Breaking free from smartphone addiction: using it for less than two hours a day
What is the ultimate irony of me writing an article on the subject of trying to use my phone for less than 2 hours per day? Writing this article from it.
Hello! I’d like to begin this article with a little joke specifically tailored to today’s topic:
Without kidding, can you even fathom how much time you spend on your phone? I think, like everyone else, you must have heard or seen content creators emphasize this. If you read books on self-improvement and personal development, you must have delved into this topic. Unfortunately, numerous figures and statistics have emerged regarding smartphone usage for different generations, and these studies are alarming. I’m French, and I will source this article with data concerning our beautiful country, but the statistics should not differ significantly from other European Union countries or the United States.
In France, 87% of the population owns a smartphone, with an average usage duration of 32 hours per week, almost as much as our working hours, LOL. This corresponds to an average of 4.5 hours per day. This number genuinely terrifies me and probably makes me a bit sad. Can you imagine waking up early, being excited to dedicate time to your passion project? Then you grab your smartphone next to your bed to check what you missed last night. It’s 8 in the morning, and the hours pass by. You finally put down your phone, thinking you’ve met your quota for the day. If you’re an average person, you just set it down at 12:30 PM, and your entire morning has been consumed by mostly useless and mind-numbing content. Discussing such content will be the subject of a future article.
In the meantime, after reading these studies, I decided to look at and analyze my screen time on my smartphone. I was surprised, yet not really, to discover that I was using my phone for 4 to 5 hours a day. The reason was simple: I had set no limits. I grew up with a smartphone connected to the internet in my pocket. Since I was 12, I’ve never been alone. I’ve always eaten with a video, showered with music or a podcast. My phone accompanies me everywhere. So, I decided to take control of my addiction and break free from it. I set just one limit, one goal that would help me detach from my best friend (I’m still talking about my phone): using my phone for less than 2 hours a day.
To achieve this limited screen time, I set three rules:
1. Don’t touch my smartphone until two hours after waking up:
This is a fairly simple but essential rule to adhere to for significantly reduced screen time. Like many, I’m sure you’ve reached for your phone next to your bed to turn off your alarm and seen one or two very important notifications on the lock screen. You climb back into bed and tend to those two notifications. But when you go on Instagram to reply to your friend, you end up watching all the stories, a few reels, and before you know it, you’re glued to your screen for the next hour. Don’t feel too guilty about it (just a little, though); it happens to everyone, and this first point will help you avoid such mistakes for a lifetime.
You simply CAN’T use your phone right after waking up; you prohibit yourself from doing so. If necessary, put it in a cupboard and get an analog alarm clock, which will cost you between 5 and 10 euros. Allow yourself to use your phone only after making progress on your most important daily tasks.
For me, I need to work out first, write my daily journal page, and compose my Medium article. Only then can I use my phone in moderation.
2. Remove content consumption apps:
This point is a bit more personal to me because I don’t really have an issue with social media consumption. I’ve never found the content on these apps to be relevant. However, I’m undeniably addicted to Twitch and YouTube. I’ve rarely missed a video from my “Subscriptions” section for years, as if something terrible would happen if I didn’t take the time to watch everything.
To create friction, I decided to delete these apps, preventing myself from quickly accessing the applications. To avoid any false excuses, I have the Youtube link bookmarked in my Chrome tabs, allowing me to easily use it if I need to show a video to someone.
3. Use my computer:
This technique may appear to be cheating to some readers, but it’s the only way for me to achieve the goal of less than two hours of phone usage per day. I create content on the internet and work as a UX/UI Designer. It’s incredibly challenging for me to use digital tools for less than two hours a day. Therefore, I must use my computer for work. Shifting some of my screen time from my phone to my computer is an effective solution to avoid being addicted to my smartphone. I have several compelling arguments in favor of this decision, and I can list a few. First, it’s evident that for content consumption, my eyes get much less fatigued when I view it on a large screen, whether it’s an article or a video. Moreover, being on my laptop allows me to be truly focused on what I’m doing, whereas people often use their phones while doing something else on the side: having a conversation, eating, having coffee, and so on…
I hope my perspective on daily overuse of my smartphone has piqued your interest. I strongly encourage you to use one or more of these techniques if you also feel that you spend too much time on that small screen.
If you wish, you can support me for free by following me on my various platforms, where I share my passions for personal development, entrepreneurship, and UX/UI Design.
