Having a smartphone provides a wealth of conveniences, but with the ultimate distraction sitting in your pocket, it can be easy to get hooked.
People use their phones constantly. Whether you’re out to a romantic dinner, or in a world class museum like the Louvre, look around and you’ll see countless people staring at their phones. I recently sat outside a popular theme park enjoying some CBD edibles while counting people on their phones, but there were so many I couldn’t keep count.
This was when I realized how bad the world’s smartphone addiction has become. We can barely make it an hour without checking our phones, and many people might as well just glue their phones to their hand. Smartphones are an incredible asset that the modern world has learned to depend on, but the separation from reality caused by these devices can be wholly unhealthy, and has become a world that many people live in.
Using Bad Habits to Form Good Ones
Bad habits seem like a bad thing, but they are merely a representation of a good mind misled. The same mechanism that causes us to focus on our phones for hours, can in-fact be used for good.
All bad habits are detrimental if they aren’t refocused into a good one. Getting glued to your phone doesnt mean youre a mindless zombie, in contrast, it might mean that you have a brilliant mind that is under stimulated and could be capable of doing great things if you would simply shift your focus to something productive,
#1. Get a Hobby
Hobbies can be incredibly stimulating and rewarding. If you pick up rock climbing, you’ll need to learn a selection of knots, a little bit of physics, and you’ll get a work-out all at the same time. Any hobby you choose will distract you from your phone as long as you’re committed to it. Think about something you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t had time to learn. You do have time to learn, you just need to put down your phone!
#2. Work More
The smartphone’s arch-nemesis is work. Phones are designed to improve productivity, but society has shaped us to be lazy. We love our phones because we can bask in social situations that are just removed enough to feel as though they don’t have an impact, we can access any information we want, and shop until our wallets are empty. There’s something immensely satisfying about it all.
One of the great ways to break your smartphone addiction is to be more productive at work. When you’re at work, it’s the perfect time to pick up your phone and slack off, but imagine what you could do with all that wasted time. If you hang out on your phone all day and have never gotten a promotion, the phone is probably more the problem than you are!
#3. Try Exercising
Exercising is one of the most rewarding ways to curb your smartphone addiction. Challenge yourself to do sit-ups every time you feel like using your phone for something that isn’t 100 productive. It’s easy to convince yourself that you’re being productive, so be honest, and do your sit-ups instead of peaking at your social media account.
If you’ve ever wanted to get in shape, just spend some time trying. We have more time than we think as long as we dont give it to our phones. No time to exercise? Then you don’t have time to hangout on your smartphone either!
#4. Timed Restrictions
There are some fantastic apps out there that can help you limit the amount of time you spend on your phone. You can give yourself weekly allotments, monthly allotments, or even put a daily timer on. These apps won’t keep you from accessing your phone in an emergency, but they will send you friendly reminders if you go over your time limit.
Self-control is a difficult thing to manage, so sometimes it’s best to have a little extra help. If you set time limits on your smartphone, it’s like having a friend who’s got your back and tells you when you’re not doing what you should be.
#5. Make Your Phone Annoying to Access
One of the things that makes smartphones so time consuming, is that they are incredibly convenient. Most of us keep our phones in our pocket, on the desk at work, or somewhere conveniently in arms reach. If you’re trying to combat your smartphone addiction, this isn’t going to help.
Another technique to help you cut-down on your phone time is to make it incredibly inconvenient to access. Maybe try leaving your phone in the next room or in your car. If it’s not in your pocket, and it’s a pain to get to, you’re more likely to stay focused on the task at hand instead of getting distracted by your phone.
