“How to Break the Phone Habit?”

Do You Need to Cut Back? A number of apps can tell you how much time you spend on your phone and how long you’re in each app. Even if you don’t think you’re on your phone too much, seeing the cold, hard numbers may inspire you to put it down.

 

Turn Off Alerts: It’s easier to ignore your phone if it doesn’t buzz every few seconds with a text, email, or social media update. They’ll all be there, no matter how long you wait to you check your phone, and you might feel better and more productive if you let them linger a bit. If you can’t afford to miss some things -- say a message from your spouse or kid -- you can set your phone so only certain texts get through.

 

Put a Rubber Band on Your Phone: It’s a little reminder to turn off the part of your brain that does things without thinking. If a rubber band is too annoying, try a screensaver that asks “Do you really need to get into your phone?” It might save you that 45 minutes of mindless scrolling through pictures of farmhouses before you remember that you don’t really like farmhouses. 

 

Get an Alarm Clock: When you use your phone’s alarm to wake up in the morning, you’re more likely to get sucked into checking your email, texts, and social media. An alarm clock keeps the phone out of your hands at least a few more minutes. Other ideas include charging it overnight in another room and setting a specific time to look at it in the morning. 

 

Go Cold Turkey: Some experts suggest going without your phone for 3 days. That can help you kick bad phone habits and find new, healthier things to do instead. You can ease your way back into using it -- say, just calls and texts at certain times -- then gradually start to do other things if you decide you want to again.

 

Tech-Free Time: If you can’t imagine life without your phone for 3 days, set aside certain times that are phone-free in your household. (You may want to include other digital devices, too.) That might be an hour or so each evening before dinner or every Sunday afternoon. Go for a walk, or play cards or a board game -- anything that gives you a chance to talk and engage with one another.  

 

Plan Some Offline Fun: Try something simple like reading a book or going to the park with your dog. No need to post pictures about any of that on social media. Instead, invite some friends to meet you for coffee or a jog and see them in person. Tell them you’re turning your phone off, and they may decide to do the same.

 

Create Phone-Free Zones: It’s not a great idea to take your phone out in the bathroom. Mainly, for reasons of basic hygiene, but also because it can be good to keep your phone out of certain parts of your life. Those also might include meetings, playtime with your kids, and driving. It’s a healthy way to get used to short amounts of time without it.

 

‘Do Not Disturb’: Some smartphones have a setting that lets you limit certain parts of your phone during a set time every day. For example, you could stop all calls and aler­­ts between 5 and 9 p.m. and after midnight. 

 

Get Rid of Apps: Those games are designed to keep you coming back for more, but they can’t if they’re not there. You just might be able to get by with phone, text, and email on your phone -- you can check social media when you’re on your computer.

 

Helpful Tools: Some apps can help limit the time you spend on your phone by locking you out of certain things during set times of day or after you’ve spent a specific amount of time on them. Others offer encouragement or reward you with time after you’ve done things like take 5,000 steps in a day.

 

Talk the (Right) Talk: You’re more likely to leave your phone in your pocket if you say “I don’t check my phone at dinner” than if you say “I can’t check my phone at dinner.” It might be because “can’t” suggests you’ve been denied something, but scientists don’t know exactly why that one word can make a difference.  

 

Manage Expectations: If you want to spend less time on your phone but are concerned that people will think you’re rude or get upset if you don’t respond quickly, just tell them. Say you’re trying to break the phone habit and it might be a while before you get back to them.

 

Trade Your Smartphone for a ‘Dumbphone’: If the temptation of a pocket-sized computer is just too much, a cellphone that can only call and text might be a solution. It can’t download apps or access the Internet, but it's much less expensive and might be just the thing that sets you free. 

Reviewed by Melinda Ratini, DO, MS on March 22, 2018

Carnegie Mellon University Human-Computer Interaction Institute and Telefonica Research: “Productive, Anxious, Lonely - 24 Hours Without Push Notifications.”
Gallup: “Most U.S. Smartphone Owners Check Phone at Least Hourly.”
Journal of Consumer Research: “ 'I Don’t' versus 'I Can’t': When Empowered Refusal Motivates Goal-Directed Behavior.”
National Unplugging Day: “Dr Richard Graham Shares his Insight and Tips on Technology Addiction.”
The University of Chicago Press: “Can 1 simple strategy help consumers say 'no' to temptation?”
USC News: “Long-term behavior change is key to creating healthy habits, research shows.”

Much Love, Dr.Shermaine #InformativeRead #PleaseShare #HealthyBodySoulAndSpirit #IWantYou2Live

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"We charge our cell phones daily, sometimes multiple times in a day, but let our marriages die. If your smart phone receives more daily charging than your spouse, then you're spending way too much time talking to the wrong people."

