PHONE ADDICTION

[dreamingofgoodhair]

Has anyone beat a phone addiction? Some weeks my daily average is over 12 hours. Today I have consciously tried to keep off it. I even ironed which I never do. Have watched a couple of episodes on catch up , have tried reading but can’t concentrate.

AIBU for traffic.

I have a massive phone addiction and would love nothing more than to beat it. Ive no idea how to though.

I feel you! Just this week just started to make a converted effort to reduce mine as I have beecome so addicted it’s genuinely worrying , so far (it’s only been a few days ) i feel like I’m already making some progress! Here’s some things I’ve done:

• set oh phone to greyscale - far less visually appealing and I think it’s helped subconsciously
• Reading! Whenever I get the edge for my phone I pick up my kindle instead , setting a timer for a set about of time where I have to read uninterrupted
• screen time limiting apps - this probably has been the most helpful, as it physically stops you from accessing apps , you can either put on full blocks , timed blocks , or delay opening apps which makes you wait before they open and restricts how long you can use them for when you do
• no phone when I wake up/ before work or before bed ( reading instead)

I may be being optimistic but I think I already find myself reaching for my phone less and I feel more present, still a long way to go though!!

Yes I hear you .

made worse atm with me being off work (summer holls) and starting affiliate book selling on booktok (how can I leave it alone when I have made an extra £1000 over the last 3 months? )

last few days I have been uploading a sales video then setting an Alexa timer for one hour and leaving my phone for an hour until timer goes off .

it’s helped get a few jobs done if nothing else

I think phone addiction is a massive problem for many OP. I can see that my teen DD has a massive problem and a day spent on her phone directly impacts her mood. I do think it massively affects our mental and physical health in ways we don’t yet fully understand. It doesn’t help that everyday life brings you back to using the phone, banking, parking, shopping etc and then a quick look at Instagram and before you know it an hours of your life is wasted. What has helped me is deleting the apps that suck me in and being more mindful about the idea that the algorithms are designed to keep me scrolling.

I have a massive problem as well. I am thinking of using an old Nokia and asking my DH to take my phone to work out of the way incase anyone WhatsApp’s me.

Desperate

My daily average is now about 2 hours (most of that is what’s app because I video call my SIL) I have a toddler and read an article about how bad it is for them to see you on your phone all the time. I literally had to rebuild my attention span! It’s crazy

I also have a huge problem with phone addiction. I think I use it when I want to dissociative from the stress of family life. I don't want to give up WhatsApp and there are various other apps (banking, spotify, school etc.) I need. I also want my camera, and to be able use satnav... Does a phone exist that can do all this but not allow me to endlessly scroll videos/social media/doom news and lose hours of time?

I was doing 8 hours daily at one point and the only thing that helped was to remove all social media and news app off it .
i have them on a tablet but not on my phone.
i also don’t take any devices upstairs

I stopped letting Apple send me those summaries of screen time… they just made me feel bad, even though it lumps in doing a sudoku, reading the news and doing a crossword with pissing around on Instagram, so doesn’t really mean anything anyway

Mine is really bad at the moment too. Would love to hear how others have overcome it. It's a disassociation thing for me too. I'm losing so much of my time and I hate it.

Me too. Mine is awful. I like to listen to audiobooks on it but can just doomscroll for hours. You’re not alone.

I’ve turned off notifications on social media but I definitely need to do more. I hate it, it’s a real problem for me at the moment, the hot weathers made it so much worse. I’ve seen a thing you can tap which turns off app. I think it’s called brick - I know you can do this without a gadget but it obviously is a conscious easy way of doing it.

If you just listen to books does it count towards usage ? I play mine through Bluetooth in the car.

8.36 average daily last week.
Better than the 12.46 which was my highest 😱

I think you just have to delete stuff.
I did delete a load of games but then just downloaded more.

That’s really good. Also really bad that 2 hours is seen as good 😩

Good idea. Mine is worse when I’m off work. I can use my phone at work , not to scroll or anything , but I can look at messages and e mails.

I recently deleted TikTok and instagram and stopped going on anything with the short reels. They completely shot my concentration span. I’ve downloaded the kindle app to my phone instead. My concentration span has improved so much in the past couple of weeks.. I’m able to enjoy ‘normal’ tv like Netflix again and am reading loads more

I recommend reading How to break up with your phone.

you're not going to crack it in 24 hours. you need to stick at it for at least a week.

Agreed. Longer probably.

Just came off Mumsnet to order this and went down a different rabbit hole on my phone before remembering what I was going to do. Books arriving tomorrow 😆 thanks.

The only thing thing that helped me was using the "Lock me out" app. Set so I could use my phone for only an hour a day (excluding making actual phone calls, the alarm, and unaddictive stuff like that).

Unfortunately I stopped using it when I went on holiday and my use has increased again.

Yes you can do this using "Lock me out" app. You can set time restrictions but allow apps like satnav and camera to be excluded from the restrictions.

Delete your worst apps. Worked wonders for me!