7 Proven Ways to Break Your Cell Phone Addiction

7 Proven Ways to Break Your Cell Phone Addiction

1. Set aside one day/week.

This is, by far, the most general approach I see among people who have taken intentional steps to curb their cell phone habit nowadays. But I credit Tammy Strobel for being the 1st person I heard talk about it—almost 10 years ago. Select one day each week (normally a Saturday and Sunday) and set your phone aside. That’s it, create a habit of it.

2. Use a 30-Day Experiment to reset your usage.

For me individually , this has been the most helpful way to break my cell phone habit. My cell phone utilize , when not intentionally limited, tends to take over more and more of my free time. It occurs unintentionally and quietly—I don’t even seem to notice it happening.

7  years ago, I gave up my smartphone for Lent and used it only for calling and texting (no other apps permitted —even maps and photos). It was a 40-day period of reset that supported me align my usage with more vital pursuits in life. Since that first experiment, I have utilized the 30-day reset two additional times—each with great success.

3. Use apps to bolster self-control.

There are apps for almost every trouble in life. In fact, there are even some wonderful apps built to support  us limit our time on our devices. Here are some of my favorites:

Space. Set goals and track your regular progress to manage your habits.

Forest. ($1.99) Stay focused, be present. Forest is a beautifully designed app that brings gamification to productivity and results in real trees being planted based on your individual phone use habits.

Moment. Through short, regular exercises, Moment supports you use your phone in a healthy way.

Flipd. Lock away distracting apps for total focus.

Screen time. Set regular  usage limits on your phone or specific apps.

4. Don’t charge your phone near your bed.

Want to know the best way to keep your children off their phones too much? Don’t permiy them to charge their phones in their bedroom.

several of the negative effects of overuse (poor sleep, hindered communication and intimacy) can be eliminated by keeping your cell phone out of your bedroom. As with several of the items on this list, this is a principle I’ve found personally useful.

5. Put your phone away when you walk in the door.

Christopher Mims writes a weekly technology column for The Wall Street Journal—a job that surely requires the use of tech on a consistent basis. His easy and proven way to keep life in healthy balance with his cell phone is to put it in a kitchen cabinet at the end of the workday. In his words, “The more you physically remove the phone, the more you can build a habit of having some ability to avoid it when it’s on your person.”

When you complete your day of work, put your phone in a drawer or cabinet. This is a useful practice for all people, but I think it is mainly vital if you have kids or a spouse at home in need of our undivided attention.

6. Change your phone settings.

Among the most often suggested ideas for decreasing cell phone usage, you find tips and tricks by simply changing the settings on your phone.

The most common suggested ideas:

Turn off notifications

Set screen to black-and-white

Remove distraction-based apps from your home screen

Set a longer passcode

Use airplane mode

Turn on do not disturb

In my view , turning off notifications is something everyone should do regardless of how habitual their cell phone use is. Just due someone in the world wants to text you, email you, or tag you in a post on Facebook doesn’t mean they deserve your attention. My cell phone screen is not recently set to grayscale, but I have found that setting useful in the past.

7. Put a hairband around your phone.

In one of the most thoughtful individual stories I’ve ever read on how to overcome cell phone addiction, Brad Soroka recommends placing a hairband around your cell phone. When placed in the middle of the mobile , the hairband permits users to answer phone calls simply , but makes other uses of the phone more difficult (containing simple texting).

In his words, “Every time you wish to use your phone, this brings about a mindfulness exercise and creates you ask ‘what is my intention?’ If you really wish to use the phone, set your intention for why, and remove the hair band.”

The hairband trick is not about making your phone impossible to utilize. The practice is about bringing greater mindfulness to each particular use of it… as opposed to mindlessly unlocking your mobile every 3 minutes.

When utilized as a collection of tools to develop my work, health, parenting, and life, cell phones are wonderful and bring countless benefits. But when used mindlessly and unintentionally, they become a distraction from the things in life that matter most—moreover  to the negative effects listed above.