first, i think it’s important that your phone is never the first thing you dive into when you wake up and it should not be the last thing you see before you go to sleep. set aside at least 30min-1hr when you wake up/before you go to bed without any screen time. you can read, do morning exercise, go for a walk, theres a lot you can do that would be better than being on your phone.
i think it’s also really helpful to turn off all notifications and turn dnd on at all times. might be overdoing it, but any little bit helps.
i’ve deleted any and all apps i don’t deem ABSOLUTELY necessary to be on my phone. social media apps esp, if you have a computer just log in using that whenever youre home and wanna check or post something.
fourth and maybe most importantly, be okay with the idea of being bored without your phone! explore the idea of going out without it, just raw dogging life.
2d ago
Related Recs
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I like to let my phone die— I often don’t charge it overnight, and try not to plug it in during the day. If you’re able to access work/school through only your laptop, let your phone die, or leave it on the plug in another room.
I also delete most apps from my phone for periods of weeks, and minimally use social media— if this works for you, it can feel very liberating, and makes me feel much less constantly accessible (which I think is a good thing).
Something that helps me is thinking about the flattening of correspondence; before social media, if you wanted to communicate to a friend, it was one-on-one— you might write a letter, or call, or email, but what you were doing was conversational and relational. When we use social media, we flatten a lot of individual relationships into one relationship between us and our “audience.” Instead of sharing a thought or comment intended for one person, and designed for them to reply and continue the correspondence, we put out press releases on our own lives: “this is what I had for breakfast,” “this is a meme about my mental health,” and we become part of a passive audience in our friend’s lives. We end up feeling like we’ve just seen our friends, because we’re “viewing” their lives, but actually apps leave us feeling very isolated and anti-social. Try deleting your most used social media apps, and also schedule a walk/movie night/coffee with a friend.
Outside of radical deletion, pick an audio book to listen to, and pair it with a hands on/tactile activity: you could load the dishwasher, or draw, or try embroidery.
Jul 29, 2024
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We’ve all been there before: I’m in line to renew a car tag, I’m waiting for my to-go order, I’ve sat down in the classroom waiting for the professor to arrive, etc. I’ve noticed all of us (myself included) can tend to reach for our phones, but I’m fighting against that urge!! A few years ago I developed the phrase “practice being bored.” As a true Millennial, I have lost some tolerance for boredom that I used to possess. “Back in my day” (lol) I remember not having the option of looking at a phone (but boy did I play some Snake once I got one!). So when I say “practice being bored,” I mean that literally. I try to just sit, wait, and do nothing. I look around and watch others, observe details in the environment, day dream.
But what do I do if the urge is too strong? I have developed a few ideas for when the boredom is impossible to beat (inspired by my mom’s bag of tricks she would bring around with us as kids to keep us occupied).
- Rubik’s cube: I taught myself how to solve it in high school via YouTube (so many videos available now, but the series I used is by user Dan Brown). Not only is the cube a great party trick, but it acts as the ideal fidget spinner. Even if you want to raw dog trying to figure it out, it’s a good way to pass the time.
- Book: Breaking News, local girl recommends reading to solve all of life’s problems! I get it, yet another person on the Internet telling you to “pick up a book.” But like drinking water and exercise, unfortunately the experts (me) are right about this one!! Once my mom said “I own all of the books in the world, the library just stores them for me,” and I encourage you to check them out (literally).
- Notebook: the MAGIC of a notebook, I am in awe. So many great solo and team activities you can do with some paper and a pen. Make lists (that you can post later here, see what I did!), draw objects or people around you, scribble circles and then fill them in a la Mircrosoft Paint style. There’s also a fun game you can play with another person that I call the “Dot Game” where you draw rows of dots, and you and the other person take turns drawing lines connecting the dots to make square boxes. If the line you draw makes a box, you put your initial in the box. The goal is to make the most boxes.
- Clean out bag/purse/wallet: I like to use “in-between time” to “get my life together” by cleaning out all of the random receipts, lipgloss, detritus of my life from the various bags I carry around with me.
I’d love to know what you may do to fight the Phone Urge as well!
Mar 23, 2025
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I've been researching purchasing a dumb phone on and off for about a year and have realized that, even if we don't want to be, there are so many things that require us to have a phone nowadays - whether it be for work, school, or going out, a phone is required almost everywhere. if you are really struggling with phone addiction, delete all the social media apps off of your phone (keep the accounts you have for now) and whittle down your apps to the absolute basics. for me, I just have Spotify, my navigation app, and my school/work/banking necessities. you are able to redownload apps or look websites up online, but you also need to put the commitment in yourself. I've been starting to use my phone less and less (average screen time is around five hours) but I also know that I still have work to do. if you want any more useful tips let me know!
Nov 21, 2024
Top Recs from @jeannedielman
like sunday morning stored onto a cd.
other honorable mentions: ‘antisocialites’ by alvvays, ‘is this it?’ by the strokes and ‘tapestry’ by carole king.
May 1, 2025
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please never change that.
Feb 24, 2025