Member-only story
How I Stopped Checking My Phone So Much
10 simple things I did to break bad habits and take back control.
I knew I was doing it too much.
A couple weeks ago I recognized I had fallen into a dangerous loop and that my phone use —specifically the time spent checking email and social media feeds — was out of hand.
So I did something about it.
I didn’t take a “digital detox” and completely abandon social media for a brief period of time because that feels more like a temporary treatment than an actual solution.
It might have made me feel better for a couple days, but a detox would quickly end and everything else would go back to “normal” — and normal wasn’t working for me.
Instead, I pursued a more sustainable solution.
I set out to change my phone habits by creating a simple set of rules to limit the negative and amplify the positive impacts of when and how I use my phone.
The following 10 guidelines are what I came up with to ensure I use my phone with intention.
They turned out to be relatively easy to follow and made a huge difference in how often I check my phone, what I get out of it, and how I feel about it.