Tips for limiting smartphone screen time and addiction?

[creat0r]

I have a really hard time controlling how much time I spend on my iPhone. Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, Subway Surfers etc. they just suck me right in every time I grab my iPhone. I have tried and considered multiple different alternatives, and so far nothing has really helped:

 

• Limit Screen Time in iOS Settings for these apps: didn't help because you can continuously just click on the button to get more screen time.
• Delete addicting apps: made it super annoying to communicate with my friends since we communicate in group chats on Snapchat and a lot of features (like video messages) doesn't work on the Snapchat web app for desktops. Also, it was very easy to just re-download these apps.
• Buy an old "dumb" phone: since I have my own business I need to always have quick access to email, which is impossible on an old phone. Also, being able to get notifications if one of my stock investments suddenly would drop is really important.

 

I might try to always have my iPhone's battery charged <20% so I can only use it for important SMS, email, and pay for food/travel with Apple Pay. Feels a little bit scary if the battery would die, though... I also though I could enable Down Time in iOS settings and have an advanced long passcode for it that I keep in my drawer at home (so I can't access it at work), but apparently you can only enable this for kids (if I'm not mistaken). Yes I know I should just stop, but that's not how addiction works. What's your guys experience with this?

[Tetras]

From what you have described, I think the better fix would be try to change your patterns and how/why these things hook you, rather than using tools to artificially limit your screen time.

 

For example: with the investments, maybe get an app that updates you once every 6-12 hours, so you don't feel a need to always have it open waiting and with your friends, if you're afraid of missing out, maybe you'd need to allow yourself to miss things and see if you really need to always be looking at them.

[jaslion]

What really helps is taking the enjoyment and convenience out of it.

 

So getting a old smartphone that can fo email or a tiny one like the jelly star does wonders since they are fully funtional to use just less convenient and nice to do so

 

Also removing things out of your phone and into other devices/functions. Like apple pay just go back to a debit card means you have one less use for the device.

 

I first used my old galaxy ace 2 which works fine for email and basic SLOW browsing but else its kinda shit. Then went to a jelly 2 and due to it being small I found socials to not be fun to use and simply just ended up forgetting to use them eventually.

 

Then afterwards I went back to my regular phone and just uninstalled all apps and NEVER allowed myself to reinstall them. Been going strong for 8 months now and have the jelly as a backup if I ever slip up.

 

I did reinstall one for communication reasons but since the ui isnt made for such a small device it sucks to use and well easy way of me  ot using it when its annoying

 

Also minimalist launcher and DISABLED ALL NOTIFICATIONS for stuff I dont need or have them timed to appear between a certain timeframe

[Eigenvektor]

11 minutes ago, creat0r said:

• Limit Screen Time in iOS Settings for these apps: didn't help because you can continuously just click on the button to get more screen time.

As long as you implement the limitations yourself and have the power to get around them, you will always find a reason why "this time" an exception is warranted. You'd need (someone else) to enable parental controls where you don't know the password to get around them. Of course that's not necessarily practical or even acceptable.

 

You can try to impose a curfew on yourself where you shut down your phone at a certain time. Outside of emergencies, no turning it back on until the next morning. Of course, like any other solution, it will effectively boil down to self-control (or lack thereof).

 

It might be more effective to find a hobby or other "distraction" that you can concentrate on, rather than your phone. For me personally, both sports and reading works to get me doing something else. Also a fixed time limit in the evening when devices get shut down. But it will take effort, especially initially, to force yourself to do that.

[OhYou_]

a dumb solution that works is to set your phone to greyscale.
you will use the phone quite a bit less as a result.

iphones cannot do this though, but android can easily just in developer settings.

buy an android, maybe that will help too

[OddOod]

Honestly, same path as any other addiction. You have to identify what's triggering you to go to these apps and address those problems. Addiction is not and has never been about the specific drug, it's a mental health issue. There are stressors in your life that your brain is trying to hide from, address those and you should be able to easily kick the habit and even indulge in them in healthy ways. 
I personally have found Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (guided by a therapist) coupled with mindfulness meditation (I like square breathing) to be a very powerful set of tools for keeping my brain in check. Even after dealing with all of the (honestly remarkably mild) trauma in my life, just having a professional listener to talk to every month helps keep me on balance. A couple years ago I added some Vitamin D3 (2000IU) to the mix and these days I'm pretty happy.
 

[Brooksie359]

Addictions can be caused by a bunch of different things and it's probably good to know what is causing your addiction before you can really think of a solution. For some it is as simple as easy source of dopamine that just need a fix but usually that isn't that hard to kick unless you have adhd in which case medication typically helps. Also replacing with healthy sources of dopamine helps alot. It becomes much harder if the phone usage is due to other reasons like avoiding negative emotions or lack of meaniful things. Those would need to be fixed first before the addiction issue can be tackled. 

[OddOod]

59 minutes ago, OhYou_ said:

iphones cannot do this though

incorrect
https://agio.com/how-to-make-your-iphone-grayscale/

[OhYou_]

1 minute ago, OddOod said:

incorrect
https://agio.com/how-to-make-your-iphone-grayscale/

oh thats good.
yeah do that, that's pretty much what I recommend.

[OddOod]

18 hours ago, OhYou_ said:

oh thats good.
yeah do that, that's pretty much what I recommend.

I will reiterate that addiction is not and never has been about the drug. It's about mental health. Once you get that in hand, addictions tend to dissolve

[rikitikitavi]

I did not watch these episodes and can not comment on them, however, hopefully they are the right ones for you:

 

 

Also https://www.hubermanlab.com (if reading is more for you).

[Lurking]

On 3/7/2024 at 1:19 PM, creat0r said:

I have a really hard time controlling how much time I spend on my iPhone. Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, Subway Surfers etc. they just suck me right in every time I grab my iPhone. I have tried and considered multiple different alternatives, and so far nothing has really helped:

• Delete addicting apps: made it super annoying to communicate with my friends since we communicate in group chats on Snapchat and a lot of features (like video messages) doesn't work on the Snapchat web app for desktops. Also, it was very easy to just re-download these apps.

Deinstall ticktock and crap. You don't need video messages unless you are so beautiful that your friends really need to see you.

 

Just leave Snapchat or Whatsapp on if you really need that and disable notifications.

 

I don't know Surfer and Subway apps. But I suspect that is a good thing.

[ccnow]

What worked for me was a phone change. I swapped my iPhone 12 for a Moto RAZR 40. On one hand it's been about a decade since I last used Android so I was itching to change it up. On the other hand, the need to physically open the phone and make the conscious decision to use it is enough of a barrier to reduce my screen time by roughly 60%. 

 

The other thing I did, mostly to reduce my phone as a distraction, is start using Microsoft Phone Link on my laptops at work and home. Usually if I'm using a laptop I'm being productive (it's my least favorite computing form factor, a proper PC) so being able to take calls, see notifications, and see and respond to texts makes me reach for my phone far less. 

[Elarion]

Fully delete your social media accounts. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. Get rid of pretty much all of them. Uninstall the apps, block the sites on your home router.

 

Make your phone grayscale. Set the refresh rate to 60hz. Hide all apps except for the essential ones on your home screen. This will be far easier to do now that you don't have social media accounts.

 

Turn off all notifications except for your phone app. At two VERY SPECIFIC times each day, check your texts and your emails.

 

Phones are designed to be addicting, bright, colorful, and feel good to use. These steps help remove quite a bit of that. Also, read the book Digital Minimalism and the book Essentialism. Not audiobooks, but book books. Use that to rebuild the habit of living life at a normal pace instead of the modern multitasking hellscape our society has placed themselves into.