How To Get Rid Of Screen Addiction

It’s no secret that screens have ingrained themselves into contemporary culture. Many people’s everyday lives depend on their smartphones, tablets, and computer monitors. The risk of being reliant on and addicted to these devices increases as technology permeates more and more aspects of our lives. Follow these steps to eliminate your dependency and addiction to these screen devices if you’re already suffering from screen addiction or want to prevent yourself from moving in that direction (you can see some of the telltale indications of screen addiction and dependency here).

Restrict The Screen Time

Setting a restriction or a goal you want to accomplish will help you overcome your screen addiction and dependence, even though it may at first seem tough. Then, choose a daily usage limit that works for you. This might be anything from 30 minutes to 3 hours. Once you’ve decided on a daily limit, give it a try for a week before gradually extending it to two weeks, then a month, and so on. After some time, you’ll start to lose the fear of being without your phone and discover alternative methods to pass the time.

Stop using Social Media

If you’re not yet ready to entirely cut back on your mile usage, consider just temporarily using less or no social media. Social media can be stressful and can hypnotize you into aimlessly scrolling through feeds for hours at a time. Consider deactivating or deleting your social media accounts for a week, but keep using your phone for other activities like messaging, making calls, and internet surfing. It might help you unplug from your gadget and offer you some breathing room if you’re a sucker for social media.

Discover Alternative Activities to Pass the Time

Take advantage of all the opportunities the world has to offer! You may try finding a hobby or activity instead of staring at your phone while browsing TikTok or playing another round of CandyCrush. Reading, playing sports, or simply just getting out of the house and exploring your town or neighborhood are excellent methods to pass the time more effectively. While we want to avoid using mobile phones, you can still utilize other types of screen-less technology. If you want anything to distract you from your phone withdrawal while you’re working, you can just plug in some headphones and listen to some music or a relaxing podcast.

Charge your Phone in a Different Space

Charge your phone outside of your bedroom at night if you can. It can be all too tempting to take up our phones while we’re still in bed and continue scrolling. You won’t be awake all night staring at the blue light from your phone’s screen if you charge your phone overnight in a different room, which eliminates the need to check and use it. The majority of critical calls, messages, and emails arrive during the day, not at 3 in the morning, so while this won’t reduce your phone use during the day, it can improve your sleep and encourage you to reduce unnecessary phone use.

Disable Notifications

We love how notifications let us know when something crucial requires our attention. Regrettably, the majority of smartphone notifications are from game or commerce apps and are just ordinary spam. You can disable all notifications excluding those that are crucial, such as those from messaging applications and incoming calls, to stop your eyes from straying to your phone and to stop your screen from lighting up and pinging every few minutes. While avoiding other messages that can catch your attention and trigger your screen addiction, you’ll still receive notifications about crucial items in this way.

Keep your Gadgets At Home

Before you leave for the day, decide to leave your laptop, tablet, and any other screen devices at home. This goes for your phone as well.

You can break free from your continual reliance and screen addiction by leaving your devices at home, which may also help you realize how much you’re missing out on while your eyes are glued to a screen.

It may be beneficial for you to make efforts to overcome your screen addiction, but it can be challenging to maintain your progress. Try to substitute screen-free activities with screen-based ones as much as you can to avoid reverting to your old habits.

Your home screen’s contents should be kept to a minimum. Put nothing but your calendar, email, and other daily-use items up and center. Place all other programs, such as games and recipe apps, in folders or go to the second or third screen. You’ll be less likely to use them if you don’t immediately notice them.

To locate apps, just type. It’s very simple to tap! Sometimes we do it automatically because it’s so simple. Yet, if you have to take a moment to write the app’s name, your mind has a moment to reflect on whether you need to play another round of Candy Crush.

Delete social media apps from your phone. If you just use Facebook and Instagram on a computer, you’ll probably be more deliberate about when and when you use them. You might be shocked to learn how much time you spend on these applications if you regularly use social media. Consider the source of your need to add them back on your phone when you feel the urge.
Outside of your bedroom, charge your phone. It’s so simple to roll over, press the snooze button on your buzzing phone, and open the day’s emails or the most recent headlines. But is it the habit you truly want to form? Also, having a phone next to the bed has been linked to sleep issues in children. Get a vintage alarm clock, and keep phones away from those sleeping at night. Battle fire with fire. Ironically, downloading apps and extensions can help you become more aware of what you’re doing by removing some triggers that designers and engineers intentionally incorporated into their products. To lessen the phone’s stimulating blue light, Harris suggests using applications like Moment, Freedom, and InboxWhenReady as well as Apple’s Night Shift option. Other tools and programs that can assist both children and adults in reducing digital distraction include some that can help children maintain their attention while using technology.

To assist families in making informed decisions about media and technology, Common Sense Media is an independent nonprofit organization that provides unbiased ratings and reliable guidance.