If you had to answer honestly, would you say that you spend too much time looking at your phone? Probably the answer would be yes, whether it’s checking social media or playing a game and whilst this certainly doesn’t mean you’re addicted to it, you probably recongize that it’s also not the best or healthiest habit you have.
The thing is, no matter where you go these days, it’s hard to not look around you and see nothing but people staring blankly at screens, and for the most part, although they seem to be looking at something of real interest or importance, they’re generally just scrolling a feed and probably not even absorbing a lot of the information.
So, if you’re looking for ways to become more present in the world around you and spend less time in the digital world that society has created, then here are some tips for you.
Don’t check your email first thing in the morning:
If like most people, the first thing you reach for in the morning before you’ve even gotten out of bed is your phone, then you need to learn to break that habit. It’s not the easiest thing to break, but it can certainly be done.
Whether you check your emails first thing or are looking at social media to see if anything major has happened since you went to asleep (it likely hasn’t), then you’re setting up your energy for the day by taking on board all the things going on, such as other people’s schedules or absorbing drama from social media, and that’s not a good start to your day.
So, aside from emergencies, set yourself a target for the next 30 days to ensure that you don’t check your phone until midday. You’ll feel so much better for it.
Delete apps you don’t need:
When was the last time you used half of the apps on your phone? Digital clutter is just as bad as physical clutter, and even if you downloaded an app one time such as one that allowed you to play the lottery online or carry out some task that you don’t do on a regular basis, then it could be a good time to delete those apps if you’re no longer using them as you intended instead of just letting them take up space on your phone.
Switch off your phone at night and move it away from your bed:
A good way of getting out of the habit of checking your phone first thing is by keeping your phone away from your bed. This also is a good idea if you use your phone as an alarm and want to make sure you actually get up to switch it off instead of just reaching over and hitting the snooze button which is easy to do when it’s right there.
Turn off notifications:
Do you really need to be notified on Facebook everytime someone changes their relationship status or comments on your old school picture that you’ve been tagged in along with 30 other people? Most likely not, so if you want to stop getting distracted by these notifications, then just switch them off. On an iPhone, you can also switch off all notifications, but keep a few numbers as important contacts, such as the school for example, in case there’s an emergency.
As you can see, there are various ways to reduce your screen time so that it doesn’t start taking over your life in a negative way and turn into something you become mindlessly addicted to.
Emeh Achanga,the CEO of the Miss Petite Nigeria Brand is a lawyer turned blogger. She is very passionate about writing, with several publications and awards to her credit .She is currently working on publishing a collection of short stories which are basically a memoir about her exciting true experiences.
