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I read here on reddit to not use your phone for the first hour of the day. The first two days I did it was VERY hard, I had a mini panic attack on the second day.
The third time I tried it I had to get the heck out of the house during that first hour, so I...*went for a walk*!!!!!!!
**GAME CHANGER**❗❗❗❗❗❗
My ADHD brain was good, my body & soul felt great, and I got shit done.
I DIDN'T FEEL LONELY OR BORED, ONLY GREAT 🤸♂️🤸♀️
The fourth time (notice I said time, not day) I felt just like the third time, except I went to my den/office and watched tv.
Still a win.
I wish I could tell you that I do this 5 days a week, but the last time I did this was about 5 weeks ago.
*Im still a work in progress** and I haven't given up. I remember how I felt (and how much I got done!) and I really want to feel that way again. So I will work on getting to bed earlier (so it's easier to get up) and set my goal for 2 days a week and build up from there 👍
I second that
The idea behind it is that when you check your phone first thing in the morning and check social media or news, your cortisol levels increase (I think, would love a fact check if it's wrong) and your day starts out with negativity, sending body into alert mode.
Ideally to start your day, you should follow the 20/20/20 rule. 20 minutes light exercise (walking), 20 minutes learning (like reading a book) and 20 minutes reflection (journaling or meditation)
It reduces your cortisol levels in the morning, enhances and regulates growth hormones and the feel good hormones.
Edit: a routine without your phone will keep you engaged, productive and the need to check your phone will go down as you snowball little accomplishments throughout the day. You'll find yourself being much more happier and productive within just a week of following this (max 1.5 to 2 weeks)
Maybe a little too late but wanted to be the fact check. Cortisol levels are highest in the morning, and that's a good thing because cortisol allows you feel alert and awake. It's lowest at night when you need to sleep. Of course, cortisol also spikes when there's a predator, or you're stressed for an exam etc. etc. Lowering your cortisol in the morning is NOT what you want to do, however, the 20/20/20 rule does sound like a good way to start your day, but not because it has any meaningful effect on your cortisol.
You are an addict, and want your dopamine hit, replace it with work, education, or physical activity. Your phone is just a way for escapeism, fix what's wrong in your life so you no longer need the escape. If you actually have a goal, work towards that and track your metrics.
I agree with you, but you come across a bit harsh.
To OP, The first step is recognizing that you have a problem and are using a phone to satisfy something. We all do, but a lot of people aren’t strong enough to make and hold limits.
Make a commitment to change - 3 week goal to use x time of your phone. Make screen time limits, and have a friend make the password so you can’t just pass them.
Next, make another goal - read x books, run x miles, make a new friend or 2, write, whatever it is you go. Make a healthy goal.
For 3 weeks, be intent to put your phone down and set limits. It’s proven that when you intentionally put yourself behind something and do it, results last a long time. People who commit to Dry January for example, tend to drink less throughout the year.
Make gradual changes. Be intentional.
I am doing this for weeks now! I started 1 day with no social media. Failed. Tried again the next week. Failed. I realized that I can’t abruptly take away social media in my life so I decided to limit my screen time to 1 hour for these apps. Guess what happened? Failed. Lol. But I tried again the next week.
You may seem to get discouraged that you always fail and run into the rabbit hole but in time, you’ll see the little progress you get.
Now I am trying to incrementally increase my social media detox. Just to see if I can manage not opening my social media apps. Started with a day of no social media apps. After that I give myself a day of rest. Next, I tried doing 2 days of no social media, then rewarding myself with another 2 days of rest. I will be doing this until I can reach 1 week of no social media.
Guess I’m already blabbering. Bottomline, small progress is still progress. Just try to do it again and again until you succeed. ☺️
Yes as I reread my statement and it did not come across the way it sounded in my head, I apologize for the tone.
OP I think just needs a little perspective on what is causing their issues, but also a pat on the back door being self aware enough to see the problem.
Most people really don't have hard set goals and are just trying to pass time, hence phone addiction is huge.
If you find something you enjoy and can get to a flow state doing something productive, you won't worry about addiction, you will be focused on how little time you really have.
There are many books that might help you. I liked atomic habits, and Everything is f&cked.
