At the beginning of the academic school year, I decided I needed to limit the time I spent on my phone if I was going to have a successful semester, given the workload I was taking on. I started with a one-hour time limit on the TikTok app and focused on my intentions with my social media use. This meant I didn’t have a time limit on any other apps, but when I caught myself scrolling mindlessly I had to put my phone down.
Several years ago I learned about the “3-Second Rule” which says when you are procrastinating a task, instead of continuing to put it off, you stand up and do something actionable in regard to the task (or you complete the task itself). With this method and enough self-discipline, you push yourself to complete the task before you can convince yourself that you don’t need to do it at that moment. Implementing this rule in my life changed both my procrastination habits and my social media usage.
But the one hour I had allowed myself on TikTok was still not enough for me to feel a responsible and controlled change. Amid the chaos of the short-lived TikTok ban earlier this year, I had even more time away from my devices to reflect on the amount of time I was spending on my phone and the type of content I was consuming.
During the 15-hour period without access to the TikTok app, I was forced to spend a reasonable amount of time on my phone and realized that this was my opportunity to make a big change in my life.
When I was originally considering this stricter, self-controlled limit on my TikTok usage, I convinced myself I needed to keep the app for fear of missing out on social news and funny trends. This held me back from deleting TikTok for a while until I decided to give it a try regardless of my hesitation. When I recognized my fear of missing out, or “FOMO,” as a driving force in my relationship with social media, I knew I had to make a change to see how my life would change without a heavy reliance on my phone.
Since the ban, I have implemented a new phone rule in my life. I allow myself 20 minutes of scrolling time thanks to the Screen Time function in the iPhone settings. I limited the major “doom-scrolling” apps like Instagram, X, and Snapchat and completely restricted TikTok.
Self-control and self-discipline were the two major motivations on my journey. I set the limits on my phone, and I could have changed them or overridden them at any time, but I didn’t. I wanted to prove to myself that not only could I go without TikTok but that I didn’t need it to feel happy.
While committing to this intentional media lifestyle, I found that I didn’t need to mindlessly scroll when I got bored. I learned to be confident without having to hide behind my phone. When I am waiting for class to start or to meet my friends somewhere, I try to be mindful of unproductive screen time use. Opening apps just to scroll for a couple of minutes isolates you and your phone from reality. When I can look up, away from my phone, I open myself up to more conversations, real social exchanges, and more opportunities.
Over two months after the ban, my social media habits have changed for the better, and I have erased the dependency I had on my phone. As of late, I don’t use the full 20 minutes of screen time on my social media apps. Since January, my screen time has decreased by more than 50%, and my daily scroll time is less than 30 minutes.
Making this major change has provided me with more time to get my work done, decreased my levels of stress, and enforced a habit of fact-checking and finding reliable news sources. Before making this change, I was overstimulating myself by forcing my brain to take in loads of unimportant information. With better habits, I can give proper attention to the areas of my life I was neglecting when I would spend hours on TikTok while still staying in the know.
Ultimately, my experience has been overwhelmingly positive, and I encourage others to limit their screen time use or to simply focus on being mindful about it. No step is too small. Self-control and self-discipline will guide your journey if you are committed to making a serious change.