Phone Addiction/Distraction
Currently a student and have been working on getting screen time down. If I am studying and have my phone by me I will look at it/have the urge to look every 5 minutes. I will normally leave it in the other room and often delete the majority of my social media apps to try and limit my time, but there is always something else (WSJ, text, etc). It’s better when I actually have work because I don’t have time to spend on my phone, but it is an absolute killer when it comes to school productivity.
In the end I know that it is just discipline/putting it down, but anyone have any tricks to break a phone habit?
there are apps for this.
offtime, breakfree, moment, appdetox, ...
Have you tried the pomodoro method? It focuses on working in intermittent cycles of, say, 25 minutes followed by regular 5 minute breaks. Hide your phone in a place where you can’t see or hear it during the 25 minutes and focus on your work, then when your 5 minutes come you can do whatever you like until you go back to working. I think it’s easier than going cold turkey on your phone because you’re still allowing yourself to scratch that itch, but being more disciplined about it.
turn off all notifications except for text
mute all group chat notifications and convos with people who are not urgent (not your boss, parent, significant other)
delete/deactivate all social media (deleting the app will not be enough)
when you're doing this, think of a hobby that could take up a ton of time that you enjoy doing (exercising, reading, meditating, yoga, writing, music, etc.)
The book "Digital Minimalism" by Cal Newport is excellent and covers exactly what you are talking about. Highly recommended.
Reading it right now based on this rec. It's great. Thank you.
Definitely going to check that out. I'm hopelessly addicted to IG.
Setting your iPhone screen to greyscale works! Doesn't affect functionality at all but it helps to break the addiction.
I deleted Instagram and snap.
If somebody wants to talk to me, and I want to talk to them they have my number.
I've had a similar problem and set my limits on instagram/reddit/etc. to 30 minutes a day. Now if I want to waste time on my phone, I'm basically forcing myself to either read a book or news on it so I feel productive.
I've heavily considered getting rid of my phone entirely and just keeping a work one for emails. Problem is I'd likely be basically be forced out of my social circles as I doubt people would be willing to call me on a beeper or something. I can't stand society's obsession with their phones though.
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Microeconomics 101, what is the opportunity cost of using your phone when you could be studying.
Have same problem as well. Checking news sites and articles all day instead of working... so intrigued by business news over actual work. Is that bad? At the wrong job? Should I be an investor?
his is something almost everyone struggles with now, so you’re definitely not alone. The tricky part is that it doesn’t feel like a big issue in the moment, but it slowly eats into your focus and time.
What helped me was not trying to quit completely, but creating small boundaries. For example, keeping the phone out of reach while working or setting specific times to check it instead of doing it randomly. Even simple changes like turning off non-essential notifications can make a big difference.
At the end of the day, it’s less about discipline and more about designing your environment so distractions are harder to reach. Curious to hear what has actually worked for others here.
Check out the brick. Put it in an inconvenient spot in your dorm, brick your phone and get rid of the distractions as you walk out, then tap back when you get back and you can still use all the apps that you like
I'm a student also, but have a lot of notifications day and night and have the opportunity to put it on airplane mode sometimes and tune out for a bit.
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