So many of us are virtually glued to our phones these days. They're like miniature versions of ourselves in one device!
Except a few more of these .gifs throughout this post (which I am writing from my laptop, not my phone).
This is a question which is relevant to so many of us in the modern age. The proliferation of technology available on our phones, as well as the marketing and targeting of companies that utilize the available technology are creeping their way into our lives to an unfathomable degree. Would any of us, twenty years ago, have imagined that such a strong dependency on our phones would exist?
All of this in mind, I'm going to make this more personal. I generally don't like to conform to societal norms (unless they make sense to me), so I'm going to dismiss some aspects of what makes phones addictive. For instance, I don't use social media because it's the "cool" thing to do... if I use it, it's for my own personal reasons, whether it be entertainment or a small bit of social connection.
That all said, I fully acknowledge that the dopamine hits I obtain from using apps on my phone are certainly what keeps e coming back. This is most certainly created by design, and the effects are very prominent and deleterious.
Additionally, use of my phone is completely integrated into my career (at least while I was working), so even if I was using my phone for work, it would sometimes blend into usage for... well, non-work activities.
While I was working, I smartly kept my phone off-limits inside my bag overnight. It was uncommon for me to use it at home, except if I had a weekend of 2+ days (and sometimes on 1 day weekends). When I would get on my phone, I could lose hours and hours on it.
Well, the dopamine hits are obvious for most of us, but in my case, the underlying reason that I just spent hours on it in the morning... to avoid everything else. I had a hard time moving forward with doing the things that needed to be done, including basic household responsibilities and personal hygiene. Don't get me wrong - I did get them done. However, it would often end up being in the early evening rather than on a normal human schedule.
The thought of moving on from 6-7 days per week of work to doing other things that weren't relaxing was a bit daunting. My mind was asking me for downtime. The phone provided the means to do this. So I did it. I'm pretty certain it contributed to a loss of concentration over time, which I'm now gradually recovering.
Recently, I was preparing for a major exam. I initially used my phone wisely - completing some practice for a few hours shortly after I woke up. That entire usage went downhill pretty quickly... it turned into me wasting hours on the phone and getting through a few minutes of practice for the exam. My mind was again asking for quick dopamine hits in lieu of doing the hard work I needed to do (and ended up doing anyway).
After the exam, I did notice that my phone usage went down. I can directly attribute this to a few things: I do not have a job that I dread going to, I do not have a major exam that takes an entire day of hardcore studying, and only a few important responsibilities to handle throughout the day. Thus, I don't find myself delaying getting out of bed quite as much.
There are days when I might spend 30-60 minutes on my phone before getting up, which is actually pretty decent compared to before. Other days might be closer to 3 hours, which is not good.
Several of those 3-hour sessions were times when I awoke a bit earlier and tried to use my phone to lull me back to sleep for a little while longer, or to help wake me up. Yes, I try to do opposite things using the same methodology. Yes, it is total madness.
Ultimately, it all boils down to one thing: the phone becomes an escape from the realities of life. Instead of embracing life, inclusive of the wonderful and not-so-wonderful things, existence boils down to scrolling the phone to escape everything else.
If I limit my phone time to 30 minutes in the morning, that would free me up to do much more throughout the day. I would accomplish a lot more fulfilling tasks which would help me grow more. Instead of trying to escape from the things I need to do, and end up doing anyway, I would simply benefit from doing them earlier and getting on with enjoying life as it is intended to be enjoyed.
How can I solve this? Well, I have put restrictions on my phone so that it goes to sleep at 9 p.m. and turns back on at 9 a.m. I do not override these settings. However, I also placed restrictions on my internet time, but I do often override those. The self-imposed self-control does not work when I lack self-control.
My options are either to find the strength within myself to follow the restricted internet usage time, or to strengthen the restrictions on my phone. I don't mind using a helpful application to assist me in this process, but ultimately I know that the best results and satisfaction will come around if I do this of my own free will.
I am hoping that as I regain some personal satisfaction in my life, I'll have more mental energy to put my phone down early enough. However, I also don't want to rely entirely on hope. I want to take action to achieve my goals, and the fact that the phone is oftentimes a barrier to me improving myself, I want to take action to reduce my phone time, even if it ends up being artificial.
Thus, I'm going to make it a personal goal to reduce my phone time substantially over the next couple of weeks. I truly do not need it except for a few phone calls related to my job search, and sometimes to search for useful information. Therefore, I will find a way to substantially limit my usage.
This is a quality of life measure that virtually all of us can implement. Reader, I encourage you to find your reason for overusing your phone, and tackle it head-on. We can do fight this scourge together!