Two things that I have done that might be useful to someone else:
I do leave my phone on a small counter when I come in the house. It's there if I need it (i.e., I can hear it if it rings; I have all other notifications turned off, including texts) but I don't walk by it very often after I'm home for the night. Sometimes when I find I'm picking it up more than I'd like (violating my own rules about picking it up), I put a Post-It on top of it that simply says, "You don't want this." 99% of the time, when I see that note to myself, it's enough -- I immediately say to myself, "You're totally right, I don't want this," and I walk away.
The second thing I do if I've been paying too much attention to my phone is delete social media apps (I'm only on Instagram, so this isn't hard) on Friday afternoons. I tell myself I can install them again on Monday morning (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't). Then, over the weekend, if I feel an urge to check, I have to go through a whole process to get the app back -- which is enough time/energy expended for me to remember, oh yeah, I don't want to be doing this.
I've mentioned I don't have a problem being disciplined (about tech or anything else) but even I have periods where I realize I want/need to cut back, and these have helped.
Those are GREAT tips, Sarah, thank you. Deleting the apps from your phone kinda exposes that we don't have very functional or purposeful reasons for checking them as often as we do. It's still there if we need it, but...how often do we need it?
Thanks for sharing these! I wonder what genetic, environmental , and self-propelled factors have contributed to your self-discipline. I am the opposite 😬
Two things that I have done that might be useful to someone else:
I do leave my phone on a small counter when I come in the house. It's there if I need it (i.e., I can hear it if it rings; I have all other notifications turned off, including texts) but I don't walk by it very often after I'm home for the night. Sometimes when I find I'm picking it up more than I'd like (violating my own rules about picking it up), I put a Post-It on top of it that simply says, "You don't want this." 99% of the time, when I see that note to myself, it's enough -- I immediately say to myself, "You're totally right, I don't want this," and I walk away.
The second thing I do if I've been paying too much attention to my phone is delete social media apps (I'm only on Instagram, so this isn't hard) on Friday afternoons. I tell myself I can install them again on Monday morning (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't). Then, over the weekend, if I feel an urge to check, I have to go through a whole process to get the app back -- which is enough time/energy expended for me to remember, oh yeah, I don't want to be doing this.
I've mentioned I don't have a problem being disciplined (about tech or anything else) but even I have periods where I realize I want/need to cut back, and these have helped.
Those are GREAT tips, Sarah, thank you. Deleting the apps from your phone kinda exposes that we don't have very functional or purposeful reasons for checking them as often as we do. It's still there if we need it, but...how often do we need it?
Thanks for sharing these! I wonder what genetic, environmental , and self-propelled factors have contributed to your self-discipline. I am the opposite 😬