Phones can make motherhood easier. You can find recipes on the internet, shop online, and record precious memories in a notes app. Yet your phone can distract you from being present with your child. Also, being constantly bombarded with information can make you anxious. And comparing yourself to social media influencers isn’t good for your mental health.
If you want to spend more time with your family, feel less anxious, and decrease depression, you might want to decrease your screen time. Yet this can feel impossible, because phones are designed to be addictive. Luckily, there are many things you can do to help free yourself from your phone. Here are a few tips to make this easier:
- Set your phone to grayscale. The colors on your screen make it more addicting, so using grayscale is a simple way to use your apps less often. You can easily switch back to color when you need it.
- Disable unnecessary notifications. Notifications cause you to pick up your phone, which can lead to getting distracted by it. So, you can turn off notifications you don’t need to avoid thinking about your phone as often.
- Monitor your own screen time. Time flies when you’re using a device, so just checking your screen time can remind you to stay accountable and reach your goals.
- Set timers on apps you overuse. You can set a timer to make an app disappear for the day after a certain amount of usage. You can unlock the app again if you need to, but this makes it less distracting and reminds you not to use it too much.
- Leave your phone behind when you can. If you don’t need your phone somewhere, don’t bring it with you. That way, you will lose the habit of constantly checking it.
- Charge your phone outside your bedroom. Starting and ending the day with your phone leads to more anxiety and worse sleep quality. Leaving your phone outside your room can help you avoid this.
- Talk to friends or family members. If the people you love know about your screen time goal, they can support you. They might even be inspired to set screen limit goals of their own!
If you still don’t like how addicted you are to social media or other online distractors, you can get a phone that doesn’t have them! This can be inconvenient at times, but it’s worth the benefits. People who got “dumb phones” said they had a better body image, more conversations, more sleep, more control, and more time. Here are a few great options:
- The Gabb Phone Plus has most smartphone features—just no internet browser or social media. It’s an attractive-looking Samsung Galaxy, and you can get the apps you need, from Quizlet to the Starbucks app, without worrying about distractions.
- The Wisephone is a truly minimalist approach designed specifically for adults. It looks like a smartphone but only has texting and calling, maps, music, camera, notes, and clock apps. If you want to remove all distractions from your life, this could be a great option.
- The Jitterbug Smart phone has basic apps (map, camera, email, etc.) and access to a web browser, but no games, social media, or other distractors. If you want a distraction-free phone that still has internet access, this might be the phone for you.
It’s so easy to pick up your phone just to check one thing, and then get sucked into spending hours on it. But fighting this addiction is possible—and it’s really worthwhile. Reducing your screen time can boost your self-confidence, mental and physical health, relationships, and more. It also gives you more time to spend with your little one, which will benefit her too.
You can control your phone usage: you deserve better than having your phone control you!
By Clare Hettich
Sources:
https://techless.com/pages/home
https://www.cnet.com/health/screen-time-is-rising-and-its-ruining-us-here-are-11-ways-to-cut-back/
