How to Stop Phone Addiction | Save your Important Time

1. The first 30 minutes of your day

If you find yourself waking up in the morning reaching to check in with your phone before you even got out of bed, this is a serious problem. The first 30 minutes upon awakening should be dedicated to creating a good start to your day. This means getting out of bed, freshening up, taking 5 minutes to meditate and stretch and preparing a healthy breakfast. Start your day doing healthy, positive things to build your inner fortitude to take on the day ahead.

2. Create No-Phone Time Zones

The truth of the matter is having a cell phone close by at work is common, and sometimes even required. Whether the ding of your phone is work-related or not—that specific phone alert is rarely related to the current work at hand. If you are constantly getting distracted by your phone going off—you won’t remain focused on the work in front of you, decreasing productivity. Therefore, I advocate for creating a no-phone time-zone. This means that for at least 2 hours of your day(when you’re most productive work happens) you close off your phone and stay completely dedicated to the work in front of you.

3. Turn your Phone Off When You Get Into The Car

This should be a law. I’m waiting for the day that it is. Just as in an aircraft you are asked to power off your electronic devices and cell phones, this should be the law of the road. It is impossible for your mind to be at two places at once. It is a law of physics: no one thing can occupy the same space at the same time, and if your mind and eyes are on your phone, they are not on the road. Driving is one of those places where you do not want to mess around. Sometimes I hear the excuse “Well, I need my phone for directions, my GPS is on it.” To that I say: what did people do five years ago? You would carefully map out your route before you left the house, or you would pull off to the side of the road as you looked at a map. The same rule should apply today. When driving—close off your phone so that you are not even tempted to look at it. Your life and other people’s lives are at stake.

4. Get Real

When you are with a real life person sharing a conversation, a meal, or a cup of coffee, they are a real life form. A real person right there in front of you to engage with. Are you telling me that your virtual friends and virtual text conversations are more important than the real life person in front of you? Not only is this THE rudest thing on the planet, but it breaks down friendships and can ruin relationships. Even if you say to a friend “Oh I just need to check that,” They may respond “Oh, that’s OK.” But the truth is it’s not OK. What you are saying is that the virtual message is more important than them. They have taken time out of their busy life to meet with you, and share real life time with you. By turning your attention away from them you are inevitably saying “You are not as important.” It’s really a sickness that we are so addicted to our phones that we ignore the people we are with to hang out with virtual people over Facebook, Twitter, and text messages. Come on people—it’s time to get real.

5. Don’t Lose Sleep Over It

If you find yourself up late at night playing on your phone, whether it is video games, Facebook, or text messaging, you are losing precious sleep over your addiction. The moment you stop putting energy into caring for your basic needs and pour your time and energy into your phone, you are allowing the phone to dictate your health and well-being. If you catch yourself in this scenario, my advice is to power off your phone an hour before bed time to ensure that your last hour is spent in a meaningful way, and that you get to bed on time to start the next day afresh. Your phone is just not worth losing sleep over.

6. Never use your phone as your alarm clock

We all know how it goes: once you're done dealing your standard wave of 20 snoozes, you flick off the alarm, and go straight to browsing: Instagram, email, videos of baby elephants—you’ve already bogged yourself down with a tech overload before your feet hit the floor. If you want to distance yourself from your tech in a meaningful way, you need to nip the problem in the drowsy bud. And since so many of us literally wake up with our phone in our hands, this is the first place to start cutting back.

7. Airplane mode will set you free

This is another answer for people too scared to leave their phones behind completely. Basically, you'll be left with just a combination clock/camera. If you really want to focus on a task at hand, or just need to make sure no one bothers you for an extended period, just switch on airplane mode, and let it ride. Try doing this while you're driving, in social situations, or watching TV, and gradually extend your "Airplane time" to other activities. It's all about conditioning yourself to a life less cluttered with phone time, and Airplane mode is an excellent stepping stone on your way to mindfulness. 

8. Turn off (or customize) notifications

You don't need an obtrusive bleep or buzz every time your bar mitzvah #TBT gets some love. It only makes you more apt to whip out your phone and get nose-deep in a vicious tech circle of texting, email checking, and lord knows what else. You can disable in-app notifications in your main settings menu (under the App section), or customize them for only the important stuff. As far as calls and texts go, one viable solution I've been using is setting custom vibrations for certain people. So, I can tell if it's someone important (like my girlfriend, or the neighborhood dog catcher) without taking my phone out of my pocket. You can make your own custom vibes by selecting a contact, then the "Vibration" option, underneath "Ringtone."

 9. Keep a low charge and set a passcode

Don't laugh! While it may not be beneficial for your battery, keeping your phone at a low charge will physically prevent you from using it for extended periods at a time. If you know you aren't packing much juice, you'll only use your phone for emergencies. Setting a passcode that is required every time your phone is locked (and disabling the fingerprint recognition on newer phone models) can be a minute but effective way to prevent you from subconscious phone checking. It will dissuade you from taking it out every minute or so, and force you into using your phone when you need it, then putting it away for extended periods afterwards.  

10. Just leave your phone at home sometimes

Easier said than done, I know. But this is quite possibly the only true way to cut back on your usage altogether. Putting your phone in a drawer, or in another room, can only do so much. And look, I get it. Going cellphone commando is nerve-racking, as there's many-a-benefit to having your phone at your side—including safety. But, you definitely will find yourself in situations where your phone is just not needed. A walk in the park, a trip to the coffee shop, even meeting up with your friends at the bar for a quick brewski—try leaving your phone at home, I promise it stops being weird after 20 minutes. You just end up getting used to it. Then, when you decide to actually bring your iPhone out again, you'll be accustomed to not using it so frequently. You’ll be surprised at how good it feels to not have the weight of the world inside your pants, weighing down your spirit, and dragging down your soul. Phone-free is the way to be. Well, at least some of the time.