- 110
- 255
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2002
Like all addictions it took me way too long to admit, understand, and overcome this problem. Your phone is designed to be as addictive as possible and the manufacturers do a fantastic job of that. Everything from your apps, to notifications, to social media is designed to sap your time and attention; as they say, if the product is free, you are the product. Every where I go I see the same thing; people hunched over looking down at their phones. People walking aimlessly whilst looking down at their phone- ready to walk into you because they're not looking where they are going. People driving and looking down at their phones. It's getting out of control. Worse, it's getting normalized.
We know this isn't healthy. So what can we do? The biggest step for me was taking a job where I couldn't bring my phone inside. That was major, but still when I went home I had the same problem. Checking social media every break in a conversation. It seemed like with every pause in life I was scrolling and double tapping. So I got rid of all my social medias. I made my bedroom a no-phone zone. I bought an alarm clock so that my phone wasn't the first thing I looked at in the morning. I set my do not disturb to come on at 8 p.m.
When I'm doing things I don't bring my phone with me. When I watch a movie I may put my phone in another room. I bought the smallest phone apple made so that it would force me to use the phone less. Coming to this site on my 12 mini is always a chore with all the ads and small buttons. I don't take calls while I'm driving. I just lie and say the wind noise is too great and call them back later. Nobody needs to reach me RIGHT NOW and whenever they want. You can wait until I am in the proper mental space to speak with you.
If you have any tips and experiences, please leave them below. Your phone is an amazing piece of machinery that can do many things. But too much of anything is never good for you. You don't have to be a slave to your phone if you don't want to.
We know this isn't healthy. So what can we do? The biggest step for me was taking a job where I couldn't bring my phone inside. That was major, but still when I went home I had the same problem. Checking social media every break in a conversation. It seemed like with every pause in life I was scrolling and double tapping. So I got rid of all my social medias. I made my bedroom a no-phone zone. I bought an alarm clock so that my phone wasn't the first thing I looked at in the morning. I set my do not disturb to come on at 8 p.m.
When I'm doing things I don't bring my phone with me. When I watch a movie I may put my phone in another room. I bought the smallest phone apple made so that it would force me to use the phone less. Coming to this site on my 12 mini is always a chore with all the ads and small buttons. I don't take calls while I'm driving. I just lie and say the wind noise is too great and call them back later. Nobody needs to reach me RIGHT NOW and whenever they want. You can wait until I am in the proper mental space to speak with you.
If you have any tips and experiences, please leave them below. Your phone is an amazing piece of machinery that can do many things. But too much of anything is never good for you. You don't have to be a slave to your phone if you don't want to.