How many times while checking your phone have you gone on any social media platform thinking you’ll scroll through the feed for five minutes and magically ended up on your friend’s sister’s uncle’s cat’s page an hour later? (guilty!)
It is safe to say that a majority of people start their day and end it by checking their phone.
It is evident that going on social media all day is detrimental to our health and needs to be stopped. But if I’m being honest, it is really hard to stop doing it.
With most of the essentials in our day to day life easily accessible through our phones, it is almost inevitable to not spend a minimum of at least an hour checking our phone.
Excluding our essentials like online classes, emails, etc. we often find ourselves constantly refreshing our social media apps to get the latest updates and check our likes, followers and what not.
This is basically a part two of my Social media is ruining your life and you know it. If you haven’t already read that, I recommend you read it before reading this!
4 Ways To Limit Screen Time
1. Stop Taking Phone Breaks
Many a times after studying for some time we decide to take a “phone break” for a few minutes which we all know lasts for more than an hour.
This is the number one mistake most people (including me) do.
While it is essential we take small breaks in between our study sessions, especially if you’re in college (too many subjects), we need to make sure it doesn’t involve a phone!
I say this because it is so easy to get distracted and these phone breaks don’t even help you feel fresh for your next study session.
A break should essentially be something that doesn’t involve too much thinking.
By this I mean, you should not stress your brain (or even eyes for that matter) with energy consuming activities.
Instead of phone breaks, you can organize your room or talk to someone or even meditate.
Basically, the key is to perform all the high-energy requirement tasks (studying) and then doing some low-energy tasks (meditate, paint, walk).
2. Optimize Phone Usage
The biggest problem with social media is it is very easy to lose track of time scrolling. This happens when you don’t optimize your usage.
By this I mean, check your social media with a reason in mind which could be replying to someone’s text or catching up on the latest news.
Close the app immediately after completing your work. Many advice channels say delete all your apps, sell your phone and live in a forest to limit the checking of our phone.
This is not possible because we have lives! What you can do instead is bookmark the certain groups where you discuss projects (it could be anything).
The next time you go on Facebook to check your group messages, you go to the chat box directly and not to the home page where the chances of getting distracted is high!
3. Delete Unnecessary Apps
The number one reason for checking our phone is all the unnecessary apps on it.
The best way to simplify your life is by doing a digital detox. Remove all the unnecessary apps and photos and any other junk that could cause any distractions.
Don’t mind missing out on small things (like social media likes) so you can focus on the better/ fulfilling things like getting your assignments done on time or spending time with your friends/family.
If you have no business on Twitter, go ahead and delete it. Likewise with any other app.
This doesn’t mean you have to delete all your apps! Optimization is key here!
4. Set A Time Limit
There are many apps coming up with features where you can limit your watch time. Set a timer for 20-30 minutes watch time and stick to it.
Make it a habit to not check your phone before a certain time for example, you could make it a practice to not check your phone before afternoon.
The most important part of setting a timer is to actually stop using your phone once the timer goes off.
These were some of the tips to limit or decrease your screen time. This takes a lot of re-programming in your brain and perseverance as it won’t happen overnight.
What are some other tips which you think will work effectively in decreasing your screen time?? Leave them in the comment section down below.
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Very useful tips
Great tips, Divya. I added a link to this article in my post called “Social Media – Benefit or Nightmare?” and also added your site to my ‘favorite sites’ menu. Good work!
I am always trying to decrease time spent on phone because it becomes a habit. Thanks for the tips.
Great tips! I think it’s so important noting how much time we spend on our phones. It may not seem like a lot now, but it accumulates over time and becomes a massive amount of time you could have spent investing in yourself! Great Read!
Great advice! It’s unfortunate that many of us have grown addicted to our phones over the years. I will definitely try this!
Good information.
Great tips! I love deleting apps from my phone! 🙂