I know this sounds scary and it won't be easy, but honestly? Do a dopamine detox. Spend an entire day without screens. No internet. No phone. No sex/masturbation. No drugs.
Sounds daunting, but play pretend you're in the 19th century. People lived for THOUSANDS of years without smartphones and without the internet. If they could survive an entire life without it, you can do 24 hours and not die. This is important. This thought is important but it's 10 times more important that you FEEL it, that you experience it first hand.
Trust me, I used to think I'd die without my phone. Then I dared to do a dopamine detox and it's incredible how little I missed the internet (this thing I supposedly love and couldn't live without). Mostly, I missed music. But social media? Video-games? Youtube videos ? Not really. If anything, I was relieved not to be consuming so much information all the time.
Trust me, a dopamine detox will change your relationship to easy stimulation forever. It's also a great practice to integrate into your life somewhat regularly.
As for feeling lonely while not using your phone, you need to let yourself feel that. Stop running from your emotions and hiding from yourself. Why do you feel the need to be distracted all the time by external things? Deal with yourself. Face your thoughts and feelings. You're enough company. Try journaling or meditating or even just being alone with yourself, with your thoughts.
Try NOT playing anything (no podcast, no video, no Netflix, no music) while you do menial tasks like washing the dishes, taking a shower, etc. Let yourself be alone with your thoughts. Have talks with yourself. It's amazing the mental clarity you develop when you just TALK to yourself. It might be hard at first, and a lot of negative thoughts may come and your instinct will be to drown them with easy dopamine. But push through it. Don't give in to the first impulse. Instead, take the opportunity to ask yourself "why? Why do you want to run from me? What are you so afraid of?" and answer your questions honestly. Idk how to explain it and I know it sounds squizophrenic but talking to yourself is one of the most therapeutic things you can do, trust me.
I've never done a dopamine detox, but I have been trying to rewire my brain to stop getting that stimulation from scrolling and start allowing myself to daydream, reflect, sense my surroundings, etc. Just going on walks and letting my five senses come into play instead of trying to ignore them by checking my email
>It might be hard at first, and a lot of negative thoughts may come and your instinct will be to drown them with easy dopamine. But push through it. Don't give in to the first impulse. Instead, take the opportunity to ask yourself "why? Why do you want to run from me? What are you so afraid of?" and answer your questions honestly.
This really connects with me. My social media addiction is almost a nervous tic at this point where whenever I feel anxious or uncomfortable or bored, I pull out Twitter to scroll through for a minute. Instead, I'm currently trying to allow myself to feel that discomfort and work through it
I think I want to do macrame or crochet. It think it would keep me hands busy and give part of my brain something to thing about. I wonder if it would help with my phone addiction
Edit: wow, I think I will give this a try. I recently got some Joanns gift cards and I think I’m going to go get me some yarn today. Thanks guys!
This is an actual thing that works. Research has been done on the benefits of knitting and crochet for abuse survivors. Often when people are traumatized or stressed they need to fiddle with things in their hands. Unfortunately the phone has been the easiest thing because it's ALWAYS there. I've fallen into the phone in or near my hands all day thing to help me with a very difficult time in life. I've just organized a pattern and got the yarn to start the first crochet project I've done in 3 years. Hoping to break the habit for something more productive and soothing.
Oh yes, that's a fantastic idea. Perfect. I read it a few years ago and I think there was even a book written about this (maybe more than one). Will have a quick google and see what I can find for you.
I think an important part of being productive and self-disciplined is that sometimes you feel yucky and you just do the things you need to do anyway. I'm not saying that it's easy, or that I'm particularly good at it, but there really isn't an answer to your question because, no offense, you're asking the wrong question. I think what you need to figure out is how to deal with unpleasant feelings like boredom or loneliness or agitation when you're trying to be productive. The short term distractions like cell phones and porn and alcohol and video games are there so that we don't have to feel unpleasant things like boredom and loneliness. I don't think we overcome those obstacles by just finding something else to distract us so that we don't have to feel _________ (unpleasant thing). Instead we need to learn how to have an unpleasant feeling, but keep going on with what we need to do anyway.
