It is almost impossible to completely give up gadgets in the modern world. However, this is not required – it is enough to reduce screen time to reasonable values, and the following eight tips will help you with this.
Turn off the color
According to a 2022 study, making your phone less interesting is as easy as pie — just switch the screen to black and white. The fact is that bright colors affect our dopamine receptors and cause addiction. Don’t rush to doubt that your smartphone has such a function — on an iPhone, you need to select the “Accessibility” item in the settings, go to “Text display and size” and then to “Color filters”. On Android, the names of the items in the menu are slightly different — “Accessibility”, “Color and motion”, “Color correction”.
Get yourself a “fuse”
It’s hard to stop yourself from grabbing your phone at every opportunity – we often pick up the gadget almost reflexively, as soon as the prospect of boredom appears on the horizon. A physical “safety device” will help bring awareness to the use of the gadget – this could be an uncomfortable case or at least a hair tie on the screen. Complicating the process will make you think about the appropriateness of your actions.
Turn off unnecessary notifications
Even if you are sure that you will not see anything important on the screen, the intrigue makes you distracted from your work again and again. Sound, vibration, and even just a glowing screen will inevitably steal your attention. It is not necessary to turn off notifications completely – modern smartphones allow you to make quite flexible settings so that you do not waste time on nonsense in the future.
Use websites instead of apps
Many apps have become so convenient that you can use them with your eyes closed, as you repeat the same actions a thousand times a day. But is this really the best way to spend an hour, a day, a week, a whole life? Instead of a radical rejection of social networks, which can deprive you of valuable contacts and face-to-face communication, use them as much as you want, but in the web version. Minimal inconvenience when entering your page will wean you off mindlessly scrolling the feed – this is the case when laziness will do you good!
Keep your distance
If you want to start drinking more water, keep the bottle in your field of vision. The same goes for your phone, only the other way around. It’s natural to focus on what’s in your field of vision and immediate access. Put your gadget out of sight more often: in your bag, desk drawer, or another room. Let’s be honest: the world won’t end if you can read an advertising newsletter two hours later, and you don’t have to stare at the screen all day to not miss a call.
Remove apps from your home screen
The simplest thing you can do right now is to move the icons of the apps that steal the most of your time away from your home screen. Put them in a folder that you have to consciously get to. That way, you’ll have time to come to your senses and change your mind. Even a few extra steps on the way to that tempting social network will have a healing effect. Plus, when apps are out of sight, you’re less tempted to use them.
Get a “silent” number
If you prefer more radical measures, but plan to stay in touch, try getting a second phone that only your closest ones will know about. Decide for yourself when it is appropriate to use it. Perhaps it will be your companion only on weekends, or maybe vice versa – only during working hours, so that nothing distracts you from building a career.
Formulate a goal
Cutting down on screen time just for the sake of it is like learning a foreign language without ever planning to use it. Sure, you might be concerned about the impact of gadgets on your health, but it’s important that the goal is positive and inspiring. Plus, it’s extremely difficult to achieve your goals on willpower alone without motivation. The goal is to turn your phone from a temptation you’re trying to resist into an obstacle that gets in the way of your hobbies, for example, or face-to-face communication.