Clever, Simple Ways to Reduce Your Screen Time (and Why You Should!)

You’ve probably read about – and cheered for – the numerous lawsuits against major social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, for knowingly causing young, impressionable minds to become addicted to their harmful platforms. These lawsuits allege that addiction to these social media platforms contributes to anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and suicidal ideation in young people.

Anyone who has a teenager with a social media account, especially a daughter, knows this addiction to social media to be true and problematic. But, as many of us know, social media and smartphone addiction is not only a young person’s problem.

Our smart (and noisy) phones ding, swoosh, vibrate, and beep, demanding our attention and expertly keeping it captive. The average American spends 5 hours and 16 minutes a day looking at their phone, more if you’re a millennial or Gen Z. Smartphone addiction can lead to anxiety, sleep problems, depression and more in adults, too.

Aside from the mental health issues, there is also remorse over the time wasted. Five hours! Think of all you could do with that time if you could just put your phone down?

But don’t feel too bad about the hours you spend scrolling, texting, and Googling, and otherwise putting off living your life in the real world (IRL). Smartphones are designed to be addictive, and addiction requires more than just willpower to fight.

Fortunately, there are effective hacks that will help you reduce your screen time and regrets about time wasted. As with any addiction, it’s important to acknowledge the problem and make a commitment to change. As author James Clear says in his bestselling book “Atomic Habits,” ‘the process of behavior change always starts with awareness.’”

It’s also vital to accept that it will take time and effort to create habits that will help you reduce screen time and break your addiction. There is no easy fix. Expect some setbacks and slip-ups, but stay the course.

Five hacks to help reduce your screen time

A hairband

Yes, you read that correctly. The first hack is an elastic hairband. High-tech addiction can be fought with a low-tech, inexpensive accessory. Wrapping an elastic band around the middle of your phone can help reduce your screen time in several ways. For starters, it lets you answer a call but also makes it more difficult to mindlessly use when you’re bored.

It creates an opportunity to pause and think before you start tapping on apps and wasting time. Could you do something else? Talk to a friend? Do a task you’ve been putting off? Daydream? It serves as a visible reminder of your goal to reduce phone use and a physical barrier to actually using it.

In psychological terms of habit formation, the hairband acts as a friction point. To stop negative habits, adding friction helps you reduce those bad habits. For positive habits, like exercising and eating healthy, you want to reduce friction.

Change your color scheme to a grey scale.

Turning your color scheme to a grayscale can reduce your screen time, say experts and those who have tried it. One study found that participants reduced their phone time by 40 minutes per day. According to the research, “grayscale makes smartphones less gratifying and can assist individuals in controlling their smartphone use.”

In a New York Times article titled, “I Killed Color on My Phone. The Results Shocked Me,” investigative journalist Julia Angwin says, “The moment I switched, I no longer felt an urgent need to look at my iPhone — an urge that I hadn’t known was so strong until it was gone.” She says her cell phone use dropped 40% with this simple change.

To change your iOS device to grayscale, go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Color Filters, then select Grayscale. On Android devices, go to Settings > Accessibility > Color and motion > Color correction.

Change your lock screen

Your lock screen is the first thing you see when you pick up your phone, which, according to market research company Asurion, is about 352 times a day. Instead of photos of your family, favorite vacation, or pet, change your lock screen to a message that reinforces your effort to put it down.

Some suggestions for motivational messages include:

• What could you be doing instead of this?
• Why are you here?
• Daydream

Or, you can simply try “Put me down!” and see how that works. Feel free to change up the messages to find the most effective ones.

Eliminate the problem (s)

When you look at your time management tools, what apps do you spend the most time on? According to one survey, users spend the most time on social media and entertainment apps.

Try deleting the most-used apps that aren’t vital to your day-to-day life, whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. You won’t miss them.

The average user has 60 to 90 apps on their phone. Try an app audit and remove the ones that suck the most time or the ones you rarely use. You can always figure out alternative ways to do the things your app does IRL. For example, once you delete social media, do you find yourself addicted to news apps? Read a paper newspaper or magazine, instead.

Leave it  … at home, in your car, or in another room.

Another simple way to add friction or eliminate the problem is to not have your phone on you at all times. Of course, there are times you’ll need to be reached, or you’ll need it for other reasons such as maps or photos.

But when you leave your car or home, consider leaving it behind. It may feel like a phantom limb to not have it with you at dinner, the office, or out and about, but you’ll survive. You may notice how often everyone around you uses theirs, or just notice things in general.

Studies have shown that not having your phone near you not only cuts back on frequent phone pick up but also increases your cognitive capacity.

Reducing your dependence and time spent on your phone requires a multiprong approach, a strong desire to change, and a concerted effort to stay the course. By employing the five hacks above, or the ones you find most helpful, you can improve your chances of decreasing the time you spend on your smart phone. Additionally, you may reap the associated benefits of less screen time, which include reduced stress, better sleep, improved relationships, and less anxiety.