Loved the article - just what I needed rn. One strategy that (sort of) works for me is to treat my phone like a computer instead of something that comes close to a wearable. I take it with me, but try to put it in my backpack instead of my pockets which makes it more difficult to mindlessly get it out to check on something not worth checking on. Another tip is to use the black and white colour filter - that is surprisingly effective to reduce phone time and clearly shows how the colour palettes of notifications and apps are tailored to keeping us on our devices.
phone in backpack is something new that I haven't tried yet. I've been doing the B&W mode for a couple weeks and definitely agree that it helps to curb usage!
Wow, 40 days is a long time to go without a phone. I agree with the importance of figuring out strategies to extract the device-checking from every daily break. We work so hard to keep screen time to a minimum for our kids, but I still feel the pull to check messages in Slack or LinkedIn, even when I just checked 5 minutes prior. I'm just as guilty of screen time, and I try to justify it as "work" as opposed to YouTube Shorts, but really, it's all about the same, right?
the low-grade anxiety with responding to message is definitely real. I used to deal with this quite a bit when I was employed. What helped me realize it was all in my head is going a full day without responding. It wasn't necessarily a planned thing, but I remember after a few times of responding way later than I thought was okay, I realized the world didn't end. Also the neat thing about delaying your response is when you sit down to respond you can often craft a more coherent, thoughtful message. My main criteria now for using my phone is intentionality. If I pick up the phone to do something, did I actually do what I wanted? It's less so about the time spent on phone and more about trying to reduce the time spent scrolling on something I didn't really want to do.
This is great. I feel seen!
a friend of mine dropped his phone the same way!
Loved the article - just what I needed rn. One strategy that (sort of) works for me is to treat my phone like a computer instead of something that comes close to a wearable. I take it with me, but try to put it in my backpack instead of my pockets which makes it more difficult to mindlessly get it out to check on something not worth checking on. Another tip is to use the black and white colour filter - that is surprisingly effective to reduce phone time and clearly shows how the colour palettes of notifications and apps are tailored to keeping us on our devices.
phone in backpack is something new that I haven't tried yet. I've been doing the B&W mode for a couple weeks and definitely agree that it helps to curb usage!
Wow, 40 days is a long time to go without a phone. I agree with the importance of figuring out strategies to extract the device-checking from every daily break. We work so hard to keep screen time to a minimum for our kids, but I still feel the pull to check messages in Slack or LinkedIn, even when I just checked 5 minutes prior. I'm just as guilty of screen time, and I try to justify it as "work" as opposed to YouTube Shorts, but really, it's all about the same, right?
the low-grade anxiety with responding to message is definitely real. I used to deal with this quite a bit when I was employed. What helped me realize it was all in my head is going a full day without responding. It wasn't necessarily a planned thing, but I remember after a few times of responding way later than I thought was okay, I realized the world didn't end. Also the neat thing about delaying your response is when you sit down to respond you can often craft a more coherent, thoughtful message. My main criteria now for using my phone is intentionality. If I pick up the phone to do something, did I actually do what I wanted? It's less so about the time spent on phone and more about trying to reduce the time spent scrolling on something I didn't really want to do.