How to check your phone less?
With COVID-19 pandemic, the time I spent at home became high and having a bit more free time than earlier made me check social media more often, and my phone became the best companion when I am bored.
My Alarm call came just a few days ago when I accidentally checked my screen time. Can you believe that it was almost 8 hours a day? 😳
I have spent 8 hours from a total of 24 hours just to check my phone, mostly on social media 😲. I have wasted 8 whole hours which could be used for something productive 😭
I felt really guilty and started trying out different ways how I can reduce the time that I am spending on the phone and thought of sharing some tips with you.
- Keep track of screen time
Both iPhones and android ones have the facility to monitor how much time you have spent on the phone. This record can be the best way to feel guilty about your unbelievably high mobile phone usage.
Keep track on screen time spent on each category of apps and try to gradually reduce the time wasted on social media and other unnecessary apps.
- Go back to Back & White
Mobile app developers are very keen on human behaviour and psychology. They use attractive flashy colours on their apps to stimulate your mind and maintain constant engagement which we can call an addiction.
Going back to the times of black & white by changing your screen to grayscale will make the app contents less attractive.
Imagine scrolling through a black and white Facebook wall, it won't be appealing as it was with colour right? so that is the trick 😉
- De-clutter
Get rid of the unwanted apps on your phone. Just take 10 minutes of your time and uninstall all the apps that
- are used less often
- can be used in the desktop (e.g. notes)
- Notifications / Do not Disturb
The red flashy bubbles, alerts and lock screen notifications are one of the major reasons why I get distracted during work. Just the sound of the notification itself start telling my mind to “go, check your phone! it must be something important”. But mostly, the notifications are to tell that your friend liked your story or a photo 😐
So, turn off notifications for all the distracting apps except for call alerts, emails and text messages. This will make your life much easier.
In case you want to really focus on some work, use do not disturb mode which mutes all the calls, alerts and notifications making you a hassle-free environment.
- Limit access
One of the most effective methods I am using right now is setting time limits for apps and specifying downtime.
Setting App limits for social media apps really worked for me because it displays a screen notifying that my time limit for socializing on the internet is over.
Keeping a downtime for all the apps reduce the chance of checking your phone as soon as you wake up, and when you are going to bed.
So, I have set a downtime from 10.00 PM to 09.00 AM where all the apps will be disabled.
You can also choose several apps that you need to keep allowed all the time such as calls, emails and text messages.
- Make it difficult
It has been proven that more clicks you need to make, less likely you would go to that application.
So, let's make it difficult to access distracting apps by dumping them into folders or placing them on the last page.
Having to click several times, scroll or swipe will reduce the chance of unintentionally clicking on the apps.
Another trick is to log out of your social media accounts. the trouble of having to type the password and log back again will save you from spending hours on Facebook or Instagram.
We can not deny that mobile phones make our lives easy, bringing everything into our fingertips. So, my effort is to find out how we can use the mobile phone to be productive and reduce clutter and distractions as much as possible.
Hope these tips will help you focus more and make your life productive 🤗
Stay safe!