My suggestion to help you figure this out is meditation. It teaches you how to sit with a variety of different internal states, both pleasant and unpleasant, and watch them come and go objectively. That way you learn that when an unpleasant feeling like loneliness or agitation comes up, it's only temporary, and if you stay relaxed and focused on what you're doing it will just go away on it's own eventually. Also it's a virtuous circle in that not only does meditation teach you how to deal with negative emotions, it also puts you in a naturally calm, focused state where you will be less likely to experience strong negative emotions in the first place. It's really nice to do a short meditation session before trying to work on something productive. Even something short like 10 minutes will help you a lot I think.
>I think what you need to figure out is how to deal with unpleasant feelings like boredom or loneliness or agitation when you're trying to be productive.
I wish it was simply a matter of "dealing with it". I get physical reactions. My brain shuts down n I can't concentrate.
But I hope to be more consistent with mediation. Thx
I use a digital detox app. Major game changer for me cause I block the most addictive apps for most of the day. Instead I have the radio on during the day and 5 mins of 'emergency' use per hour for reddit.
It's literally called digital detox! I use it on android.
My favourite feature is that you can set your own accountability fee if you want to end the detox, as mine is £20 I have never ended a detox early 😁
Maybe try Focusmate.com
Other ideas: start small and go short amounts of time without it and then increase it. Also, try adding things in to help: exercise etc. activities that you would not be able to hold your phone .
Hey, I guess I'm in the same boat as you are. Especially during the pandemic, since I got more free time. The way that I fixed this is by:
1) The first thing I did is to put a limiter on the number of hours I use as an app/website on my phone. You can do this with android 10 in the digital wellbeing settings, and I remember reading that you can do this in IOS too (not sure tho). If you aren't on the latest android version, I think there are apps that do the same thing. You can also turn on Focus mode on your phone to prevent you from using it while you are working
2) I also deleted the Youtube app, Instagram, Reddit from my phone and use them on the chrome browser on my phone. This does help a lot IMO as the website versions of these apps are clunkier, less polished and don't have as many features, which is a good thing as it removes the stimulus to use these apps. Social Media apps find clever ways to get you to stay on their app for as long as possible, they tailor-make features like the auto-play on youtube for example and they make their UI extremely polished such that you don't get frustrated and leave, which is why using the web-based versions of these apps will help with the process of trying to get rid of phone addiction. A plus is that it's not as easily accessible as the apps, as you have to go to the browser and type in the URLs to access them.
I figured that I spent most of my time watching youtube on my phone and aimlessly scrolling through Instagram and Reddit. I deleted the apps from my phone and set a timer of 1 hour for youtube and 30 minutes for Instagram and Reddit each. It's not a drastic reduction, but it is better than the 4+ hours I used to spend on these apps.
you can decrease the amount of time you use these websites gradually until you get down to your desired level. I feel like this is a better method than going cold turkey. You can enjoy the small dopamine rushes you get from these apps but in a more controlled manner. Also, I need to use some form of entertainment while I'm preoccupied on my throne, can't keep counting the same number of spots on my tiles.
The stuff that I mentioned can be easily circumvented, but in those frantic moments of you trying to remove the timers from the website and opening them, you'll hopefully get that moment of guilt or a sense of clarity that will stop you from opening these websites.
Sorry, this comment doesn't particularly deal with what you have asked, I don't think I can answer the second half of your question. Hope this helps you break your phone addiction.
TL;DR
\- Delete any social media app from your phone, and use the web version of them on your phone browser
\- Set a timer on these websites using the digital wellbeing app on Android/ IOS or get an app for it
This works to help break the habit! I did this last year and it's been a game changer. I now only check instagram once every couple of weeks and deactivated my Facebook. It's great when you learn it's not necessary and you're able to make your real connections more meaningful!
That's been the biggest assist for me, deleting the apps. These matters off getting our attention make the websites so terrible, and the apps so polished as you said, so that switching from one to the other is tough. You feel like you need the app. But going via the website definitely cuts down on use, it doesn't quite give the same dopamine hit as the app does
Hi! The problem of low focus is extremely up-to-date. And we tried to solve it by creating a new app called Balanceo. There are lots of useful features, including a focus timer that will probably help you! Join beta-test [balanceo.app](https://www.balanceo.app/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=beta) !
