Digital minimalism: On using our phones
5 tips to gain control over your phone life
I recently downloaded an app which monitored my activity on my phone. A month flew by and the app informed me that I had used my phone for more than 72 hours. That is three full days worth of looking at my phone. In a month! Ten per cent of my month was spent looking on my phone. What about my awake time? I wouldn’t want to know. Most of it was spent on Instagram and browsing the web, two completely unimportant activities.
I realised that the phone had taken control of my life. I was constantly refreshing my feed, looking for instant gratification. I used my phone to avoid social interactions when I didn’t want to talk, or even dared to. If I never had the phone in the first place, I probably would have been more mature by now, honestly. I decided that this can no longer be the case and I began changing my phone so that I would use it less. Now I use it for less than 1 and a half hour a day; no more than 40 hours a month. More than one full day less a month, than before. Below are the things I did to gain back control over my own life:
1. Turn off notifications
This is a very obvious one. Remove all unnecessary notifications. This way you won’t get distracted when you have your mind focused on something else. Doing multiple things at once is proven to be bad for your brain and should be done as little as possible.
You should remove all notifications from almost everything, except perhaps from messages and important mail contacts. Social media, games and mail newsletters should all be muted. If you still want notifications, but not all the time, my tip is to download an app that takes all your notifications and gives them to you in at a few fixed times throughout the day. That way you won’t be distracted each time someone or something wants your attention, and can still be able to keep notifications turned on.
2. Declutter the home screen
The second solution is to declutter the home screen. Make it as boring and as little interactable as possible. As you can see on mine, I have an all black home screen without a notification bar. I did this to make it scream BORING. And it actually helps, I must say. On the home screen, I only keep two folders. They contain apps that serve a purpose. Each folder is categorized by importance/usefulness, the left containing the most important/useful apps.
I advise you to keep important apps like messages, phone and camera, easily accessible while putting social media and web browsers further away. In my case, they are kept in the app folder, but they could be kept in another slide of the folder.
I do this to add friction. The more friction I add, the bigger the chance is I won’t try to open the app. Another way I add friction is by making the code to the phone longer than normal and disabling the fingerprint sensor, for more difficult access.
3. Reduce your usage with hourly limits
This is the absolute best way to reduce your overall usage. It is, however, the hardest one comply. I use an app that limits the amount of time I can use these so-called “infinity pools” such as Instagram and Chrome. I can only use them up to 5–10 minutes per hour, and a total of around 30 minutes per day. This stops me from having long sessions where I just waste my time doing nothing important. It also makes you more aware of the time you spend there, as you do not want to waste any “allowed” time. However, as I mentioned, it is hard not to remove the limit because you have the option to, unfortunately. Most built-in app blockers, such as iOS’s screen time, does not do a very good job blocking apps completely, so I recommend you to use an app that is at least a bit harder to “break”. I use the app ‘Stay Focused’. But that is only one of a handful of similar apps.
Another good way to stay focused is using apps like ‘Forest’ which makes not using the phone into a game. I have used them for a while, and it is especially good at prohibiting you from using the phone at night. I put it on when I’m going to sleep, and the longer it is on, the more am I awarded. Eventually, you can turn the in-game awards into real life trees. I have only planted one. They cost a lot :(
4. Add a blue light filter or change to black and white
This will, just as the all black wallpaper does, make using the phone more boring. It does, however, contribute to our end goal, as well as being better for the eyes. The harder it is to switch on and off the better this will work. The more friction there is, the better the result. Here is an example of how much more fun and enjoyable a colourful screen looks compared to a black and white one.
Clearly, you would want the left one. That is why you should pick the right one.
5. Unfollow people and remove your snap streaks
A good way to reduce your time on social media is to decrease the number of people you follow. Then, you will have less interesting things to consume, and it will be easier to put away your phone. And if you are ever going to remove the phone completely from your life, you have to acknowledge that you can’t use social media. So unfollowing people you don’t really need to follow is a good way to start. For those using snapchat, removing the streaks is fundamental. While they make you more “social” they really serve no other purpose. At least that is my understanding of using snapchat for a number of years. As long as you have a streak, you always have the urge to use it. But when they are gone, there is one less reason to use your phone. This tip is probably the hardest to follow through, but definitely the most effective one.
These tips will guide you to a better life. The phone is so much more than what it was only little over a decade ago. Now they have grown to know our interests and feed on them. Do not let them. Acknowledge that you have the power to change your life. You can improve your life in so many ways. Self-discipline is key! I wish you good luck on your way of becoming your better self.
I hope you found this article helpful, and I would deeply appreciate if you clapped for what you think it is worth. I would also appreciate if you shared this on social media, or with family and friends. The more people being aware of this serious issue, the better! Stop using your phone and live instead!
Thank you!
Jakob Wilmer. June 2019
