Everyday, since we wake up until we fall asleep, our cellphones are with us all the time. All your life is in there: friends, family, your favorites songs, movies, series. But sometimes we forget there’s a real life without the mobile. Nowadays, people are increasingly addicted to cell phones, they are always in our pocket or in our hands. Did you ever unlocked your cell phone, looked at the homepage and did nothing? We have this need to open your phone at all times, even if we don’t have anything to see.
Based on myself experience, here are 10 steps to start disconnecting from your cell phone and enjoy more real life.
10 Steps to Disconnect From Your Phone
#1 App Moment: This app monitors the time you spend on your cell phone. It analyzes everything: the number of pickups, the apps you use the most, the difference of time you use your phone from one day to another and even your sleep time.
#2 Put an alarm to stop using the phone: That time you take to relax and use your phone, put an alarm to 30 minutes for example to turn off the phone and get up for a little time.
#3 Put your cell phone in the drawer: When you try to not use your phone, but you pick it up all the time, turn it off and put it in the drawer or somewhere else you’ll not see it. Even when you make your meals, watch a movie or make any other activite, leave your phone there.
#4 Turn off the notifications: One thing that make you look to the phone all the time are the notifications. We’re always expecting the “beep” to look and see what’s new (but it’s not always that new). If you turn off the notifications, specially from the social medias, when you pick up your mobile and see nothing in the blockscreen, you will not unlock it and spend hours in this virtual world.
#5 Take vacations from your phone: If you’re going to take a trip with your family or friends for three days or one week, leave your phone at home and enjoy more the experience! You’ll not need to check your social medias because you’ll be living real life.
#6 Be sociable in the real life: It’s a fact that we chat more in social medias then in real life. Even when we are with our friends, someone always will be using your smartphone. But my advice is: when you are hanging out with your friends, leave the cell phone away, you and your friends will enjoy more the company of eachother!
#7 Rethink the way you use your cell phone: The next time you feel the need to use it, stop and think, “Do I really need to send a message to this person now? Or can I do it later?”.
#8 Reduce the time you spend on your mobile: This is a very difficult task, I understand. Start, for example, by opening the cell phone only once every 30 minutes, then once every two hours, and so on.
#9 Don’t sleep with the cell phone next to you: This can be the hardest tip to follow, because we always take a last look at the mobile before fall asleep and most of people put the alarm clock on the phone. But there are several studies of the curses causes by sleeping near the cell phone, besides look to the screen in the night is bad for sleep. Try to use your phone before going to bed and leave it far from your bed, even from your bedroom.
#10 Keep busy: It’s true that the smartphone have millions of functions and you can do alot of things with it. But there’s a real life where you also can do another milion thing without your cell phone. Work out, cook, go out with friends or even alone… Enjoy real life! The more activities you are occupied with, the less addicted with your phone you will be.