"We live in a world where losing your cell phone is more traumatic than losing your virginity."

"The cell phone has become the adult's transitional object, replacing the toddler's teddy bear for comfort and a sense of belonging." (Margaret 

Heffernan)

"Would I buy a cell phone for my 12-year old? No. I should have closer control over my child than that. He really shouldn't be in places where he needs to contact me by cell." (Stephen Baker)

"It seems more money and energy is spent protecting the phone than the child using it. Broken phones can be made new. Broken kids can't!" (Shelly Tiffin)

"Your cell phone has already replaced your camera, your calendar, and your alarm clock. Don't let it replace your friends and family."

"When we are spending time together, put your phone away. I shouldn't have to compete for your attention with everyone who isn't there."

"A relationship with no trust is like having a cell phone with no service, all you can do is just play games."

"Communicate in the true sense with loved ones. Drop your high tech devices and engage in real talk. See the difference it makes."

"Cell phones bring you closer to people far from you. But if you're not careful, it can also take you away from the ones sitting right next to you."

"The mobile phone is the most popular device on the planet (1.7 billion users) about one quarter of the world's population...and counting."

"Sometimes I just want to shut off my cell phone, sell my car, move to a cabin in the woods, and live off the land."

"Do more things that make you forget to check your phone."

"I wonder how many couples would still be together if they traded cell phones for the weekend."

"Life is NOT confined to a four-inch screen." (Jose A. Teixeira)

"To be honest, I think cell phones were invented by the devil." (Joe Hill)

"It took me 5 minutes to write that text, and all you text back is 'K'?!"

"I can't imagine what people did at red lights before cell phones."

"You'd be surprised how difficult it is to relinquish a cell phone." (Adrien Brody)

"Want to enhance your family life and relationships? PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE! You will be surprised how enriching it can be." (Dr. Steve Maraboli)

"Cell phones these days keep getting Thinner and Smarter, unfortunately, People are the Opposite."

"My phone battery can last longer than most relationships these days."

"My mind is constantly going. For me to completely relax, I gotta get rid of my cell phone." (Kenny Chesney)

"Reminder: The Blurred Image Around Your Cell Phone is Called LIFE."

"I finally realized it. People are Prisoners of their Phones, that's why they are called Cell Phones."

"There's an App for putting your phone away and paying attention to those 

talking to you, it's called RESPECT."

"Home is where the heart is, but today, the Phone is where the heart is." (Rachitha Cabral)

"Your cell phone is a prison cell. The world outside is freedom. Set your bars down." (The Antic)

"Today's Relationships: You can touch each other, but not each other's phones."

"Women are like cell phones, they like to be held and talked to, but push the wrong button and you'll be disconnected."

"Some of you, if you give up your cell phone, you will be successful." (Eric Thomas)

"These days, children can text on their cell phone all night long, and no one else is seeing that phone. You don't know who is calling that child." (Kamala Harris)

"What if we began to treat our Bibles the way we treat our cell phones? What if we carried it with us everywhere; turned back to get it if we forgot it; checked it for messages throughout the day; used it in case of an emergency; or spent an hour or more using it every day?"

"When someone touches my phone, I automatically turn into a ninja."

"An awesome relationship is when you don't have the fear of your partner checking your cell phone."

"I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots." (Albert Einstein)

"Cell phones are not a sign of power, they're a sign of subservience." (Doug Pappas)

"Give the people in your life the gift of your presence by putting down your mobile device." (Kate Northrup)

"My cell phone is acting up. I keep pressing the HOME button, but when I look around, I'm Still At WORK!"

"I've never owned a cell phone and don't plan on ever having one. If anyone needs to talk to me, they know where I live." (Phil Robertson)

"Technology can be our best friend, and technology can also be the biggest party pooper of our lives. It interrupts our own story, interrupts our ability to have a thought or a daydream, to imagine something wonderful, because we're too busy bridging the walk from the cafeteria back to the office on the cell phone." (Steven Spielberg)

"Put down your cell phones, put everything away, and feel your blood pulsing in you, feel you creative impulse, feel your own spirit, your heart, your mind. Feel the joy of being alive and free." (Patti Smith)

"People have no memory of phone numbers now because of the cell phone - their address book is in a cell phone." (Gordon Bell)

"I hate television. I hate the internet. I hate cell phones. I hate cameras. I hate everything that destroys creativity." (Billie Joe Armstrong)

"I'll call it a 'smart' phone the day I yell, 'where's my phone!?' and it answers, 'I'm here! Under your jacket!"

 
"I miss the days when you could just push someone in the swimming pool without worrying about their cell phone."