In this short video, I’ll show you how you can use ios 16 focus mode to protect your time, be more productive and get more peace of mind!

Distractions from mobile phones are one of the biggest challenges at work and at home. 

Hy, my name is Julian. I‘m a husband, dad and business owner from Berlin, Germany. On this website and corresponding YouTube channel, I‘ll share with you some proven strategies on how to live a rich and meaningful life. 

This article is about getting the most out of the new ios 16 focus mode. I am actively using and loving it.

In another blog post titled Do I have a mobile phone addiction, I talk about my challenges when using my mobile phone at home. 

Many books promise to help us become more focused and less distracted. Some titles include Deep Work, The Power Of Less, The One Thing, Essentialism, Your Brain At Work, or Digital Minimalism.

I probably read all of them, and I still struggle sometimes, particularly with mobile phone use. 

With the release of ios 16 focus mode, Apple is making tremendous progress in helping us become much more focused and less distracted.

For an excellent introduction to ios 16 focus mode, I recommend you also watch the official Apple video “How to use focus on your iPhone.” You’ll find that video linked to in the description below. 

Let me show you how I am getting the most out of the ios 16 focus mode. That way, I hope to inspire you to implement a variation that works for you.

While focus mode has been available since ios 15, it has gotten much better with ios 16. 

iOS 16 focus mode: what has changed?

The main improvement is that we can now personalize the lock screen, app screen, and even the Apple Watch face to change automatically according to your chosen focus mode.

For example, let’s look at a meal focus that I set up on my iPhone. With this focus, I’ve decided not to allow any notifications. That concerns both people and apps. 

At the same time, I set up a lock screen with an image of food. Now, what is fun here is that you can change the watch’s face if you are also using an Apple Watch. 

Having a watch face that displays the next calendar entry can be helpful. However, while I eat, I might not want to look at work-related calendar entries. That’s why I decided to go for a watch face that only displays the time.

It only takes one or two taps to activate my meal focus, and my iPhone lock screen changes, all notifications are turned off, and my Apple Watch only shows the time.

Going even deeper with iOS 16 focus mode

I found it’s worth spending some time going even deeper with the ios 16 focus mode. For example, in the section “Turn on automatically,” you can add certain apps.

Let’s say I want to meditate for 20 minutes. If I add my meditation app SATTVA to this section, the corresponding focus starts automatically when I start the app.

So, by starting the app, I let my iPhone know automatically that no app notification and no phone call or message can get through to me. 

And then, when I end my meditation by closing the app, the focus mode immediately switches back to what it was before. 

For my work focus, I also set up some automations, which are fun and make sense here. You could let your iPhone’s smart activation decide when it thinks you might be working – or you could set up a location-based or schedule-based activation.

I decided to go for a schedule-based activation. Here you can see that my work focus is automatically active between 8.30 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. – and then again from 2.30 until 5.00 p.m. 

Another convenient thing is to start or switch focus modes from your Apple laptop or iMac. And when you do so, it can automatically change the focus mode across all your devices. 

That way, you can be sure that you won’t be bothered by incoming messages, phone calls, or app alerts on other Apple devices. 

If you watched this video about the ios 16 focus mode until here, are you already actively using ios 16 focus mode – or will you give it a try? Please let me know in the comments below.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this short presentation about iOS 16 focus mode. If you liked this article, please also consider subscribing to my YouTube channel or sign-up for my newsletter if you are interested in watching or reading more Apple related content from me in the future.

If you liked this review, you might also like my other reviews: Oura Ring 3 review, Masterclass review or my book reviews The Big Leap or Richer Wiser Happier.

Thanks again for reading or watching this presentations of iOS 16 focus mode.