How I'm Breaking My Phone Addiction.

Hello Everyone,

I want to spend less time scrolling aimlessly on my phone and constantly checking social media updates. It frustrates me that I am so addicted to a little, electronic rectangle.
I've been thinking of a few ways I can ween myself off my phone addiction and get back to the 'real' me. Ideally, I'd love to go back to the old phones that were literally just for calls & texts (& snake!) but for me personally it's not really an option right now. I want to really get into my writing this year, and doing that without the internet would be rather difficult. It's not that I don't like the internet anymore I just need to utilise it in the best way and make it work for me :)

Last week when I was waiting for my train, it was delayed (as usual) and as I looked up from my book I was engrossed with I noticed that EVERY SINGLE PERSON on the platform was glued to their phone. The glow from the screen illuminating their vacant faces. It was kinda creepy. So it spurred on this blog post.
I don't want to live in a world where my phone dictates my life, where I have to battle for someone's full attention and most importantly miss out on things that are happening around me.
I am guilty of all the above so I need to change my ways.
So here are some tips that I'm going to use to try and control my phone habit...

1) Use a watch,
I check the time on my phone fairly regularly, which is fine. Although I don't usually look at the time and leave it be, I'll have a quick look on Facebook or a scroll on Instagram and I end up wasting away the minutes. If I had a watch I wouldn't even need to pick up my phone! I have nicknamed this habit the clock and scroll...

2) Use an alarm clock,
Like most people my day starts with a few snoozes of the alarm bell, then a sleepy scroll on Instagram to 'wake me up'.  I complain that I don't have enough time in the morning to do a quick workout or maybe even 10 minutes meditating, why? because I'm too engaged with other people's photos of cats or smoothies! I'm going to dig out my old radio alarm clock and use that and purposefully put my phone as far away from the bed as it can be. That way, at least I'm not tempted to spend ages scrolling first thing. Plus I'm sure sleeping with your phone right next to you is bound to have some sort of damaging effect over time.

3) Turn your phone on silent.
The thing is with smartphones is that you are always on the other end of it for anyone to reach you, be it emails, calls, or social media  comments. In some instances, it's great to be able to contact someone during all hours but mostly it's just very distracting.I'm guilty of stopping everything if my phone beeps or buzzes! If you've got an important job to do turn off your phone!

4) Delegate phone slots into your day
Yep, My little sister has a tablet time allowance so that she doesn't get square eyes and actually does some reading or drawing instead. She thinks it's the WORST thing, only an hour on Minecraft?-so unfair!
I have the Stayfocused app  installed on my laptop so that I can only go on Facebook for an hour a day. I'd like to be able to avoid it using my own willpower but it's a bad habit that needs to be broken! I don't think you can install it on phones but you can test yourself by choosing specific times that you will be reachable. Say for example you'll go on Instagram for 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at night. Or you'll reply to tweets at 6.30pm after your tea. Making yourself available online 24/7 makes you miss out on reality.

5) Solo phone use.
When you are around your friends, family, boyfriend, girlfriend or at a social event avoid using your phone! You might feel like a social butterfly when you're replying to the 10 WhatsApp chats you have on the go but hello, this is real life interaction here! I'm a bugger for doing this but I'm making a real effort this year to only use my phone when I am by myself! I travel on the train regularly so I like to strike up conversations and have a mooch on my apps. I work by myself and I'm often online doing research or promotion for my job so it's nice to have a break when you have other 'real' people to talk to. I'm scared in a few years time the next generation will be so used to talking over texts and messages that the true art of conversation will be lost!

So there we go, hopefully I can reap what I sow and do something far more productive with my new found time! Like blog more, make a smoothie or go for a brisk walk :)

Are you going to give these tips a try? let me know if they work for you.

Thanks for reading :)

Rachelle xx