I was using my phone for more than 8 hours a day – thanks to the complete lockdown and the fact that I did not have anything to do at all for the whole day other than mindlessly scrolling through Instagram or watching some random videos on YouTube. And, the side effects of using my phone for way too long were headache, less concentration power, neck pain due to the wrong sitting posture. Then, I finally decided to reduce my screen on time.
Following are the steps that I took and I am sure these will help you too.
Step 1: Use the Digital Wellbeing feature available on your phone to track the screen on time. Most phones nowadays have this built-in feature, else you can use YourHour app to track your screen on time.
Step 2: Use a widget on your home screen which shows you what is your current screen on time and what is your current unlock count. This lets you keep track of your progress.
Before I proceed, I want to share a few excerpts from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. “You cannot change your habits in just one day, it takes some time to change your habits and you have to take small steps and make your habits enjoyable. You should make your habits easy to perform.” Now let’s go the Step 3.
Step 3: Set your screen on time goal for the day 10 minutes lesser than your previous one. For example, if you have used your phone for 8 hours and 13 minutes yesterday then you should set your today’s screen on time goal to 8 hours and 3 minutes.
Step 4: Now you have to keep reducing your screen on time goal by 10 minutes every day. This will not make your goal too big but you still will reaching near your ultimate goal every day one step at a time.
Some other steps that you can take to make your journey less difficult.
- Uninstall all your social media apps like Snapchat, Instagram, etc and if you want to use these apps then log in using a web browser like Google Chrome or Firefox, etc.
- Try to use Grayscale mode as often as possible. Grayscale mode makes your screen black and white which makes your smartphone experience less enjoyable.
- Use a long password instead of a fingerprint or face unlock. This will create more resistance to unlock your phone and you will end up reducing your screen on time.
I hope these steps will help you reduce your screen on time. Good luck!
About the Author:
Hi! My name is Nitish Poonia and I am a second-year student of Bachelor of Computer Application. I love to write code and to read books that add value to my life.
