Actually, don’t just put them down. Instead, try burying them under a pile of laundry and leaving them there for several hours.
Go camping somewhere that has no cell service. Try “forgetting” your phone at work and spend the evening without an internet connection.
Although your use of technology may not feel serious, it is.
It’s 38 hours a week for the average American serious. Social media and online advertisements are specifically designed to exploit your biology so that it’s very difficult to stop giving them your attention.
However, real life is far more worthy of your focus. If you have kids, your cell phone may be stealing as much time from your relationship with them as the typical 40-hour workweek.
Here are five tips to stop the madness and help you regain control over your time.
1. Turn Off Notifications
In the early 1900s, a physiologist named Ivan Pavlov conducted a famous experiment with dogs and meat.
Using a metronome as a stimulus, he realized that the dogs would salivate whether or not they smelled food. The noise of the metronome was enough to get an instant physical reaction.
This kind of training became known as classical conditioning.
Have you ever heard a noise and quickly checked your phone because it sounded like a notification?
This is the same kind of classical conditioning as Pavlov’s dogs and it’s highly successful at getting and keeping your attention.
To protect your time, turn off all but the most necessary notifications.
2. Go Grayscale
Humans can see a range of wavelengths that show us the colors between 400 and 700 nanometers.
However, tech companies use these colors for marketing purposes. For example, people respond automatically to red and green as signals to answer a phone call or hang up.
Colors keep your attention and influence your emotions.
You can reduce your screen time by eliminating the attraction of color.
Change an iPhone to grayscale by searching for color filters in settings. Androids are even easier to switch – simply search for grayscale and then tap the icon.
Eliminating color from your phone will restore vibrancy to the real world and help you kick your social media addiction.
3. Fast From Social Media
If you really want to get serious about reducing your screen time, try making social media off-limits. Set a goal for how many hours or days you want to stay off social media and write it down.
Post your goal somewhere you’ll see it often and then delete all social media apps from your phone.
You can also install search engine extensions that will block your access to certain websites for a period of time.
Push yourself to see how long you can go and make a plan for what you’ll do with your time instead.
You may be amazed at how much more free time you have to think about something other than social media.
4. Downgrade Your Phone
Desperate times call for desperate measures. If you’ve tried everything and still can’t reduce your screen time, you may need to commit and downgrade your phone.
There are plenty of high-quality options for “dumb phones” available and most of them are less expensive than smartphones.
A simple phone that answers calls and can send text messages will meet most people’s needs.
You can invest in a separate alarm clock, camera and flashlight.
Although having all those features on your phone may be convenient, it’s not worth the cost – there are even studies suggesting that tech addiction can make you receptive to substance abuse.
5. Set Communication Boundaries
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be available to other people 24/7.
If you’d like to, you can set boundaries on when you are available to people and when you’ll be out of reach – aka, when your phone will be turned off or out of cell range.
If you want a taste of how freeing this is, try camping somewhere without cell service.
Think about how you’d like communication to look in your life and make a plan for when you’ll be available.
Then, let your friends, family and workplace know your schedule and stick to it.
To avoid unwelcome calls, power your phone off or keep it far away from you during the day.
This may take some getting used to, but setting boundaries will ultimately improve your ability to be present where you are.
Plan for Present
Cell phones are a constant distraction and easily suck time away from you and your family.
Remember, online platforms are designed to get your attention and then keep it for as long as possible.
To protect your time and mental energy, you have to be very intentional about how you use screens.
Thankfully, there’s a lot you can do to eliminate technology addiction in your life and return to the present.
Use these five tips to reclaim intentionality in your life.
You won’t look back on your life and regret spending too little time on social media. However, chances are high that you will regret not having more time with your kids.
You don’t have to let your cell phone take 40 hours away from your week.
You don’t have to respond to notifications instantly and you don’t have to be available 24/7.
Instead, implement strategies to give your attention to what really matters – your kids and the time you spend together.