In this modern age, we can all be a bit guilty of spending far too much time on our phones and other devices that we might own. It is far too easy to click on social media for a second and then realize that an hour or more has passed Sometimes it can be even three or more hours spent just simple checking up what’s happening around us. A lot of people today have real issues with procrastination and defocusing from the daily tasks because they can’t simply let all those notifications go, and check them later when they take a break from working or studying.
Probably you think there is no way to fix this “addiction” and start avoiding the smartphone, but the truth is that you can do it. Here are some of the best ways you can monitor your screen time so you can be certain that you are not spending too long attached to your gadgets.
1. Set Up a No Screen Time
Do you know when your danger times are? Many of us like to sit in bed and scroll through our social media for one last time before we go to sleep. However, this is often not the best path to choose, as our sleep patterns can sometimes be interrupted by the blue light of our devices. The blue light can confuse the brain and mess with the melatonin levels in our body, and it will result in a bad sleeping schedule.
Therefore, it can be a good idea to set up a “no screen” time within your day. Why not make it an hour before bed? If you use your phone as your alarm, set everything up, put the device on charge, then leave it alone, far away from your reach. Take the time to do something that does not involve a screen, whether you read a book, listen to music, or try something like a jigsaw! Some people even meditate before they go to sleep, so they can relax the brain, and focus on getting rest through the night.
2. Set Alarms
If you know that you can quickly lose track of time while scrolling, you should think of some ways that you can set alarms to know how long you have been on. Take a leaf out of the books of some of the best online casino UK brands such as casino.netbet.co.uk. Many of them have pop-ups that let players know how long they have spent on their games.
You could easily emulate something yourself. Before heading on social media, set a timer for 10 minutes or so. Once that is up, be disciplined and close the app again. It is a smart and easy way to ensure that you don’t spend ages on your phone – just don’t ignore the timer!
Most of the new smartphone models have a built-in counter that measures your screen time and recommend a working plan, so you can decrease the precious minutes you are losing while playing games, reading tweets, or watching TikTok videos that even though are short, they can take up to two hours until you realize you’ve watched a lot of them. So, you can even set a turning off timer at a particular time at night, or switch to night mode. During the day, the alarms will do their job nicely.
3. Remove Certain Apps
Sometimes it can be particular apps that are to blame for an increase in your screen time. If you know that this is the case for you, you might want to consider deleting them off your device entirely, thus removing their temptation. That can be some puzzle games, that it happens to pass even the hardest level at the moment you have to sleep. We shouldn’t forget that social media notifications are the biggest distraction nowadays, and no one can resist checking what’s new there. But, a few apps aren’t stronger than you, and you shouldn’t let them control your behavior. It’s on you to decide which apps you will keep, and which ones have to go.
Of course, there is also a chance that these are apps that you cannot live without. If this is the case, you should look into locks that you can get that will temporarily stop you from accessing them within the limits that you set. These can be of great help if you need to focus on work or some other task and don’t want to be disturbed by the lure of your phone. Also, some of these apps allow you to set screen limitations, and if you decide to do that, then you have to stick to your schedule and resist the urge to change the plan and check what’s there.
4. Respect your decisions
If you decide to decrease your screen time, because as you can suppose, every one of us is spending too much time online, then the main trick (and most important at the same time) is to be respectful of your decisions. The people don’t want to be hard on themselves, and in most cases, they will anyway check their phone or computer, even it’s in the forbidden time. That’s why we are those who need to make that decision, set the limits, and be respectful of them.
We could all do with cutting down on our screen time where we can. Have an honest think about how much time you are spending on your phone. Once you are honest with yourself, you will be able to answer the most important question: Could you cut down on it in some way? Of course, you can do that. Even though it will be very difficult, a lot of people say that once they started their digital detox, they improved the general quality of their life. Set your limits and be respectful for all that time you will get once you stop spending the whole day using your computer or smartphone all the time. It might help more than you think!
