Downgrading Tech, Upgrading Humanity
By: Joanna Ngai
Tags: Health, Time Management, Mental Health, Technology, Productivity

Downgrading Tech, Upgrading Humanity

Three simple steps to be less addicted to your phone

We spend an increasing amount of time online, on social media/entertainment or even checking notifications on our devices to our own detriment — whether it’s doomscrolling or getting stuck in a YouTube or Wikipedia spiral.

As many things in life have shifted to screens due to day to day life this past year, it’s even easier to be complacent and waste time on your phone (or device of choice) for no particular reason. Given that being online might be the only avenue for connections, work, education, learning, hobbies, no wonder we’re spending more time in front of a screen — there just isn’t a good alternative for the time being. However, there’s still nuance between thoughtful vs. passive consumption.

Most of us already know that time is valuable.

Spending time wisely is about making the most of your time to pursue what’s valuable and beneficial among competing distractions.

So whether you’re tired of being bombarded with political news, feeling chained to your inbox or bouncing between notifications on different apps, here’s a few simple steps that I tried and found to work (for me) to be less addicted to my phone.

Step 1: Put your phone somewhere you can’t easily see or reach

There’s a story in Greek mythology about the warrior Ulysses and the Sirens. While journeying home after war, he had to face many trials, one of which was a guide a ship past an island with these dangerous, enchanting creatures who lured sailors overboard to their deaths with song.

Heeding advice from a goddess, Ulysses instructed his sailors tie him to a ship and stuff their own ears with wax which allowed them to pass through. Though he was lured by the Sirens’ voices, he wasn’t able to physically move and therefore, was safe.

The idea is that if we know what will be distracting and understand our own weaknesses, we can prepare ahead of time and “self-bind” in order to remove likely distractions, such as by placing your phone away from your nightstand or out of sight during work hours.

This doesn’t mean you won’t be drawn to checking your device, just that you start with an environment that reinforces the habits you want to build. This can even extend to other goals, like putting exercise clothes in a visible place to make daily exercise a routine.

Tip: Don’t rely on willpower, change your environment.

Step 2: Turn off notifications and sounds

Notifications (coupled with sounds) are triggers to check for updates. Typically they are shown as a red dot with a count. Red has the significance of urgency and importance, yet after being used everywhere, it can be a stressful feeling to be being constantly interrupted from a state of flow.

We must strive to balance what’s urgent vs. what’s important. Notifications can obscure this critical distinction.

Tip: Reduce noisy interruptions by turning off all notifications and opting in to the few you actually need.

Step 3: Greyscale mode

Colors traditionally draw attention and affect our emotions — by using grayscale I reduce the amount of stimuli I get through color. My phone and any social media app are also much less enticing without colors.

Here’s how to turn greyscale mode on (iPhone, Android)

While I can’t do this for all my devices (as a designer, this is impractical), this has helped make long period of screen time on my phone less interesting = leading to less time spent staring glazed-eyed scrolling memes.

Tip: Intentionally remove color/delete apps to make your phone less engaging.

Conclusion

Last step here is a periodic check-in for alignment between values and action. Reflect on how you spend time in a day/week/month vs. what you say is important. Do these line up?

It’s a little grim to be constantly thinking about how much time you have left. But to be intentional about how you live with the time you’re given makes for a mindful life.