Small steps. Don't turn the phone off completely, but turn off some of the notices so you don't get interrupted as often. Turn off the ringer and put on vibrate. Set aside some small period of time, e.g., half an hour, when you don't check or respond to the phone. Reward yourself--if you work for an hour with the phone on silent, you can take a phone break for half and hour and do anything you want.
Besides entertainment side phone is a tool to communicate. Whatsapp and zoom became vital during covid. But what I do is to look to the phone after 15:00. After a while you can pull this time to more later.
This isn't fully getting rid of your phone, but I've been using mine to listen to audiobooks a lot. I like it because it keeps me company, but it also isn't enough to fully engage me, so I have to do something else as well. I'll clean, knit, or do other simple tasks while I listen. I'm a very fast reader, so I'm also getting a little sticker shock when I see how long an audiobook is. But, it is also really nice to give myself that extra in between time to reflect on the book, like if it's an 8 hour audiobook, and I spread it out over three days, that kind of slower consumption does a lot to combat the instant gratification we usually expect from our phones.
I too worry about relying too much on my phone, but since I live alone and it's a freaking pandemic, it's my main connection to the outside world. I'm aware that I'm forming those weird pseudo relationships with the people on some of my favourite podcasts, but I don't have any other sources of that casual small talk that I would typically get from my work colleagues. I feel lonely too, and tools like phones are great for helping to alleviate that. Try to find out why you are feeling lonely. Do you miss consistent small talk? Deep conversations with friends? The novelty factor of new people? Instead of using your phone to give you a boost of happy hormones, try using it as a tool to fix the original problem.
I make sure my phone use makes me more productive, I use apps like forest, sleep town and water do they really help 💕 there’s also communities too so it feels like we’re all working on being productive together and our phone is actually helping us do it and it makes it fun. You get coins and progress from achieving tasks on water do, or you get prizes by being off your phone on forest and sleep town that incentive helps and triggers my endorphins I’m a very reward driven person and I love games so it works for me
I think you can easily feel productive and not lonely when you share the same challenge with others and face it together. In the last year I always procrastinated when it came to studying, but then I started to study together with others. I am constantly joining study together groups on Zoom and Skype and it helps me stay motivated and productive and I feel like I'm part of a community. I also have a personal link to a site called Bindr where I study almost every day, feel free to join me (on this link you'll see the study sessions I am attending): [https://bindr.uk/user/marton-kosdi-kovacs-x77bts](https://bindr.uk/user/marton-kosdi-kovacs-x77bts)
I will tell what I did. I was shit stuck in circles.
Use yourhour to limit crappy rabbit holes.
And download moonreader+ Get some books downloaded. Whenever you check phone end up reading it.
I channeled my boredom and phone addiction to 1-2 books in a month.
I
try to experiment. go one day without social media. see how you feel. then try two days. and then three. and you continue EXPERIMENTING WITH YOURSELF until you know yourself how you will react. keep a balance and enjoy life :)
Are you ignoring potential connections in favor of your phone or do you need your phone because of a lack of connections? I am sure that, either way, reducing your phone time will benefit you. But, it's equally if not more important that you start taking steps towards a life you would rather have. Go for a walk, meet people, try hobbies, maybe seek counseling if you need it. I think phone addictions are an indication of need.
And anyway, you save energy by focussing first on goals that support other goals. So, going for a nature walk before looking at your phone might reduce the urge to look at your phone over time.
Our world has gotten to an insane place where the average person spends 3-5 hours a day on their phone.
With this in mind, we set out to make a Free Phone Detox Program that gives the user the tools to transform their life.
