How to Turn an iPhone Into a Work-Only Tool

To prevent distractions, Conor Dougherty, an economics writer, dumped social media and anything fun — even his browser — from his smartphone.

How do New York Times journalists use technology in their jobs and in their personal lives? Conor Dougherty, who covers economics from San Francisco, discussed the tech he’s using.

What tech tools do you rely on most to do your reporting?

This isn’t very remarkable or unexpected, but I spend a lot of time on news apps. Throughout the day I cycle through The San Francisco Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, East Bay Times, three of California’s Bees (Sacramento, Fresno, Modesto) and, of course, The New York Times.

I also read and listen to a lot of books, so I spend a lot of time on the Audible app. In the case of really important books that I’m using for research, I’ll buy the print book and shift between reading it in print and listening on my phone. (I have a monthly subscription to Audible and a lot of unused credits, so it feels as if my audiobooks are free even though they’re anything but.)

That’s a lot of news.

Yes, I’ve packed my phone with news so that I use it less.

Wait, what?

Yeah, so, there’s a catch. The catch is that I have zero social media on my phone. Like a lot of people, I’ve been trying to look at my phone less and to have a better work/life balance. In the past I tried some of those phone monitoring apps but didn’t find them helpful. Instead I hit on what you might call a design solution, which is to curate my phone so that it’s mostly a work tool.

I cover California and the economy and have to read news for work, so the mental bargain I’ve made with myself is that I can use my phone as much or as long as I want — so long as I’m reading books or news. Aside from news, Audible, and service-type things like maps and airline apps, I have nothing on my phone. I even disabled the browser. I find this keeps me mostly sane and mostly productive.

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Mr. Dougherty uses the Rev app for transcribing interviews.CreditJim Wilson/The New York Times

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“I put a lot of sticky notes in my books,” he said.CreditJim Wilson/The New York Times

How so?A decent definition of technology is any sort of machine or process that helps people do more or better work, so my basic rule of phone curation is: Things that help me work stay on my phone and things that don’t, don’t.

Technology is a hard balance for everyone these days, but it’s especially hard for reporters, who in the pursuit of readers and stories can convince themselves that Twitter wars (“being part of the conversation”) and YouTube holes (“cultural research”) are productive uses of time. My biggest problem with social media is that sometimes I used it for work and sometimes I used it to goof off, and somewhere along the way I lost track of which was which.

Don’t get me wrong: I love wasting time. I just prefer to waste it on things like beer, skateboarding and video games (some of my favorite weekend activities) instead of an argument with someone I’ve never met (and who probably isn’t even who they say they are) on Twitter.