Pausing my distracting apps on Android

If you want a bit of peace from your most addictive apps, or you'd like to put some mental distance between you and a WhatsApp group that never sleeps - read on.

It's time to hit pause.

Android users can tap and hold app icons on the home screen or in the app library and tap Pause app (or the egg timer icon) to buy yourself a little break.

I've started doing this at weekends, so I can make a concerted effort to be more present with my daughter, and less inclined to reach for my phone every 5 minutes to see if I've got a new message.

Once an app is paused, it feels quite symbolic - like putting it in a virtual drawer and closing it. Night-night.

No notifications, and a greyed out icon until you unpause.

Time to get back to your real life.

~ Tom