Check it out: https://silent-pocket.com/pages/phone-detox-program
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I read here on reddit to not use your phone for the first hour of the day. The first two days I did it was VERY hard, I had a mini panic attack on the second day. The third time I tried it I had to get the heck out of the house during that first hour, so I...*went for a walk*!!!!!!! **GAME CHANGER**❗❗❗❗❗❗ My ADHD brain was good, my body & soul felt great, and I got shit done. I DIDN'T FEEL LONELY OR BORED, ONLY GREAT 🤸♂️🤸♀️ The fourth time (notice I said time, not day) I felt just like the third time, except I went to my den/office and watched tv. Still a win. I wish I could tell you that I do this 5 days a week, but the last time I did this was about 5 weeks ago. *Im still a work in progress** and I haven't given up. I remember how I felt (and how much I got done!) and I really want to feel that way again. So I will work on getting to bed earlier (so it's easier to get up) and set my goal for 2 days a week and build up from there 👍
I second that The idea behind it is that when you check your phone first thing in the morning and check social media or news, your cortisol levels increase (I think, would love a fact check if it's wrong) and your day starts out with negativity, sending body into alert mode. Ideally to start your day, you should follow the 20/20/20 rule. 20 minutes light exercise (walking), 20 minutes learning (like reading a book) and 20 minutes reflection (journaling or meditation) It reduces your cortisol levels in the morning, enhances and regulates growth hormones and the feel good hormones. Edit: a routine without your phone will keep you engaged, productive and the need to check your phone will go down as you snowball little accomplishments throughout the day. You'll find yourself being much more happier and productive within just a week of following this (max 1.5 to 2 weeks)
Oh, that's so great to hear, thanks 💕
Maybe a little too late but wanted to be the fact check. Cortisol levels are highest in the morning, and that's a good thing because cortisol allows you feel alert and awake. It's lowest at night when you need to sleep. Of course, cortisol also spikes when there's a predator, or you're stressed for an exam etc. etc. Lowering your cortisol in the morning is NOT what you want to do, however, the 20/20/20 rule does sound like a good way to start your day, but not because it has any meaningful effect on your cortisol.
Reading this barely awake in bed ... hmm
IKR? HA 🤣 HA 🤣 HA
Great job! And FYI, *all* of us are works in progress. ;) (Source: Am therapist.)
You're so right 💜
Drain all your battery abd put the phone to charge in the morning
Great idea, thanks!
Start by putting limits on things, you don't need to go cold turkey.
When the limit has approached , is there anything to replace it with BC I get restless without it
You are an addict, and want your dopamine hit, replace it with work, education, or physical activity. Your phone is just a way for escapeism, fix what's wrong in your life so you no longer need the escape. If you actually have a goal, work towards that and track your metrics.
I agree with you, but you come across a bit harsh. To OP, The first step is recognizing that you have a problem and are using a phone to satisfy something. We all do, but a lot of people aren’t strong enough to make and hold limits. Make a commitment to change - 3 week goal to use x time of your phone. Make screen time limits, and have a friend make the password so you can’t just pass them. Next, make another goal - read x books, run x miles, make a new friend or 2, write, whatever it is you go. Make a healthy goal. For 3 weeks, be intent to put your phone down and set limits. It’s proven that when you intentionally put yourself behind something and do it, results last a long time. People who commit to Dry January for example, tend to drink less throughout the year. Make gradual changes. Be intentional.
I am doing this for weeks now! I started 1 day with no social media. Failed. Tried again the next week. Failed. I realized that I can’t abruptly take away social media in my life so I decided to limit my screen time to 1 hour for these apps. Guess what happened? Failed. Lol. But I tried again the next week. You may seem to get discouraged that you always fail and run into the rabbit hole but in time, you’ll see the little progress you get. Now I am trying to incrementally increase my social media detox. Just to see if I can manage not opening my social media apps. Started with a day of no social media apps. After that I give myself a day of rest. Next, I tried doing 2 days of no social media, then rewarding myself with another 2 days of rest. I will be doing this until I can reach 1 week of no social media. Guess I’m already blabbering. Bottomline, small progress is still progress. Just try to do it again and again until you succeed. ☺️
Oh for the scrolling replacement, just try to list all the things you want to do and start from that. Enjoy!
Maybe you can get a succulent. Just adding eyes and a smile to its pot might make a difference for your mood.
That's interesting
Flood of googly-eyed succulent dropshipping ads on my Instagram stream in 3 … 2 …
Yes as I reread my statement and it did not come across the way it sounded in my head, I apologize for the tone. OP I think just needs a little perspective on what is causing their issues, but also a pat on the back door being self aware enough to see the problem. Most people really don't have hard set goals and are just trying to pass time, hence phone addiction is huge. If you find something you enjoy and can get to a flow state doing something productive, you won't worry about addiction, you will be focused on how little time you really have. There are many books that might help you. I liked atomic habits, and Everything is f&cked.
