Struggling to put that smartphone down? The first advice for you to get rid of your smartphone addiction is to create a “no-phone zone”. All you have to do is to switch your phone into "do not disturb" mode, and put it in a drawer away from your eyes and thoughts, especially on school days.
Many recent studies found that we’re all sucked to our phones more than ever, and it’s taking toll on our productivity at work and our emotional and personal well-being at home. Ex-employees of Google, Apple and Facebook are raising red flags about the tech they created, and revealing how it’s engineered to grab your attention, keep you hooked, and make you crave more.
Experts revealed that 78% of teens check their phones at least hourly, and 50% report feeling ‘addicted’ to their phones. A new study published in the journal Emotion also showed a correlation between teens' happiness and how much time they spend on phones. The study concluded that up to one hour a day is fine, and it would be even better if it was a "no-time" says the author. However, using devices for more than two hours may lead to the downhill.
How to disconnect from your smartphone?
In the following, find a handful of smart, cheap, and easy ways to reclaim personal space and create more healthy boundaries with your smartphone, as suggested by the USA Today.
-Set your phone to grayscale. This advice is given by former Google designer Tristan Harris. Make your phone black and white. As Harris explained in a TV show, you can go into your phone’s settings and "take the color out of your screen" to switch off the way certain colors like red, greens, bright blues, and others can evoke certain emotions and trigger a whole set of sensations and thoughts.
On an iPhone: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations > Color Filters. Switch Color Filters "On" and select "Grayscale."
Android: While Android phones can vary, on the Samsung Galaxy S8 I have on hand, I went into Settings > Accessibility > Vision > Grayscale.
This is good when you use Instagram and Facebook.
“No Phone Zone”
Not everyone can create a ‘no phone zone’ and stick with it the way my daughter has. Still, it’s a free and easy option if you can do it. Turn on "Do Not Disturb" mode, and stick it in a drawer. Not being able to see it is key. If you’re worried someone might need you in an emergency, go into “Do Not Disturb” and choose “Allow Calls From”.
This advice will fit anyone who can tell their boss that they don’t work 24/7, and tell their friends and family that they’re having phone-free time. It also works best if you have someone to hold you accountable.
Lock it up
Over the past few years, the markets saw new designs of inexpensive home safes that can lock your phone away from you for a set amount of time. The kSafe ($50) is one of them. Put your smartphone inside, turn a dial at the top to set the time you want it locked it away, press a button, and you can’t get to it until the time’s up.
The Yondr pouch is an even more high tech version of this. While it’s used for larger venues right now such as concerts, or at schools, there’s a chance we’ll see this sort of tech in our homes one of these days too.
The way it works is you put your phone into the Yondr form-fitting pouch that locks when you shut it, and won’t unlock until you get out of the place you are in. The idea behind it is that if you really have to use your phone, you’ll do it outside, where it won’t disrupt anyone around you.
Apps and tools
Ironically, there’s no shortage of apps to save us from our addiction to “apps”. Samsung and media mogul turned wellness-guru Arianna Huffington just launched a free app called Thrive for anyone with the Galaxy Note 8 phone.
Download the app, choose an amount of time you need a break from your phone, and for that set time, anyone trying to reach you gets a notification that you’re "thriving" or whatever personalized message you add, and you get a still and silent phone.
Most smartphones have a combination of this with the “Do Not Disturb” and “Drive Mode”, but the “Thrive” wraps into one app with added insights on how you use your phone. Even though it’s only out for Note 8 right now, anyone with an Android device can download a beta version from the Google Play Early Access section and try it out.
You can also use an app called Moment to track how much time you spend on your phone, to set daily limits on certain social media apps, and force yourself off your device when all else fails.
Another one I’ve tried is the Freedom app to block access to certain apps and websites, and my new favorite is an app called Forest, which turns your attempts into a game-like process.
Open the app, set a timer and put your phone down, face down, and don’t touch it until the time is up. If you can make it, you grow and plant a tree in a virtual world, and a tree gets planted IRL too.
If you blow it through, the app scolds you to "Go back to your work" and then your fake tree dies. That’s a total bummer, and for some of us, enough incentive to leave our phones alone long enough to see that there’s an actual forest through the trees.