The boomers were right, it’s time to get off that damn phone.
I used to laugh at those boomer memes complaining about people being glued to their phones. "It's just a different generation," I thought. "We use technology differently."
But y’all, it’s time to wake up. We use our phones WAY too much.
I averaged 7+ hrs screen time for years. It’s only in the last few months that I finally decided to make a change. I started with small changes, but over time it began to completely change my life for the better:
I found myself with so much more time and energy. My anxiety levels are at an all time low because I don’t bombard myself with information and comparisons on social media. I don’t lose my train of thought as often anymore. There’s so much more.
Here are my best tips. Start small then build up over time.
- Start with your home screen. It’s simple, but not enough people do this. Put the things you want to use (e-books, FaceTime, audiobooks, etc) on your home screen, and hide social media far, far away.
- Pick two times to check your DMs. Set an alarm for those two times (I choose morning and before dinner), then only check DMs at those times.
- Turn on grayscale. Go into your phone settings and make everything black and white. Reels, TikTok, Shorts, are 10x more boring without color.
- Get a proper blocker app. There’s a lot out there, but I use one, superhappy, that pretty much forces me to chat with AI before opening social media. The goal is to find one that makes opening social media annoying, and also limits the amount of time you spend.
Getting off my phone wasn’t easy, but the benefits have been more than worth it. If you’ve been thinking about reducing your screen time, give it a shot—you might be surprised at how much your life can change :)