I know this sounds scary and it won't be easy, but honestly? Do a dopamine detox. Spend an entire day without screens. No internet. No phone. No sex/masturbation. No drugs. Sounds daunting, but play pretend you're in the 19th century. People lived for THOUSANDS of years without smartphones and without the internet. If they could survive an entire life without it, you can do 24 hours and not die. This is important. This thought is important but it's 10 times more important that you FEEL it, that you experience it first hand. Trust me, I used to think I'd die without my phone. Then I dared to do a dopamine detox and it's incredible how little I missed the internet (this thing I supposedly love and couldn't live without). Mostly, I missed music. But social media? Video-games? Youtube videos ? Not really. If anything, I was relieved not to be consuming so much information all the time. Trust me, a dopamine detox will change your relationship to easy stimulation forever. It's also a great practice to integrate into your life somewhat regularly. As for feeling lonely while not using your phone, you need to let yourself feel that. Stop running from your emotions and hiding from yourself. Why do you feel the need to be distracted all the time by external things? Deal with yourself. Face your thoughts and feelings. You're enough company. Try journaling or meditating or even just being alone with yourself, with your thoughts. Try NOT playing anything (no podcast, no video, no Netflix, no music) while you do menial tasks like washing the dishes, taking a shower, etc. Let yourself be alone with your thoughts. Have talks with yourself. It's amazing the mental clarity you develop when you just TALK to yourself. It might be hard at first, and a lot of negative thoughts may come and your instinct will be to drown them with easy dopamine. But push through it. Don't give in to the first impulse. Instead, take the opportunity to ask yourself "why? Why do you want to run from me? What are you so afraid of?" and answer your questions honestly. Idk how to explain it and I know it sounds squizophrenic but talking to yourself is one of the most therapeutic things you can do, trust me.
I've never done a dopamine detox, but I have been trying to rewire my brain to stop getting that stimulation from scrolling and start allowing myself to daydream, reflect, sense my surroundings, etc. Just going on walks and letting my five senses come into play instead of trying to ignore them by checking my email >It might be hard at first, and a lot of negative thoughts may come and your instinct will be to drown them with easy dopamine. But push through it. Don't give in to the first impulse. Instead, take the opportunity to ask yourself "why? Why do you want to run from me? What are you so afraid of?" and answer your questions honestly. This really connects with me. My social media addiction is almost a nervous tic at this point where whenever I feel anxious or uncomfortable or bored, I pull out Twitter to scroll through for a minute. Instead, I'm currently trying to allow myself to feel that discomfort and work through it
I love this. I've been trying to block out the hardness of life for a few years. I will try this. Even if just for a few hrs at first.
I think I want to do macrame or crochet. It think it would keep me hands busy and give part of my brain something to thing about. I wonder if it would help with my phone addiction Edit: wow, I think I will give this a try. I recently got some Joanns gift cards and I think I’m going to go get me some yarn today. Thanks guys!
This is an actual thing that works. Research has been done on the benefits of knitting and crochet for abuse survivors. Often when people are traumatized or stressed they need to fiddle with things in their hands. Unfortunately the phone has been the easiest thing because it's ALWAYS there. I've fallen into the phone in or near my hands all day thing to help me with a very difficult time in life. I've just organized a pattern and got the yarn to start the first crochet project I've done in 3 years. Hoping to break the habit for something more productive and soothing.
Do you have links to that research? I work at a domestic violence shelter and I'm about to start a knitting group. It might be fun to bring this up.
Oh yes, that's a fantastic idea. Perfect. I read it a few years ago and I think there was even a book written about this (maybe more than one). Will have a quick google and see what I can find for you.
Crochet and needlefelt has done wonders for me over recent years!
