1. My morning has some givens. I need to shower/dress/feed dog/get her to day care. I allow myself a bit of game play on my phone during that. Things where I can, say, start a battle on auto and then do something else. Once I’m dressed and the dog is ready I have to leave. I don’t allow myself to keep playing.
2. I go for my walk, which I love. I’m fortunate to be retired, but this is where I would “go to work.”
3. After walk is breakfast and to do list. I use the phone, but really only for productivity apps.
4. I do my first most important thing. The phone is turned off.
5. I get to take a break after an hour or so. Free phone use. To make sure I stop, I check my to do list and see what I’m trying to get done.
6. Next project started. Phone is either off or on depending upon need to concentrate. To discourage use it stays in my pocket. All sounds/vibration turned off except for 2 really important people.
7. Lunch – free use of phone.
8. To be sure I move on from lunch I schedule something I love after lunch.
9. Three projects done (time for them completed, they may not be “finished”) I have free phone use through dinner.
10. After dinner, depending on my evening plans, I try to have all social phone use done by 7. Then I do journaling, check this app, checking calendar, and other prep for tomorrow.
11. 8 pm no phone use if possible. Evening pre-bed ritual. Bed and lights out by 9:30.
No, I’m not perfect. I keep improving this. But the improvement in my sleep and energy makes it worth it for me.
Also… look at what it is that glues you to your phone. If it’s social media, set times to do it and nothing else. Turn off notifications so you’re not constantly reminded stuff is happening. Facebook, which I don’t really like, is something that can just suck my time. Sometimes I give myself a specific amount of time to catch up with friends there. But it’s never in the morning. It’s after I get the #1 task time completed.
And yes, i “fail” my time goals sometimes, but I can always improve next time.
that if I avoid it before getting out of bed, then don’t keep it near me for the remainder of the morning, into the afternoon, I avoid getting sad caught wasting than nAnI irmm in bitcdreś stressing
Or let someone take your phone for hostage😉
– sit with desire to use it rather than instantly giving in
– get rid of unnecessary apps
– socialise more
– read more
– leave in a different room at times
– put phone out of reach when at work
These are my suggestions for both..
Discipline:
1) You have made a resolve to reduce your screen time which indicates that you know it is eating into your life. Give yourself a pat on the back.
2) Write down what apps / categories of apps take most of your time. It could be Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat etc. or it could be games, movie streaming apps etc.. This step will help you realise whether your time spent is necessary or not.
3) Commit to yourself.. Control your desire to take that one extra selfie..or take a selfie with just about anything.. realise that you have to enjoy moments organically rather than being monotonous with them..
4) Whenever you feel like surfing the web for fashion or news.. question yourself whether this will help you become a better version of yourself? If it doesn’t.. it’s not worth doing it..
I am sure you got this so let’s move on to the behavioural changes..
1) You can use the screen time app inbuilt for IOS or any such app which allows you to limit time per app / categories of app while showing you the time spent per app and warns you if you exceed the limits you set.
2) Take your movie streaming apps of your mobile device.. you can always carry your tab or laptop for long travels and use them for viewing.. better viewing experience too.. this may feel inconvenient but will really help.. also you can then schedule solo movie time or with loved ones where you won’t be disturbed by notifications and emails that ping your phone.
3) Read books.. I mean actual books.. I know it sounds lame but ya there’s definitely something organic about ink on paper that makes those stories real.. Join a good library.. you’ll have more books than you can read in a lifetime and you may inculcate a reading habit.
4) Do not carry your phone to the loo at home and wherever you can avoid it. It’ll help you get out of the washroom sooner too.. 😛
5) Try avoiding pornographic material. It does tend to create its own addiction plus social withdrawal and easy release makes it more interesting than real relationships with real people. Avoid or minimise as much as possible or you could make it a twice a week or once a week thing if it’s really the only way out. But trust me it never is. 😊
6) Avoid being idle or alone for a lot of time other than your self imposed me time.
I know it’s difficult but do on thing at a time and you’ll make it.. even a combination of 4&5 will save an easy 2 hours a day. I hope this was helpful for you.. feel free to let me know if this worked for you.. and what else you did to help make this better and easier for other people.
Then you find what you can do instead of using the app and you then have a trade off and use your phone less.
Maybe you need not-smart phone for necessary time.
You can delete some apps you addicted to them.
I think I have to stop sleeping with my phone beside of me.
Step two: buy an analogue alarm clock and charge your phone in another room than you sleep.
Step three: if you end up browsing the phone for too long. Don't bash yourself. It happens to all of us. Try thinking: why did I end up here? Boredom, procrastination, mindlessness. Try to eliminate that problem first.
Hope that helps!
Using the Fabulous app is certainly very helpful when it comes to working on habits. I love working on habits that are good habits that can potential he replace bad habits. So I’ll leave you with this: what are the good habits you want to start enjoying, and pick one. And then while you’re implying that have it while you are developing a routine of continually practicing that good habit, make sure that your phone is not part of that habit. So you’ll be replacing a bad habit with a good habit. Then take another activity that you love and do the same thing . One activity or habit at a time
1. Delete all your game apps.
2. Invest in a real alarm clock; keep your phone charging in a separate room so that it isn’t the first thing you look at in the morning.
