My screen time is outrageous, but this hack is going to help me
You could say that I live quite in extremes. One moment I share as a sort of overzealous evangelist that you should be offline all weekend because it's good for the mind, the next I drown in my own screen time. It's currently so scandalous that I don't even dare to say out loud how many hours and minutes it is.
Now it's not that it's all useless, I want to emphasize that. I'm searching for hidden hotels in Greece and they require just a bit more screen time to find. It's also on sale and you're a thief of your own wallet if you don't take advantage of it. And I spend a lot of time on Funda, where I'm trying to find the ideal apartment with a roof terrace. There are less useful ways to spend your screen time, I happen to know. By the way, I know those too, because the rest of the time I scroll through Instagram and scroll on LinkedIn. I hardly use Facebook anymore. Just imagine how much time I waste on the rest.
On my free Sunday, I standardly receive a friendly reminder of how much time I've wasted on my phone. There's a good chance I'll get that while scrolling. My first question to you is therefore: how do I turn off this notification? Because what you don't know bothers you a little less. That's of course the world upside down, but I don't have any trouble with that myself, so bring on those detours.
To reduce that screen time a bit, I use every hack imaginable. I no longer receive notifications from any app, except from NOS when chaos (pardon) breaks out in the world. I even get startled when my phone suddenly makes a sound, because then the vibration button has shifted. But still, my screen time is impressive, so we're moving on to stronger measures. Since corona, I find the word measure itself quite strong, so you know it's serious.
1) First of all, I turned off the lift to wake feature. You do this very simply via your screen settings. Now you still look every time you pick up the thing, but if the screen stays black, then the temptation is a bit less.
2) Nowadays, I use the do not disturb mode when I need to concentrate. It's simply not possible for callers to disturb me with a phone call. Do you want to be reachable for your loved one or employer? Then add them to your favorites, and they will get through.
3) And perhaps the simplest (and social) of all: keep your phone out of sight of yourself and others. When I go out to eat or have drinks, I leave my phone in my bag. A dish has to come from a good house for me to pull it out to take a photo. But even in the evening, I often put my phone in the kitchen, so I'm not endlessly scrolling during a movie or series. The first three times you reach for your phone, you forget that the thing isn't attached to you, but the fourth time it already feels much better. And hell no, you're not getting up when you're comfortably seated. It's so simple to fool yourself.
