These addiction statistics are quite overwhelming:
- The typical cell phone user touches his or her phone 2,617 times every day. 2,617 times!
- Most people, on average, spend 3 hours and 15 minutes on their phones each day.
- Half of all phone pickups happen within 3 minutes of a previous one.
And the impact of this usage is staggering:
- Reducing the quality of conversations.
- Adversely impacting short-term memory and problem solving.
- Negatively affecting our sleep patterns.
- Resulting in more negativity, distress, and less emotional recovery in young children.
- Increasing obesity.
- And the positive correlation between smartphone addiction and depression is alarming.
You would think, given the statistics and what we know to be true about cell phone usage, it would be easy to put down and walk away. But I can attest the technology addiction struggle is real.
As a parent of two who makes his living online in this modern world, I know full-well the addictive nature of mobile devices and how great the internal battle is to harness the benefits of our smartphones without falling prey to its intentionally addictive design.
Nor do I miss the ironic fact that many of you are reading this very article on your phone.
Phones are good and helpful… you are able to read this article right now because of it. But we know all too well they also have the potential to become a negative presence in our life if we allow them.
So how do we keep cell phone usage in proper alignment with our lives? What are some tools or ideas to help us cut down on our cell phone usage?
Here is a list of seven I have used myself or learned from others:
7 Proven Ways to Break Your Cell Phone Addiction
1. Set aside one day/week.
This is, by far, the most common approach I see among people who have taken intentional steps to curb their cell phone habit nowadays. But I credit Tammy Strobel for being the first person I heard talk about it—almost ten years ago. Choose one day each week (usually a Saturday and Sunday) and set your phone aside. That’s it, make a habit of it.
2. Use a 30-Day Experiment to reset your usage.
For me personally, this has been the most helpful way to break my cell phone habit. My cell phone use, when not intentionally limited, tends to take over more and more of my free time. It happens unintentionally and quietly—I don’t even seem to notice it happening.
Seven years ago, I gave up my smartphone for Lent and used it only for calling and texting (no other apps allowed—even maps and photos). It was a 40-day period of reset that helped me align my usage with more important pursuits in life. Since that first experiment, I have used the 30-day reset two additional times—each with great success.
3. Use apps to bolster self-control.
There are apps for almost every problem in life. In fact, there are even some wonderful apps built to help us limit our time on our devices. Here are some of my favorites:
Space. Set goals and track your daily progress to manage your habits.
Forest. ($1.99) Stay focused, be present. Forest is a beautifully designed app that brings gamification to productivity and results in real trees being planted based on your personal phone use habits.
Flipd. Lock away distracting apps for complete focus.
Screentime. Set daily usage limits on your phone or specific apps.
4. Don’t charge your phone near your bed.
Want to know the best way to keep your kids off their phones too much? Don’t allow them to charge their phones in their bedroom.
Want to know a great way to keep yourself off your phone? Don’t charge it in your bedroom.
Many of the negative effects of overuse (poor sleep, hindered communication and intimacy) can be eliminated by keeping your cell phone out of your bedroom. As with many of the items on this list, this is a principle I’ve found personally helpful.
5. Put your phone away when you walk in the door.
Christopher Mims writes a weekly technology column for The Wall Street Journal—a job that certainly requires the use of tech on a consistent basis. His simple and proven way to keep life in healthy balance with his cell phone is to put it in a kitchen cabinet at the end of the workday. In his words, “The more you physically remove the phone, the more you can build a habit of having some ability to ignore it when it’s on your person.”
When you finish your day of work, put your phone in a drawer or cabinet. This is a helpful practice for all people, but I think it is especially important if you have kids or a spouse at home in need of our undivided attention.
6. Change your phone settings.
Among the most often suggested ideas for reducing cell phone usage, you find tips and tricks by simply changing the settings on your phone.
The most common suggested ideas:
- Turn off notifications
- Set screen to black-and-white
- Remove distraction-based apps from your home screen
- Set a longer passcode
- Use airplane mode
- Turn on do not disturb
In my opinion, turning off notifications is something everyone should do regardless of how habitual their cell phone use is. Just because someone in the world wants to text you, email you, or tag you in a post on Facebook doesn’t mean they deserve your attention. My cell phone screen is not currently set to grayscale, but I have found that setting helpful in the past.
7. Put a hairband around your phone.
In one of the most thoughtful personal stories I’ve ever read on how to overcome cell phone addiction, Brad Soroka recommends placing a hairband around your cell phone. When placed in the middle of the phone, the hairband allows users to answer phone calls easily, but makes other uses of the phone more difficult (including simple texting).
In his words, “Every time you want to use your phone, this brings about a mindfulness exercise and makes you ask ‘what is my intention?’ If you really want to use the phone, set your intention for why, and remove the hair band.”
The hairband trick is not about making your phone impossible to use. The practice is about bringing greater mindfulness to each specific use of it… as opposed to mindlessly unlocking your phone every 3 minutes.
When used as a collection of tools to improve my work, health, parenting, and life, cell phones are wonderful and bring countless benefits. But when used mindlessly and unintentionally, they become a distraction from the things in life that matter most—in addition to the negative effects listed above.
