Have you been spending too much time on your phone lately? Picking up your phone to check the news, email, or social media can be an easy habit to fall into. Fortunately, if you want to kick the habit of too much screen time, there are several steps you can take to limit your phone use.
Use Anti-Distraction Apps
A simple yet effective way to spend less time on your phone is to use anti-distraction apps to limit what you do on your device. These apps allow you to control how much or how little time you have your phone in your hand.
Most anti-distraction apps will silence notifications or lock the internet for a certain period of time. In fact, some apps won’t allow you to change your anti-distraction settings while your phone is in focus mode. If screen time is a major struggle for you, an anti-distraction app will be worthwhile.
Use Paper and Pen
Another thing to consider is swapping out the cell phone for a basic pen and paper. Many of the things to use your phone for, such as taking notes, making lists, or keeping up with your schedule, are the perfect tasks for a paper planner.
Some of the best planners available offer a variety of ways to keep track of your schedule, phone numbers, and other important information. Bullet journals are a great option if you need something to occupy your mind in place of a device.
Delete Distracting Apps
Another excellent way to limit your screen time is to delete the apps that capture your attention for long periods. For example, if you spend a lot of time scrolling through social media, consider deleting those applications to avoid the temptation of mindless scrolling.
Remember, you can always reinstall the apps if you change your mind later. Also, in most cases, you can access your social content directly through a web browser. Using a web browser tends to be more cumbersome, which will further limit how much you use certain services.
Set Screen Time Limits
If you’ve ever had to set up a cell phone or tablet for a child, you probably know all about setting screen time limits. While screen time limits are great for keeping kids from playing games for an extended period, you could also use them for yourself to limit what you do on your device.
You can set screen time limits for social media, email, streaming video, and other things. You’ll get a notification when your screen time limit has been reached and you’ll have to override the limit manually if you want to continue.
Use All-in-One Apps
Nowadays, there’s an app for everything. From games to streaming video to organization, someone somewhere has designed an app for that. If you use your phone or tablet to multitask, consider downloading an all-in-one app that helps you organize your calendar, shopping list, and important reminders.
When you have organizational tools in one place, you’ll save time in the long run because you won’t have to click between multiple apps. Even better, having your tools all in one place will help you remember important dates and deadlines. Some apps make it easy to share with friends or family members, giving you the ability to delegate or split certain tasks.
Use Your Phone’s Do Not Disturb Feature
A final suggestion to curb your cell phone usage is to use your phone’s built-in do not disturb feature. Most phones have a feature that you can set to turn off notifications between certain hours each day.
For example, if you often find yourself clicking around on your phone in bed each night, you could turn off all notifications by 8 PM, therefore, allowing you to sit down and relax without the constant ringing or buzzing of your phone.
Wrapping Up
As you can see, you have plenty of options for limiting your screen time. Although your phone might be with you and accessible 24/7, that doesn’t mean you need to have it in your hand all the time. So, consider the solutions listed here if you want to cut down on the time you spend on your device.
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