How can I Stop using my phone so much?
These habits are terrible for our wellbeing - and we all know that - but why? Here are just some reasons:
LOWERS CONCENTRATION: Excessive mobile phone use leads to poor concentration. “the mere presence of a cell phone may be sufficiently distracting to damage attention".
REDUCES MEMORY: Phone messages and notifications are distracting and disrupt tasks, participants in one study who used mobile phones excessively had slower response times in memory tasks.
WARPS VIEW ON REALITY: Social media presents a distorted view on reality. No-one is as happy as they seem on Instagram. By nature, we then compare our lives to these false realities. This comparison to others can be stressful, promoting a fear of failure. It can also encourages FOMO.
STRESS AND ANXIETY: Excessive use of mobile phones is bad for your psychological health. Constant over-use of mobile phones leads to increased anxiety, feelings of loneliness, and low self-esteem. Reliance on mobile phones can also cause irritation, frustration, and impatience when they cannot be used.
MAKES YOU SLEEP WORSE: Those who have their mobiles in the bedroom sleep for shorter durations than those who don’t. One possible reason is that the brightness of the backlight on your phone delays the sleep hormone, melatonin, from being released, keeping you awake for longer.
So what would we rather? Well we don’t all want to go and live in a remote cabin with no phone – so we need to find that better relationship which looks like this:
All these habits can help reduce anxiety, stress and help us sleep better. But HOW can we get habits like that?
Using James Clear's laws of behaviour change (if you want to know more about that then i really recommend his book Atomic Habits), Here are some suggestions:
Make it invisible: If you cant see it (or reach it easily) you are less likely to start scrolling.
- Keep off your desk at work
- Put in a drawer at weekends
- Charge away from your bed
Make it unattractive: this is a way to help ourselves not want to grab the phone in the first place. Be honest with yourself. Do you really need all those apps installed? Delete it and give it a week to find out. This includes email. Of you cant delete it, disable notifications
- Delete “noisy” apps
- Disable notifications
Make it difficult: The point of this is to create some friction which helps you stop yourself! Install the Freedom app on your laptop and mobile phone and use schedules to block Twitter, LinkedIn, and email (or any apps you are distracted by) for certain hours of the day.
Make it unsatisfying - all the above makes it unsatisfying - so you can start to develop GOOD phone habits.
I work with Small business Founders and with organisations to help people improve their operational effectiveness and wellbeing. This is achieved using a mentoring approach to give people the skills, knowledge and confidence to take control, banish the overwhelm and get organised for good. If you want to find out more you can contact me here on my website https://unscrambleme.co.uk/contact or email me on Litsa@unscrambleme.co.uk - get in touch any time!
