Smartphone addiction, need to stop

[BadgersGalore]

I've wasted another day pissing around on my phone when I should be exercising, reading a book, doing housework etc. Instead I've read threads on here that have absolutely no relevance to my life, been researching and buying things on Amazon, and read several Wikipedia articles about Queen Victoria and her distant bastard relations, I mean what the fuck. Such a stupid stupid waste of time and I feel so idiotic for not having the self control to just leave my phone alone and get on with stuff!

I downloaded an app once for blocking websites but found it complicated and couldn't find a way to just allow Google for instance so I deleted it. Tbh I probably got distracted by other things on my phone and didn't concentrate on how to use it.

Please tell me what's worked for you, preferably really simple things. I can't keep wasting my life like this and I hate feeling such a failure when I've done the same thing again another day

Yes I'm with you. Weirdly I've now reached a stage where I feel physically unwell being on my phone on a day to day basis. My back aches and I feel a bit headachey and weird. My hands also ache from clasping the phone. But the way it captures my attention means I can't easily put it down, despite the adverse effects. Wonder if anyone else has physical symptoms from phone use?

I use mine more than I would like as well 😞

I can honestly relate to this. I was in a very similar situation for a while—I'd pick up my phone for one small thing and somehow end up wasting hours scrolling, watching random videos, or researching things I didn't even need to know.
What helped me was actually working on the habit instead of just relying on willpower. A friend recommended this video to me, and I found the practical approach really useful. I started applying some of the things it suggested, and over time I was able to get much better control over my phone use.
Sharing it in case it helps someone else who's struggling with the same thing:

Improving my iron levels has helped me more than anything, bizarre as that sounds. I can usually tell when I've slacked off on my supplements by the amount of time I'm spending online increasing. You want ferritin to be at least 100 and transferrin saturation at least 20%.