Putting your day on the home screen

There’s a gap between “having a list” and “looking at your list”. An app you have to open requires a decision, and that decision rarely gets made at the right moment: you open your list when it crosses your mind, which is to say, when it’s already too late.

A widget removes the decision. The list is right there when you unlock your phone, among the icons, with no notification and no sound.

Showing, not reminding

The difference from a notification matters. A notification interrupts: it picks its own moment, often badly. A widget waits to be seen — and you look at your home screen dozens of times a day, at exactly the moments you happen to have a spare second.

That’s why a good widget replaces most reminders. For the three or four things that have a set time, keep a notification. For everything else, being visible is enough.

What to put on it: less than you’d think

The temptation is to display the whole list. The result is unreadable at that size, and worse, it produces exactly the effect you’re trying to avoid: seeing everything that’s still left to do.

Two or three lines are enough: what’s coming up, with the time if there is one. A routine in progress, with how far along it is. Everything else opens in the app, when you have time to read it.

On the lock screen too

Since iOS 16, the lock screen accepts small widgets: a circle, a line of text. It’s the best spot for the next thing to do — visible without even unlocking your phone, and without tempting you to open it (and so without ending up in some other app, which is the risk of any quick glance).

Adding a widget, step by step

On the home screen: long-press an empty spot, then the “+” in the top left, then search for the app’s name, choose a size and drag it into place. On the lock screen: long-press the lock screen, “Customise”, then the area under the clock.

One tip: put it on the first page, near the top. A widget on the third page never gets seen — and a widget nobody sees is no use at all.

The limit

A widget doesn’t replace the moment you choose your day. It shows what’s already been decided; if nobody’s decided anything, it shows a random list. Those five minutes in the morning or evening are still the real work — the widget just keeps it present the rest of the time.

Common questions