How to Overcome Your Phone Addiction

Is your phone glued to your hand? Don’t worry – you’re not alone. These days, almost everyone relies on technology for one reason or another. However, if you find that you reach for your device at all times, you may have an unhealthy dependency.

Follow the advice below to overcome your phone addiction.

Skip the Push Notifications

According to one survey, 41% of Americans check their phones a few times each hour, while 11% take a peek every few minutes. Some people may be extremely busy, but for the rest of us, push notifications cause unnecessary interest – or panic. We’re in the middle of the workday, when all of a sudden, there’s a flash. It could be an essential text, right, or a missed call? Instead, it’s a new Instagram follower. Either way, you’re already hooked.

Turn off as many push notifications as you can, but feel free to leave essential apps, like Slack or Gmail, untouched. Focus on social media, podcasts and other sources of entertainment. This way, you aren’t tempted to get sucked into your phone.

Remove Certain Apps

We all have our weaknesses. For some, it’s Facebook. Others spend too much energy on Pinterest. Nevertheless, a lot of us can say that once we look at an app, we have to go through the others, a routine that wastes a lot of time. If you want to nip that habit in the bud, delete a few apps. A social media detox could be just what you need to overcome this addiction.

If you’re not ready to get rid of some apps, move them to a different page on your phone. Out of sight, out of mind. 

Create a Schedule

One of the best ways to curb phone addiction is to create a schedule. Set a timer to check your phone – start with 10 minutes, then up it to 30 minutes and so on. Eventually, you should be able to ignore your device for hours. If you use your phone for work, don’t check it after you leave the office, unless it’s necessary. Certain sounds can alert you to messages that need your immediate attention.

No matter what, don’t look at your device before you go to bed. Blue light can have detrimental effects on how you sleep. 

Change Your Environment

When your environment changes, so do you. Think about how close your device is to you at all times – it’s probably always right there. Proximity makes a massive difference in this case. Start to set down your phone in an area that you can’t reach instantly, and turn off noise alerts so that you decide when to check it. Remember, you’re the one in control here.

When you’re in bed, don’t place your phone next to your pillow. Put it across the room and relax before you fall asleep. As a bonus, you’ll have to get out of bed in the morning to turn off the alarm.

Use Screen Time Limitations

Today’s phones can track and limit your screen time. Apple’s Screen Time and Google’s Digital Wellbeing record your daily phone usage and allow you to set timers. Once you’ve scrolled through Twitter for an hour, for example, you can’t use it again until tomorrow. Each app has a few other features, but for the most part, they have the same goal in mind. You can also customize each setting accordingly.

Set up this feature on your phone so that you can manage your screen time.

Adopt New Habits

When we break a bad habit, there’s often a void left behind. To fix that, adopt a new routine. Read a book or take a walk when you feel that urge to pick up your phone. Find new activities to benefit your life. You can even sit in silence and reflect. These days, many people feel like they need to entertain themselves constantly. Thankfully, we’re able to unlearn that mindset.

Learn to take on more productive actions so that you can fill that inevitable gap.

These Tricks Will Help Stop Your Phone Obsession

These tips and tricks may take a while to implement, but that’s alright. Even a small step every day will result in a positive outcome. Use the advice above, from removing some apps to changing your environment, to curb your phone addiction once and for all.