Phones are addictive. The number of times I've left mine on the table and then cursed myself for forgetting to bring it with me to the bathroom are a testament to that. (If you can't spend 2 minutes on the toilette without your phone, you know you're in trouble.)
Like most addictions, the negative impacts are significant: Less meaningful interactions with friends and family, an unhealthy tendency to compare ourselves to others, more difficulty falling asleep at night, an inability to disconnect from work… the list goes on.
So, for our first challenge, we're going to use a screen time tracking app like Moment to see how much we're using our phones, and set individual goals to reduce it (note - phone calls don't count, just time spent staring at the screen).
Put Your Phone Down & Pay Attention
My Personal Goal: I started tracking my usage back in August - I've averaged 2 hours and 43 minutes per day staring at my phone since then, but I've had a few 4 hours days that I'm not proud of. I'm aiming to spend no more than 2 hours a day looking at my phone in January.
My Game-plan: Make all my meals phone-free, leave my phone in a different room when I'm at social gatherings, and no aimless scrolling on Facebook before bed-time.
Before Jan. 1st:
- Download a screen time tracking app like Moment (for iPhone) or App Detox (for Android) or if you've got iOS 12, you can check out Screen Time.
- Estimate how many hours you use your phone a day.
- Use a screen time app to track your usage for a few days before Jan. 1st and see how much time you actually spend staring at your phone.
- Set a reasonable goal for how many hours you'd like to use your phone each day given your previous usage.
- Invite your friends/coworkers/family to compete against you, if that's your thing... (Moment actually lets you form a "family" to track others' usage right in the app!)
Daily During January
- Check how long you've used your phone each night before you go to bed and re-strategize accordingly for the next day. (Pro-tip, leave your phone outside your bedroom when you're ready to go to sleep.)
On Feb. 1st:
- Share your results! What was your average daily usage? How many days did you meet your goal?