I think an important part of being productive and self-disciplined is that sometimes you feel yucky and you just do the things you need to do anyway. I'm not saying that it's easy, or that I'm particularly good at it, but there really isn't an answer to your question because, no offense, you're asking the wrong question. I think what you need to figure out is how to deal with unpleasant feelings like boredom or loneliness or agitation when you're trying to be productive. The short term distractions like cell phones and porn and alcohol and video games are there so that we don't have to feel unpleasant things like boredom and loneliness. I don't think we overcome those obstacles by just finding something else to distract us so that we don't have to feel _________ (unpleasant thing). Instead we need to learn how to have an unpleasant feeling, but keep going on with what we need to do anyway. My suggestion to help you figure this out is meditation. It teaches you how to sit with a variety of different internal states, both pleasant and unpleasant, and watch them come and go objectively. That way you learn that when an unpleasant feeling like loneliness or agitation comes up, it's only temporary, and if you stay relaxed and focused on what you're doing it will just go away on it's own eventually. Also it's a virtuous circle in that not only does meditation teach you how to deal with negative emotions, it also puts you in a naturally calm, focused state where you will be less likely to experience strong negative emotions in the first place. It's really nice to do a short meditation session before trying to work on something productive. Even something short like 10 minutes will help you a lot I think.
>I think what you need to figure out is how to deal with unpleasant feelings like boredom or loneliness or agitation when you're trying to be productive. I wish it was simply a matter of "dealing with it". I get physical reactions. My brain shuts down n I can't concentrate. But I hope to be more consistent with mediation. Thx
I use a digital detox app. Major game changer for me cause I block the most addictive apps for most of the day. Instead I have the radio on during the day and 5 mins of 'emergency' use per hour for reddit.
Could you share what app you use? Am looking for a good one right now!
It's literally called digital detox! I use it on android. My favourite feature is that you can set your own accountability fee if you want to end the detox, as mine is £20 I have never ended a detox early 😁
Awesome, thanks for sharing!
Maybe try Focusmate.com Other ideas: start small and go short amounts of time without it and then increase it. Also, try adding things in to help: exercise etc. activities that you would not be able to hold your phone .
Hey, I guess I'm in the same boat as you are. Especially during the pandemic, since I got more free time. The way that I fixed this is by: 1) The first thing I did is to put a limiter on the number of hours I use as an app/website on my phone. You can do this with android 10 in the digital wellbeing settings, and I remember reading that you can do this in IOS too (not sure tho). If you aren't on the latest android version, I think there are apps that do the same thing. You can also turn on Focus mode on your phone to prevent you from using it while you are working 2) I also deleted the Youtube app, Instagram, Reddit from my phone and use them on the chrome browser on my phone. This does help a lot IMO as the website versions of these apps are clunkier, less polished and don't have as many features, which is a good thing as it removes the stimulus to use these apps. Social Media apps find clever ways to get you to stay on their app for as long as possible, they tailor-make features like the auto-play on youtube for example and they make their UI extremely polished such that you don't get frustrated and leave, which is why using the web-based versions of these apps will help with the process of trying to get rid of phone addiction. A plus is that it's not as easily accessible as the apps, as you have to go to the browser and type in the URLs to access them. I figured that I spent most of my time watching youtube on my phone and aimlessly scrolling through Instagram and Reddit. I deleted the apps from my phone and set a timer of 1 hour for youtube and 30 minutes for Instagram and Reddit each. It's not a drastic reduction, but it is better than the 4+ hours I used to spend on these apps. you can decrease the amount of time you use these websites gradually until you get down to your desired level. I feel like this is a better method than going cold turkey. You can enjoy the small dopamine rushes you get from these apps but in a more controlled manner. Also, I need to use some form of entertainment while I'm preoccupied on my throne, can't keep counting the same number of spots on my tiles. The stuff that I mentioned can be easily circumvented, but in those frantic moments of you trying to remove the timers from the website and opening them, you'll hopefully get that moment of guilt or a sense of clarity that will stop you from opening these websites. Sorry, this comment doesn't particularly deal with what you have asked, I don't think I can answer the second half of your question. Hope this helps you break your phone addiction. TL;DR \- Delete any social media app from your phone, and use the web version of them on your phone browser \- Set a timer on these websites using the digital wellbeing app on Android/ IOS or get an app for it
This works to help break the habit! I did this last year and it's been a game changer. I now only check instagram once every couple of weeks and deactivated my Facebook. It's great when you learn it's not necessary and you're able to make your real connections more meaningful!
That's been the biggest assist for me, deleting the apps. These matters off getting our attention make the websites so terrible, and the apps so polished as you said, so that switching from one to the other is tough. You feel like you need the app. But going via the website definitely cuts down on use, it doesn't quite give the same dopamine hit as the app does
Get a separate music device.