Learning how to use our smartphones effectively may be one of the most important life skills any of us can learn.
thank you so much. I’m 14 and struggling allot with school. I try to study but I just don’t have any concentration, I’ll try to pull myself together with this again
“Helpful post! These proven strategies to overcome cell phone addiction are practical and much needed. Thanks for sharing!”
There’s an app called Minimalist.
Has helped me a great deal.
WOW! !!
This is a great information
Absolutely! This will be incredibly helpful. I am committed to strengthening my connection with God and eliminating the distraction of my phone.
I feel the same! It’s a hard habit to break, and I need the Lord’s strength & not mine alone to do it!
Your strategies are practical and insightful. Which method have you found most effective in balancing smartphone use with daily responsibilities?
This insightful article provides actionable tips for curbing smartphone addiction, promoting mindful usage. From setting aside phone-free days to using productivity apps, each method fosters healthier habits. Emphasizing intentional use, it encourages readers to reclaim focus and improve overall well-being amidst digital distractions. Great advice for modern life!
Thank you! These are excellent ideas.
Very helpful!!
this is a terrible article
Why?
Yeah I’m sure it is bucko
Is thsi really works
That first “fact” is absolutely BS. You’re actually trying to convince us that the “typical” phone user touches their phone every 30 seconds 24 hours a day?
You may wish to check your math again. 13% of each day (if you assume a 24-hour day) is spent on the phone. (unlike what you proposed which would be 50% of each day [ish]) And I’m not even sure where you got your numbers. The article states 3 hours and 15 minutes daily is the “typical” average. With the usage amount at 2,617 times a day. This would be an average of 4-5 seconds a use. With half of all uses being (within) 3 minutes after another. Let’s assume for math’s sake that all of those were in succession with each usage being 5 seconds. About 5,850 seconds of usage (using the 5-second idea 1,170 uses) over a time-span of 216,450 seconds (assuming a 3 min gap which isn’t what is stated (as the statement is WITHIN 3 minutes) as this number is impossible to reach in a day being over 60 hours meaning that the actual time in between that being much much less than 3 minutes in between) given that the actual number isn’t given there is no chance of an accurate number of course, but that should give you an idea. Then of course you got the ones that are much longer than 3 minutes (which is purely an assumption on my part, but is derived from the thought that if it was around the same time as the 3 minutes it wouldn’t have been separate, therefore for this time total there won’t be a span in between amount given, only the usage total) being another 1,170 (again using the 5 second idea) uses. This means that longer than 3 minutes (in between) uses a total of 5,850 seconds. For a total of 11,700 total seconds of pure use.
That hairband thing is something new that i haven’t tried yet . I will definitely go for it . Thanks for the information.
I put a hair bands on my phone all the time but just because it was too tight on my wrist, not for this purpose… so I don’t know if that will work but I’m going to try it while consciously thinking it is for this reason and see if it does help…
hey- working on speech- i was wondering what your source was for your stats? I would like to use them just want to reference it and give credit.
I found this very useful
And it helped me a lot with my school project thank you !!!
I have a question about the 30 day reset. This sounds like something that would help me, but what did you do if you needed to order groceries or order from Amazon?
Go to the store.
this is not always possible unfortunately. some people lives in remotes area and they use their phone to get grocery delivered when stores are not un the nearby.
how about audio books, music app and Google maps? They can be a great inexpensive tool and some of them are used for genuine reasons, so cutting the phone all together is not a solution
So don’t do it, nobody says you have to do this
Wow, Ive been addicted to Roblox on my phone for a long time, this helped me stop!
You could use an app like flipd to lock all other apps except the ones that are necessary.
You can always find a reason to use your phone or find a reason to. Or use your phone. We can often justify what we wish to justify. It’s not about what you can get away with it’s about what you can do to improve for you not anyone else.
Lol you are making so many excuses. Just don’t do the reset.
you also have the options to only use apps that you need so texting calling and Spotify if needed or Walmart if needed just use essential apps
What can disabled people do? I need my phone on or near me at all times. I fell once and had to throw things at the door of the bathroom until my caregiver came to me after hearing the banging the door. I am very addicted To my phone and am consciously trying to limit myself. It is very difficult for me to sit in my scooter all day and not use my phone.
Very Useful
Very informative and useful information about unnecessary using of mobile phone Thank you so much for such a great cooperation
Jesus himself was a yogi
Why do you say that
Thank you so much for this information. I tried the 30 day reset and it changed my whole phone habits, and dare I say, changed my life.
How to set 30 days target for my son mobile
I became so distracted on my phone do to work and being self employed. Add a addictive phone game to the mix to pull away from work and it all went south, no joke, I lost my family. Now I still deal with my phone constantly with being self employed, trying to pick up the pieces and joining a Buddhist meditation service near me. Are cell phones problematic? I say so
We should get flip phones together, that way we only use them for texts and calls!
I am curious what you are referring to here. Could you please elaborate?
Thank you
Hey!! Here they are explaining habits you can do if you have something called phone addiction you can try and do!!! This is a tiny page I highly recomend in my personal opinion…
Hey!! Here they are explaining habits you can do if you have something called phone addiction you can try and do!!! This is a tiny page I highly recomend in my personal opinion…
Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, the life.
Forget meditation and seek salvation instead.
Jesus was a yogi himself
I’m an eleven year old girl liveing with my phone you have inspired me to start my tech time loss journey. I think god made this as a sign to believe more and scroll less.
amen. Good for you!