I can't do anything without watching or listening to something

[BarbaraVineFan]

Getting a bit worried because I think I am quite addicted to my phone. In particular I find it impossible to do washing up/cleaning/tidying etc without either watching something or listening to an audiobook. At night I am exhausted (single mum working full time) but I either scroll mindlessly until I can't keep my eyes open, or put an audiobook on to fall asleep to, otherwise I can't sleep. I don't know if this is normal or if i should do something about it, and if so, what? Any advice appreciated, I feel quite manic and as though I can't relax :(

Sounds a bit OTT.

Happy to have something on in the background and indeed I do almost all of the time, either the radio or a CD.
Love an audiobook or radio play but unless it is something I know back to front, I need to get able to listen to it without distractions so leave them for when I am at a loose end and can just chill.
To wind down I read.

Phone never goes into the bedroom (and is turned off at night anyway) and I put myself to sleep by reading a chapter or two.
Maybe you need to separate yourself from your phone as you sound a bit dependant of it?
Put it to one side and turn on the radio. Play a CD or DVD, something that does not involve using your phone.
Read a book.

I’m the same, but I have been like that long before smartphones.

If I’m doing housework, cooking, washing up then the radio is on. Same when I’m getting dressed in the morning. Gardening, I listen to podcasts or an audio book.
Radio 4 was always on when I was a child. As soon as I left home I would have the radio on too all around the house. When I had a cleaning job I would listen to my Walkman. I remember taking a small transistor radio with me on the train and listening through headphones.

Smartphones have made it worse I think. Like right now, I’m in the bath typing this, when I could be reading my book.

I'm like this but I have adhd.

Same 🖐

I'm like this too and I don't have ADHD according to my psychiatrist. I just like to have noise in the background. I always have music/TV/podcasts on the go and work much better with it.

Same..
AuDHD 😅✌️

Also same

I do this too. I find cleaning extremely boring without something on in the background and I’m more likely to ‘take a break’ before the job is finished and then never come back to it if I’m bored. I don’t have ADHD as far as I know but maybe that’s something I should look into.

I'm also like this and I've been working on it with my therapist. In moderation it doesn't bother me - I find being able to listen to something interesting while I'm doing something dull (commuting, housework) is a treat. But I worry about the impact of so much phone time on my attention span, my ability to be present, creativity (never being bored), amongst other things.

Here are some rules I've set for myself which are helping (most doable using the Screen Time app):

• phone shuts down between 10pm and 8am - that means the very end of the day and (more importantly) the very beginning of my day are my time to be present without the outside world immediately invading. I appreciate I'm currently cheating.
• Phone totally shuts down, save for essential apps after 3 hours of screen time in a day.
• Deleted Insta and TikTok apps from my phone.
• Certain apps have their own time limits each day - e.g. audible and podcasts are 1 hour 30.
• Once or twice a week testing myself to be in the moment e.g. be in a cafe and just focusing on the food I'm eating phone in bag no headphones in.

I do and am also a single parent. I think it's company in a way. I often go days without chatting to another adult (except my adult daughter but I'm a carer for her so it's not the same) especially during school holidays.
It's also a distraction from the monotony of my life! I suppose I think it's better than my internal dialogue which has nothing interesting going on.

It's typically not on when kids are home and I do try to take breaks like going for a walk with no music or anything, and pay attention to nature or whatever is around. If I have the chance to sit down I read or similar.

Can you take breaks? Or could you start? Just to see if you can.

I do this too…sometimes when I start manically refreshing YouTube or getting really cross on MN I put my iPad downstairs and read my kindle.

For me, it’s a distraction from loneliness and anxiety. If I’m exhausted (I have chronic fatigue/autistic burnout) it’s far easier to read stuff on here than concentrate on a book.

Just realised that I have been mindlessly scrolling for 3 hours. Deleting tiktok right now and am going to set a timer tomorrow!

Thanks everyone. I.have considered that I might have ADHD, but in other ways I don't fit the profile. To be honest I think I just need to start to make some rules for myself as some PP have suggested. Unfortunately I don't have much willpower :(

You could try something like headspace as a compromise? So you're still using your phone and listening to something but being mindful and trying to relax your nervous system. You could also try relaxing hypnosis videos on YouTube, it's basically guided meditation. Could be a good first step?