5 Ways to Minimize Screen Time on Your Phone — Even If You Don’t Really Want To
You have a complex relationship with technology. You love your phone, you use your phone, it’s a great tool. You don’t know what you’d do without it. Yet, you feel like you are too attached to your phone. You use it even when it doesn’t help you.
You feel like you really want to live your life, but your phone is getting in the way. It’s a reliable and steady friend, but it never seems to know when to go away. You want to build that healthy boundary, but you are stuck. Maybe you just need someone to tell you “here are small steps you can take today to start the journey”.
Well, here they are! Do right by yourself. Commit to doing one of these today. Maybe two next week. Baby steps. The world is out there, waiting for you — there is so much to see, if only you put away the phone.
Here are the 5 ways to use your phone, not let it use you:
- Learn to resist FOMO
With any change, we need to start in our heads. What if we miss the next viral dog meme? What if we miss the latest photo of our roommate’s cousin’s vacation getaway? What if, what if, what if… Use these techniques, among others, to stop resisting the urge. It’s okay to miss out. Stop letting yourself get caught up in the hype
2. Leave your Phone
Just leave your phone — in your bag, in your pocket, even — gasp! — at HOME! The less you are physically near your phone, the less likely you are to pick it up. Start with a small habit. Maybe, next time you are out with friends, see if you can limit the number of times you pick up your phone to 3. Or 5. Or once an hour. Make it something you know you can do. You’d be surprised how resilient you are, and how the world keeps revolving just the same
3. Use a Red Light filter
Some phones nowadays have this, but it’s an important feature to use — blue light keeps you awake, according to research. It can be hard to put down our phones at night when we’re looking for that perfect coffee table on 5 different furniture websites, but at least using a filter won’t let it keep you awake even more
4. Get Rid of Most Notifications
Many apps try to nudge you to have notifications on by default — resist the urge. Say no! Do you really need that notification? Beyond messages that come from your closest loved ones, what notifications are actually crucial to look at right this moment. Go to settings on your phone. Turn off notifications on at least 50% of the apps on your phone
5. There’s an App for That!
In addition to phone manufacturers trying to address this issue, there are a number of apps that help you to limit your phone usage. Often, just seeing in an app exactly how much you are using your phone in a number on a screen is enough to make you think differently. Here’s a great list of apps to get started
It’s a difficult journey, but once you get started, you’ll notice your step gets a little lighter, you notice that little bird on your porch, you’ll breathe a little easier.
