Here is something you can do in 30 seconds that might change your relationship with your phone. Switch it to greyscale.
That is it. No app to download. No willpower required. Just one setting that strips the colour from your screen and makes your phone significantly less interesting to look at.
Why it works
Colour is one of the main tools apps use to grab and hold your attention. The red notification badge. The bright icons. The vivid photos on Instagram. The colourful thumbnails on YouTube. All of it is designed to trigger a dopamine response in your brain. And ADHD brains are especially responsive to that kind of visual stimulation.
When you remove the colour, your phone becomes functional but boring. You can still do everything you need to do. Calls, messages, maps, calendar, all of it works fine. But the urge to pick it up and scroll just for something to look at quietly disappears.
How to set it up
On iPhone:
- Go to Settings > Accessibility > Display and Text Size > Colour Filters
- Turn on Colour Filters and select Greyscale
- For a quick toggle: go to Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut and select Colour Filters. Then triple-click the side button to switch between colour and greyscale whenever you need to
On Android:
- Go to Settings > Accessibility > Colour correction > Greyscale. On Samsung phones it is sometimes under Accessibility > Visibility enhancements.
- If you want greyscale only at night, Settings > Digital Wellbeing > Bedtime Mode > turn on Greyscale.
When to use it
My suggestion: try it for a day and see how it feels. Most people are surprised by how much less appealing their phone becomes without colour.
From there, some people keep it on greyscale all the time, others switch it on in the evening, during work hours, or whenever they notice themselves scrolling more than they want to. There is no right answer.
It is not a cure
Greyscale will not solve a scrolling problem on its own. But it is one of those small, friction-adding changes that makes it slightly easier to put the phone down and slightly harder to pick it up without thinking. For an ADHD brain, that tiny bit of extra friction can be the difference between a five-minute check and a forty-minute rabbit hole.
If you want to go further, try combining greyscale with a few other small changes: moving social media off your home screen, charging your phone in another room at night, and setting a timer before you open apps you tend to get lost in.
Want to see how your scrolling habits measure up? The ADHD Scrolling Check-In is one of the tools inside the Toolkit, alongside other assessments and worksheets for the patterns that show up most for you. Explore the Toolkit.
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About Linda Fox
Linda Fox is an ICF-ACC credentialled Adult ADHD Life & Business Coach (CALC) with 26+ years of experience and lived experience of ADHD herself. She works with entrepreneurs, solicitors, and business owners, helping them build practical strategies that fit how their brain actually works. UK-based, coaching worldwide via Zoom.
