I’ve been getting really serious about spending less time on my phone. Back in spring, I purchased the Light Phone II, which isn’t out yet, and in the meantime, I’m trying every day to limit the time I spend scrolling needlessly through social media.
Today, I happened to come across an article by “Coach Tony” on the Better Humans blog that had the best practical tips for limiting phone usage that I’ve ever seen, so much that I felt like I had to share it with you. I’ve already implemented fifteen of the steps and it feels amazing! (Step 15 was installing the Google keyboard and deleting the Apple one. I am currently “swiping” this instead of typing it and I seriously can’t believe how much faster it’s going!)
Tony calls apps like Instagram “slot machine apps,” because they’re designed to reward your pleasure centers and keep you mindlessly scrolling. That really hit home for me, because that’s the feeling I’ve always had about apps like Instagram and Tumblr. It’s time spent pleasurably, but not meaningfully.
I love gadgets and bright colors and games, so the iPhone has always been really dangerous for me. It never bothered me as much until I had V. It didn’t matter if I wasted time before. But now when I scroll through Instagram, there is someone who suffers from the lack of my attention, and I hate that. I am more cognizant than ever that the hours I spend watching Instagram stories are hours of my life that I’ll never get back.
One of the earlier steps in the article is to put social media apps where you can’t see them.
Exhibit A:
This is the second page of my homescreen. See that “Leisure” folder?
It looks like there’s just a game in this folder, but notice there’s a second tab.
HERE is where all my social media apps are hiding, far out of sight and way less likely to tempt me.
There are so many good steps in this article that I still haven’t made it all the way through. But I have big goals for the upcoming year, and that means I need all the time I can get. When my screen time widget tells me I’m averaging four hours a day on this phone, it honestly makes me sick to my stomach. (Granted, I work, blog, text and take pictures all on this phone, but still.)
I am so interested to see the results of limiting my time on screens scrolling mindlessly. I want to build a lot of skills in 2019, read more books, write more blogs, and watch my beautiful kid more. I’m excited!
If you want the link to the article one more time, here it is! https://betterhumans.coach.me/how-to-set-up-your-iphone-for-productivity-focus-and-your-own-longevity-bb27a68cc3d8
Do you ever feel like you’re too attached to your phone? Would you ever take steps like this to do something about it?
small life, slow life 
The first step I took a couple years ago was to turn off notifications, so I am not enticed to check messages or comments or whatever else someone shares on social media. I can check it when I feel like it rather than feeling like I have to because I just received a notification. I also take breaks and completely delete the apps sometimes.