How to Break Your Phone Addiction

Don’t deny it, you know it’s true.  You’re as addicted to your smartphone as the other 200 million people who check them obsessively every two minutes.  We live in a strange new world where half the things you want to pay attention to are streamed to your smartphone and carried with you everywhere you go.

Smartphone addiction is exceedingly prevalent among western countries and many of us are already starting to notice the withdrawal symptoms associated with smartphone anxiety.   In many ways this is because we are relying on the phone for connection, like a security blanket or umbilical cord, rather than our immediate surroundings.   This has many effects on your social skills, your relationships, your energy levels, concentration, and general mental health.

Here are 5 ways to start curbing this obsessive compulsion and break the smartphone addiction.

1.      Turn it to Silent

The most distracting aspect of the smartphone is that it beeps and vibrates at you all the time.  Every email, text, and Facebook update breaks into your concentration and focus.  Keep it silent so that you only check it when you think about it, rather than every time the device makes a hiccup.

2.      Leave it in the Car

When you’re out enjoying time with friends, it’s frustrating when someone pulls out a phone to disconnect from the in-person conversation to engage someone who isn’t there.  Instead of ruining your social time with friends, leave the phone in the car and enjoy a meal or a shopping trip without interruption.

3.      Disable Notifications

Those darn push notifications are the devil.  In addition to making your phone stay silent all day, you can disable these notifications in the Settings of each app.  It will cut down on your phone time when you aren’t being pestered by the thing.

4.      Uninstall Time-Wasting Apps and Games

This will be a hard one for most people but you don’t really need to be tapping at your Candy Crush like a some robot when there are people around and other things to do.  Get rid of the time-wasting apps that don’t do anything for you.  Minimize your smartphone to a tool you use to connect with people, not distract your mind.

5.      Designate “No-Data” Time

One of the most important things you can do to break an internet and/or smartphone addiction is to designate certain times as “no-data” time.  You shut off all electronic devices, including your phone, for a family dinner or a date, or maybe just for an hour a day to make room for “Me time.