We’ve all been there, taking a break from studying to scroll through a few TikToks when boom, two hours flies by and your break has just cost you your sleep, a 4.0 GPA, and some brain cells. Maybe thats not exactly what happens to you, but I think I can speak for most college students when I say that our phones are our biggest distractors. It is so easy to get sucked into the world of social media or caught up texting a friend when we only planned to reply once.
The sad truth is, our phones cost us a lot of time and productivity, and this can easily become a cycle of unhealthy overconsumption and self-loathing. The good news is that there are so many ways to help limit your phone use so that it does not interfere with your tasks at hand. Here are a few of the ways I have overcome overconsumption on my phone and made more time for the things that matter:
Notifications: OFF
Notifications might be the biggest attention shifter known to modern day human. Even when you start your work and your phone is off, when the screen lights up in the corner of your eye, it is incessantly signaling your brain to check it. One small thing that helped me tremendously was putting my phone on DND when working, but I would take that a step further and silence notifications for specific apps all the time.
Going into my iPhone settings and turning my notifications off for Snapchat, for example, allowed me to be much more present and productive than before, when I would always feel the urge to check what snaps I was sent instantly throughout the day. Now, when I have free time, I check Snapchat to see what I missed without getting sucked in and using it as a distraction for something else. If there are any apps that are living in your head rent free, set some boundaries by turning its notifications off.
Time Limits: On
If you go into your iPhone settings and search ‘Screen Time’ you will find several different settings that allow you to limit your time on certain apps and even certain people. Putting time limits on apps keeps you self aware and helps manage your usage to a healthy amount. In the Summer especially, I would find myself wasting hours scrolling through TikTok and Instagram without even realizing it. Coming out of three consecutive hours of phone use, I would feel disappointed and ashamed.
By setting limits on TikTok and Instagram, I get a pop up when my usage exceeds the time limit I set for it. When the pop up comes up, it gives the option to continue on the app for one more minute, fifteen more minutes, or to ignore the time limit for today. I find this immensely helpful in improving self awareness and getting me out of my fixation when engaged with these media platforms. Now, because I put restrictions for myself, I can be sure I am not spending more than an hour a day watching TikToks and liking Instagram posts.
Monitoring Screen Time
Is your daily screen time between 1-4 hours, 4-8 hours, or 8-12 hours? Have you ever checked? I started checking, and realizing the majority of my day was spent staring at my phone screen was eye opening and eerie. I decided to set a goal for myself to keep my screen time under 4 hours each day. Whenever I caught myself using my phone for a long period of time, I would think of my goal, check my screen time, and decide to utilize my remaining screen time hours in a mindful way.
Just by choosing to be aware of how many hours I spent on my phone, I was able to decrease it by almost half. I used to range at about 7 hours per day, and now it averages at around 4 and a half hours every day. I understand how many people utilize their phones for important things such as work, music, and checking emails, but just be conscious of if the majority of time is spent doing mindless scrolling.
Don’t Be Hard on Yourself
Healthy phone usage is an important skill that we are not taught and that can be hard to manage with all of the stimulation it gives us. No amount of guilt or shame will help break the habit, only conscious awareness and implementation can. Allow yourself to enjoy what makes you happy and don’t let limiting your phone use cause you to neglect the free time to relax that you deserve!