Save Our Sanity: Freeing Yourself from Phone Addictions

New phones are great things. However, they come with a whole host of distractions…camera! Google! Youtube! Chief of all: social media.

As an infamous procrastinator myself, I find that social media pulls my already limited concentration into a million different pieces. What should we do, then? Forswear all of it forever?

With all things in life, control is key. If you–like me–are struggling with how to balance all the daily distractions, here are some things we can do together.

Take time off. Not forever–but staying off social media for a day is a great way to remind yourself that you can live without it. Abstaining from social media may take a day, a week, a month–whatever you need to break the addiction. You. Will. Survive. I’ve heard that it takes 21 days to break a habit. If you find social media reliance becoming a habit to you, it might be time to take a break.

How Much Time Do I Need? Everyone should have a little time on social media. Decide how much you need (I’m saying 30 minutes) and write it down.

Schedule. Pick a time every day for you to spend your allotted amount of time on your phone. The reason a consistent schedule is good is because when you break up your time throughout your day, you’re likely to lose track of time and spend far longer than you intended to–again, distraction.

What’s easy: rolling out of bed and reaching for your phone. Scrolling through your instagram feed before class. Checking Facebook between cooking dinner.

What’s hard: Self control.

Let me tell you: The hard thing is worth it. If you don’t know that for yourself, I dare you to find out. You’ll be happier, productive, and prepared for more challenges in life.

 

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As a side note, I wanted to include a video from one of my favorite youtubers. This video is about health journaling, and I think the idea of journaling progress on breaking bad habits and keeping up with good ones is a great way to get started. Until next time, stay inspired!

the wanderer