3. Write down a list of all the things you use your phone for (the news, calendar, messaging, etc). Consider efficient alternatives to your phone usage.
4. Write down the times when you use your phone the most. Plan activities at those times that don’t involve your phone, whether you’re reading a book or grabbing a meal with friends.
5. Speaking of meal times, make bets to put your phones at the center of the table during meals; whoever reaches for their phone first pays for everyone’s food
6. Ask yourself the hard questions: What is more important to you? Your phone? Or your work? Your friends and family (real people, not online)? Your long-term health? Your dreams and aspirations?
What would you give your phone up for?
7. Don’t feel like you have to cut yourself from your phone completely; just treat it more like a device for work/communication rather than something that brings you addictive joy. Find joy in other, better things and people around you. 🙂
First, I organized my apps into folders and left only the essential apps on the first page. Then, I thought about which app was the biggest time waster, and took myself off of Twitter. I got a couple of more relevant apps instead and they are actually useful and not just something to stare at or use to “check out”. Then I put the texting-only relationships either on the back burner or resolved issues with those people.
Having a device cut-off time at night was the biggest change.
Overall, I would say figure out what specifically you are wanting when you check your phone and then even explore why. Pick it apart until you identify it. If it’s purely chemical (dopamine hits) then see if you can think of a more satisfying source for that. ( I switched to art for mine).
The reason I say sort it out is because I have found that merely trying to stop doing something doesn’t really work.
“That which we resist, persists”.
Best wishes to you, friend.
Turn off notifications of all except the critical apps like messaging. You will check your phone lesser.
Finally, put your phone on night mode so no apps work in specific periods you define.
The third idea, if you have an iPhone is to set timers on the apps you use through the screen time feature
Hope this helps
It’s showing you’re very passionate person..
But if you feel it’s bothering you .. it’s a problem..
But you asked
And you know the answer already..
I know
whenever you wanted get out of the addiction
…
Just You can do it
If You feel it looks impossible
It’s just a your mind ..not you
With that being said, there are a few ways in which you can encourage yourself to put the phone down.
1. If you have an iPhone, there is a section in the settings of your phone that tells you about your screen time. You can use that to set yourself miniature goals. For example if you use your phone 10 hours a day, start working towards only using it 9 hours a day. Continue doing this changing the goal every week until the desired screen time is met. If you have an android and your phone does not have this setting, you may be able to use an app, or just monitor your time manually.
2. Don’t dive in expecting to be able to put your phone down and walk away because you’ll set yourself up for failure. However, if you find that the limiting screen time is not working for you, you may need tougher love. This means deleting apps that cause the distraction. Do you play too many games on your phone? Delete them. Give yourself a reason to put it down. This does not give you an excuse to go find more games to download. Remove them and only reintroduce new apps when your phone usage is where you want it to be. When you do download new apps, only download 1 at a time as to prevent yourself from diving back in to your addiction.
3. Have confidence in yourself. The biggest thing you have to tell yourself breaking any addiction is that you CAN do it. If you have ANY doubt in your bones that you can’t, you’ll fail. You need to wake up every morning and remind yourself that you can do it because you are strong enough to do it.
4. If methods 1 and 2 don’t work, the last resort is to get someone else involved. This person will act as your AA (in this case PA, phone’s anonymous) coach and that person will only give you your phone in times of need, such as a phone call. You need to trust this person because they are going to have your phone until you or they feel you are ready to manage your own usage. Explain to them why you are asking them to do this, and what your goals are with this so they know what to expect if they say yes.
Good luck to you!
Work on that and we will be addiction free.
Meditation is one of the tools that we can use.
Do more with my day so I don’t want to look at it.
Replace times I would have used it with study or exercise.
When you go for a ride or nature walk leave your phone behind.
Limit checking email to certain time of day
Add a task on this app of observing your digital use
Answer your phone for people you want to talk to.
Delete the addictive apps off your phone. …
Use the app Moment to monitor your usage patterns.
Put your phone on grey scale so you aren't as enchanted by the colorful graphics.
Use “airplane mode” or “do not disturb” to silence incoming distractions.
I hope this helps. Hugs.
Begin by cutting down on the apps you rarely use, and try to delete the ones you don’t. It will clear up your screen and spark your productivity. 🙂
From there, slowly start to minimize the amount of time you spend on the apps you frequent more, first the ones you use a lot, and then to the ones you rely on the most.
If you take it slow, you’ll form a better habit of learning to balance your phone use, and in doing so you’ll enjoy life outside your phone more.
Keep up with this and eventually your phone will be more of a good tool to aid you in your life instead of a distraction that’s keeping you from it. And don’t forget to be gentle with yourself if you slip. Jut get back on the horse and keep going. You’ve got this!
Nevertheless, they can also be the cause to be distracted, to sleep late and have less energy next day, etc.
In fewer words, as most things in life have good and bad implications, so the key is to find the balance (easier said than done).
So in my case, the best approach to help me put down my phone at night is to understand the benefits of it and not as a restriction. It’s easier for to make a decision when I understand that it helps me unwind, that I can use that time to talk to my wife after a long day of work, or simply sleep earlier.