed)

Day 6 — Friction Hacks

• Grayscale after 8 pm⁴
• Remove addictive widgets from home screen
• Log out of the most tempting app; require Face/Passcode to open

Day 7 — Rebuild with Intention

Add back up to five "create/learn" apps you truly use. Keep the rest off. Re-check Screen Time vs Day 0.

Quick How-To (High Level)

📱 iOS (Settings):

Screen Time → App Limits / Downtime • Focus → Allowed notifications • Display → Color Filters (grayscale) • Notifications → turn off by default.

🤖 Android (varies):

Digital Wellbeing → Dashboard / Focus mode / Bedtime • Notifications → per-app • Display → Grayscale (Monochrome) or Bedtime Mode.

Track & Reflect

📊 Metrics:

Daily Average, Pickups, Notifications received, Top 3 most-used apps.

💭 Feel:

Energy after 9 pm? Easier mornings? Fewer "reflex opens"?

Maintenance

• Weekly "Trash Day" (5 min): delete 1–2 apps, review badges
• Monthly review (10 min): re-sort home screen, tighten limits

If You've Got Kids

Use a shared Focus at dinner/bedtime. Make it a family challenge: kids "earn" adding back one creative app (stop-motion, drawing) after seven days.

Ready to Start Your App Cleanse?

Seven days. A cleaner phone. A clearer mind.

Start tomorrow with Day 0, and remember — this isn't about perfection. It's about intention.

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7-Day App Cleanse Checklist

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References