When I came across the audiobook How To Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price, I downloaded it because I was interested in what she had to say. I never expected to have the audiobook totally shift my mindset of how I used my smartphone and how it affected me.
Catherine’s book is all about the effect our phones have on us and how to correct it. Her book is not about ditching smartphones-it’s about shaping the use to be a to your life. It’s about a healthy relationship with a phone, which sounds odd but it is probably something a lot of us need to implement.
I HIGHLY suggest reading or listening to Catherine’s book. If you are short on time, she has a podcast that summarizes the information. She walks you through a 30-day plan to decrease phone use and loads the book with tips. I chose 4 strategies to help decrease my phone use. I’ve been using these strategies for a month now and I already see a difference in myself. They are all pretty easy to implement!
Turn Off Notifications
This was a huge one for me. I had notifications for everything. Likes on Instagram pictures. Direct Messages. Email. Sales and feedback on my Teachers Pay Teachers App. Facebook notifications. Marco Polo notifications. Email. Twitter. And more.
It was rare that I would pick up my phone and not have a notification to check. Even if I wasn’t picking up my phone for an unrelated reason (to take a picture or to set a timer) my fingers would automatically go to check the notifications. Suddenly I wasted 10 minutes checking apps. Do that 5 times a day and you lose an entire hour. It adds up, quickly.
Catherine talks about how some people find that when they turn notifications off on their phone, they find themselves checking even more often. That might be true in the beginning but push through it. Any change is going to be hard at first. The first 3 days of exercise suck. The first week of cutting back on sugar is awful. The first 10 days of getting up 45 minutes earlier than normal might feel like torture. But with consistency, it all becomes easier. Even resisting the urge to check your phone.
Rearranged My Homepage
The prominent things on the bottom bar of my home screen were complete-time suckers: text messages, Instagram, Marco Polo, and my Teachers Pay Teachers app. It’s like every time I picked up my phone, that bottom bar was screaming to be checked. The other icons on my homepage were also completely useless. All they did was suck hours out of my day. I rearranged my home screen and now I love it. Everything I NEED is right there, and everything I don’t is tucked away.
The bottom bar now contains the 4 apps that are the most functional for me. I still have my text messages there: the only texts I get consistently are from family or related to work and I don’t want to miss either one. I also have my camera there. I often take photos at work to share with families and I snap way too many pictures of my dog (a time sucker that I don’t mind).
Speaking of Buster, I have my house camera there to take a sneak peek at him. The last thing is my Scribd account. I listen to audiobooks while I drive and that makes it easy for me to hit play. Having those 4 apps in the home bar makes sense for me-choose the 4 apps that you ACTUALLY need to use the most to build yours.
The other things on my homepage include the internet browser, weather, and my phone app. I also have my Ring camera app and Waze, which I use for navigation. I also have my Goodreads app and Libby app for reading purposes. The last thing is a special countdown timer I use with one of my clients. Everything on my home page is functional, and everything else is tucked away in folders on other screens.
Scheduled Leisure Time
I have set time to scroll social media now. Do I still look at Instagram at times I shouldn’t? Of course. But I have gotten a lot better at looking for 20 seconds, not 20 minutes. I look forward to settling down on my couch and catching up on stories from the day. I can usually limit myself, but Catherine recommends setting a timer if you know you will get lost in the social media world. It definitely takes diligence to put the phone down, but it is an important skill to work on.
No Phones in the Bedroom
I no longer sleep with my phone in my bedroom. This is another big one for me. My phone used to be the last thing I looked at before bed and the first thing I looked at in the morning. And it didn’t make me feel good. It’s not unknown that Instagram, and social media in general, leave a lot of people feeling sad or comparing themselves to others. If that is what happens, why would I want to start and end my day that way?
I moved my phone to the office and I bought an alarm clock for my bedside table. I actually prefer to have the Alexa in my bedroom wake me up, but the alarm clock lets me check the time and see other important information like the date. Now, I read before bed and I wake up and snuggle with my dog. Last week, I got an important text about work and I didn’t see it until an hour after I got up and you know what? It was fine. So much of my anxiety over not missing things was built up in my head-it wasn’t real.
I honestly feel SO MUCH BETTER about my phone use now that I have been able to cut back a bit. I hope this blog was helpful and full of information that can help you make little changes too. I have a phone screen you can download to help remind you of using the phone as a tool and not letting it dominate your life. Enjoy!