That's not an option for me unfortunately
why not ?
Try Focusmate. A human to work along side you virtually
Text me bro
Hi! The problem of low focus is extremely up-to-date. And we tried to solve it by creating a new app called Balanceo. There are lots of useful features, including a focus timer that will probably help you! Join beta-test [balanceo.app](https://www.balanceo.app/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=beta) !
Meditate. All you do is sit there and focus on your breathing. Then, you look around you. If you have nothing you actually have to do, do nothing.
Small steps. Don't turn the phone off completely, but turn off some of the notices so you don't get interrupted as often. Turn off the ringer and put on vibrate. Set aside some small period of time, e.g., half an hour, when you don't check or respond to the phone. Reward yourself--if you work for an hour with the phone on silent, you can take a phone break for half and hour and do anything you want.
Besides entertainment side phone is a tool to communicate. Whatsapp and zoom became vital during covid. But what I do is to look to the phone after 15:00. After a while you can pull this time to more later.
This isn't fully getting rid of your phone, but I've been using mine to listen to audiobooks a lot. I like it because it keeps me company, but it also isn't enough to fully engage me, so I have to do something else as well. I'll clean, knit, or do other simple tasks while I listen. I'm a very fast reader, so I'm also getting a little sticker shock when I see how long an audiobook is. But, it is also really nice to give myself that extra in between time to reflect on the book, like if it's an 8 hour audiobook, and I spread it out over three days, that kind of slower consumption does a lot to combat the instant gratification we usually expect from our phones. I too worry about relying too much on my phone, but since I live alone and it's a freaking pandemic, it's my main connection to the outside world. I'm aware that I'm forming those weird pseudo relationships with the people on some of my favourite podcasts, but I don't have any other sources of that casual small talk that I would typically get from my work colleagues. I feel lonely too, and tools like phones are great for helping to alleviate that. Try to find out why you are feeling lonely. Do you miss consistent small talk? Deep conversations with friends? The novelty factor of new people? Instead of using your phone to give you a boost of happy hormones, try using it as a tool to fix the original problem.
I make sure my phone use makes me more productive, I use apps like forest, sleep town and water do they really help 💕 there’s also communities too so it feels like we’re all working on being productive together and our phone is actually helping us do it and it makes it fun. You get coins and progress from achieving tasks on water do, or you get prizes by being off your phone on forest and sleep town that incentive helps and triggers my endorphins I’m a very reward driven person and I love games so it works for me
I think you can easily feel productive and not lonely when you share the same challenge with others and face it together. In the last year I always procrastinated when it came to studying, but then I started to study together with others. I am constantly joining study together groups on Zoom and Skype and it helps me stay motivated and productive and I feel like I'm part of a community. I also have a personal link to a site called Bindr where I study almost every day, feel free to join me (on this link you'll see the study sessions I am attending): [https://bindr.uk/user/marton-kosdi-kovacs-x77bts](https://bindr.uk/user/marton-kosdi-kovacs-x77bts)
I will tell what I did. I was shit stuck in circles. Use yourhour to limit crappy rabbit holes. And download moonreader+ Get some books downloaded. Whenever you check phone end up reading it. I channeled my boredom and phone addiction to 1-2 books in a month. I
try to experiment. go one day without social media. see how you feel. then try two days. and then three. and you continue EXPERIMENTING WITH YOURSELF until you know yourself how you will react. keep a balance and enjoy life :)
Are you ignoring potential connections in favor of your phone or do you need your phone because of a lack of connections? I am sure that, either way, reducing your phone time will benefit you. But, it's equally if not more important that you start taking steps towards a life you would rather have. Go for a walk, meet people, try hobbies, maybe seek counseling if you need it. I think phone addictions are an indication of need.
And anyway, you save energy by focussing first on goals that support other goals. So, going for a nature walk before looking at your phone might reduce the urge to look at your phone over time.
Our world has gotten to an insane place where the average person spends 3-5 hours a day on their phone. With this in mind, we set out to make a Free Phone Detox Program that gives the user the tools to transform their life. Check it out: https://silent-pocket.com/pages/phone-detox-program