How I Broke my Phone Addiction

It dawned on me about six months ago that I was addicted to my phone. Every spare moment my idol hands could use as an opportunity to check social media, email, or anything else bright and shiny had me hunched over the device with that soft, artificial glow blasting into my eyes.

About six months ago I was out to dinner with my wife and I noticed both of us were engrossed not by each other, but by our phones. I suggested that we put our phones away and talk, so that's what we did. That was the start of a push back against an incredibly distracting addiction.

Now I keep my phone usage to an absolute minimum, and that is an unquestionable upgrade to my life and interpersonal interactions. I have opened up more time in my life for reading (which was previously a challenge with my unfocused, rewired, phone-addicted brain), writing, communicating in person with my loved ones, and any number of other productive activities.

Our modern cell phones are incredible tools, and I still use mine every day. But I have taken the following steps to ensure that I use the phone, and not the other way around.

I deleted all social media apps. I used to open Instagram every single time I unlocked my phone. I heard on Joe Rogan's show once that Instagram users look at the app an average of 30 times a day and I have to imagine I was somewhere in that ballpark. It was not an easy pill to swallow to delete the app, but I knew I could always reinstall it if I became too uncomfortable without it.

I turned off all notifications except instant messaging, and buried my email app in a folder far away from the home screen. After uninstalling social media apps, I tackled the next time waster: email. In my case, I rarely get emails in my personal account that are in any way urgent or even relevant. Turning off notifications helped me to not be distracted by junk mail, and making it a point to only check my email once or twice per day on a computer rather than my phone cut down significantly on phone use.

I started wearing a watch. I'm not into jewelry, but I have a watch I wear when I run to time my runs. I think this will only be temporary, but wearing a watch keeps me from taking my phone out of my pocket to check the time.

I changed the display to grayscale. This made the screen drab and unexciting, cutting down on the time I was focused on the phone.

I make sure my phone is not the first or last thing I interact with on any day. I used to wake up and check my phone immediately. Now instead I get coffee and read for as long as I can before getting ready for work, at which point I usually touch my phone for the first time as I'm leaving for work. Conversely, I put my phone on the charger long before I go to bed.

With these steps, I have cut down my phone use dramatically. Again, the modern cell phone is an incredible invention, and I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have one at my disposal. I knew for myself that I was becoming a slave to the device, and I had to break the shackles of cheap mental stimulation. It has been an amazing upgrade to my life and I would encourage anyone reading this to give some of these things a try.

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