How addicted are you to your phone?
Yeah, me too.
The reality is, so much of our day to day lives are caught up in that thing that without it, we would struggle to keep organised and keep track of what is happening.
Yes, a decade ago things were different, but these days you do just about everything on your phone, including paying for fuel and ordering your groceries.
But, everywhere we go we see people spending more time on their phones and less time engaging with other people.
Just take a look around your local cafe when you’re there to see how many people are on their phones while out to coffee with others.
It’s crazy.
With that in mind, there are some simple ways you can stop spending so much time on your phone without going into panic mode (you know that feeling when you don’t know where your phone is) and start to create some distance between yourself and your digital device.
I promise it’s not as scary detox as it sounds.
1 – Have a Dedicated Spot In Your Home For Your Phone
How many times have you picked up your phone purely because you’re bored?
Keeping your phone on you means that you have easy access and pick it up without even thinking.
So many times we sit in front of the TV with our phones in our hands not paying attention to what is happening around us.
Set a dedicated spot in your phone for your phones.
It could be a charging station where everyone puts their phones on charge and that’s where they stay when you’re home.
This doesn’t mean you don’t go and pick your phone up and use it. It just means that you don’t keep it on you all the time.
2 – Don’t Take Your Phone To Bed
This is a habit I’m trying to break but find incredibly difficult to do.
Do you go to bed absolutely exhausted and tired only to open up Facebook on your phone and before you know it another hour has passed and you’ve achieved nothing other than watching funny cat videos and drooling over recipes you’ll never make?
At the moment I’m up at all hours of the night breastfeeding my baby girl so my phone does wonders to keep me awake.
But it also means that if you wake up through the night and pick up your phone (and you’re a normal person that doesn’t need to be awake through the night) you end up with chunks of awake time and very broken sleep.
If you need your phone for an alarm then keep it on the other side of the room where you’ll have to get up to get it or buy a cheap old-school alarm clock from a dollar store.
3 – Put Your Phone In Your Bag Instead Of In Your Pocket When You’re Out
When you’re out and your phone is in your pocket it’s so easy to grab it out and scroll mindlessly.
When you’re in line at the store, when you’re walking around a shopping centre when you’re out to lunch…
Keep it in your bag instead so it’s not so easy to access.
It may seem like these bits of time when you’re on your phone aren’t relevant but over the days they add up to big chunks of time.
Plus it will help you break the habit of going to your phone whenever you’re bored.
4 – Don’t Put Your Phone On The Table When Out With Friends
I swear if you take a look around at your local cafe and watch the people there you’ll see so many of them pick up their phone and check it while they are out with friends.
Do you really need to check in on Facebook when you’re with your friends in real life?
Is it so important to upload that picture to Instagram right now?
Refer to #3 and keep your phone in your bag.
Enjoy the time with your friends, enjoy the screen-free time and enjoy the real conversations.
Read This: 5 Friends You Need In Your Life
5 – Turn Off Unnecessary Notifications
Those notifications that go off on your phone are like the noises a slot machine makes – they are addictive and have an actual psychological response in our brains.
Have you ever tried to ignore one of those notifications? It’s so tempting to just pick up the phone and check it.
Rather than being distracted a bajillion times each day, switch the notifications off.
You don’t need to know about every email, Facebook notification and like you receive on Instagram.
Switch them all off.
6 – Go On A Holiday Somewhere With No Phone Reception
So this is the ultimate breaking that addiction with your phone.
Take a holiday somewhere that has no phone reception.
Go camping, go off the grid, go overseas and don’t turn international roaming on.
Go wherever you have to as long as you can’t get phone reception.
Break that addiction cold turkey.
It’s not an easy thing to do, but once you start to break away from your phone and stop spending so much time on your phone, you’ll start to realise how dependent you were on it and how much you really don’t need to be.
