Whether for work or pleasure, most of us spend a significant portion of our lives on our phones. It’s not that we particularly want to, it’s more that our phones seem to be constantly trying to steal our attention. Here are some simple ways that you can fight back and start using your phone less.
Go Monochrome
An easy way of instantly making your phone less appealing to use is to take all of the colors out of it. Both iPhones and Android devices support monochrome mode, which leaves you with only a greyscale display. Using black and white mode has been shown to reduce the addictive nature of smartphones.
Use Airplane Mode
Airplane mode is one of those features that most of us rarely, if ever, actually use. In fact, do you even know what airplane mode does? Like us, you probably assumed that it let you somehow fly an airplane using your phone. Turns out it actually just turns off all the phone features of your phone.
However, this is a very useful setting to have if you are trying to cut down on your phone usage. Turning off the ability to use mobile data, make and receive calls and texts, and silencing your notifications gives you some room to breathe and to live untethered from your smartphone for a while. Whether you take advantage of airplane mode in order to give yourself a quiet evening or so you can have a whole weekend to yourself, this is a simple way of weaning yourself off your phone.
Block Access To The Most Problematic Websites
Modern smartphones are pretty incredible devices and they are capable of doing a lot. However, for every genuinely useful feature that your phone has, it has several that seemingly exist for no other reason than to distract you and keep you from being productive. Not only do you have to contend with an app store full of potential distractions, but you also have to resist the temptation to tap on your mobile browser and while the hours away on your favorite website.
If you don’t have the necessary willpower to keep yourself from visiting these websites when you need to be focused on other things, you can use a tool to help you block websites, preventing you from accessing them while you have the tool active.
Remove ALL Your Social Media Apps
Social media apps are by far the biggest culprits when it comes to tempting us away from the real world. We all know someone who lives with their head in their phone and has their thumb permanently poised over their screen. In most cases, it is social media apps like Facebook and Snapchat that are constantly drawing them back in.
Removing these apps from your phone entirely might seem like overkill, but it is the only way of being certain that they aren’t going to cause you any major distractions. If social media has been slowly taking over your life, take this opportunity to cut the cord and set yourself free.
Turn Notifications Off
Sometimes it feels like the moment we manage to put our phones down, they beep, vibrate, or light up, indicating that someone or something wants our attention. If you are already struggling to reduce the amount of time that you spend on your phone, the temptation that comes with seeing a new notification isn’t going to help you. Turning your notifications off can be a very liberating experience.
Most of us could do with using our phones less and engaging with the world around us more. But coming to this realization and acting upon it are two very different processes. There are tools out there that are designed to help you reduce your screen time, but these need to be combined with a solid dose of willpower in order to be effective.
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