Break Up Your Phone Addiction
Do you find that your screen time is often quite shocking? Trust me, I understand. Nowadays people would often find their screen time to be way higher than they’d like it to be. But today we will try to change that. In this article we will try to understand why do we get addicted to our phones, and things we can do to break that addiction.
the impact of phones on our brains
Understanding the impact our phones have on our brain is crucial, as fear can be a great motivator for change. Digital technology, especially when used from a young age, can impact several aspects of our neuropsychology.
Attention
Let’s be honest, our attention spans are very much suffering. Not only constant notifications interrupt our workflow, making it hard for us to sustain our focus, but our phones also made us used to multitasking. How many of us watch videos whilst eating, doing our make up or even brushing our teeth? Due to this constant stimulation nowadays we all struggle with boredom. Studies have even linked phone usage to ADHD symptoms. Bear in mind, ADHD is a neurodevelopment condition, which means you are born with it. This should really have us reflect on the impact our phones have on our brains.
Memory
Our phones remember everything for us, so we don’t need to store information in our brains anymore. Memory works like a muscle, and it needs regular use to stay strong. Plus, the constant information overload from our phones can impact our memory’s efficiency.
Social Skills
Some studies found that early exposure to digital stimulation can hinder one’s ability to recognise emotions in face-to-face interactions. In addition, more time online means less time spent with people in real life. This can lead to a lack of development of social skills and increased isolation and difficulty interacting with others.
Sleep
I believe we are all familiar with the impact the blue light of our digital screens has on our cycardian rhythm, making it harder for people to go to sleep, and overall impacting sleep quality. This could lead to disastrous consequences ad poor sleep can lead to brain changes, and neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease later in life.
Phone addiction
Some people can develop an actual phone addiction. I have explained how addictions, and habits more in general are developed in my article on “breaking bad habits”. But, in summary, when we experience a reward, the central segmental area (VTA) in our brains, releases dopamine, which travels to the nucleus accumbent, creating a sense of reward. The prefrontal cortex then assesses the situation, which is perceived as positive and as worth replicating. All this process can foster feelings of cravings, which can in turn lead to preoccupation, mood changes, reduced productivity and decreased well-being.
Mental Health
The content we consume on social media, combined with the effects of phone usage, can contribute to mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.
how companied keep us addicted
All of the consequences that phones have on our brains and behaviour are quite shocking. But how do we get here in the first place? What do phone companies do that keep us addicted?
Intermitted reinforcement
The psychologist Skinner discovered that pigeons who were receiving food intermittently when pressing a lever were more likely to get addicted to the action than pigeons who received food every time the lever was pressed. Similarly to a slot machine, social media provide intermittent rewards. Sometimes we find something rewarding, like a funny video or likes on our posts, and other times we don’t. This unpredictability keeps us checking our phones frequently.
Dopamine hits
Notifications and positive interactions please dopamine, activating our rewards system and keeping us hooked.
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
We rely on our phones to stay updated with the world, our friends, and even that person we once knew in high school. Wanting to keep our selves informed and the fear of missing out on important events can make us in turn use our phone more.
Endless contents
Do you remember when our feed was only made of people we knew? Now the situation is different and we get infinite suggestion of contents, so we could literally be scrolling endlessly without ever reaching the end.
Notifications
Notifications can disrupt our daily activities, give ing us an instant rise of dopamine. They can also make us develop an habit whereby we pick our phone whenever we hear a notification, and end up scrolling for hours as a result of it (sometimes without even checking the notification we have just received). Another technique involving notifications is the red badge on social media icons for unread notifications, which create a sense of urgency to clear them.
Social connectivity
Social media in particular use our desire for social connectivity as a big motivator to keep using their apps. We are instantly connected to everybody, and we also feel that if we are not part of the social media space we are also missing important connections.
Personalised content
Websites also gets information about us and what we like depending on our engagement, and as we have sadly found out, by possibly listening to our conversations - this means that they will always offer us content we find interesting. The big problem with this is that we also end up living in a bubble where we are digitally surrounded by people that think like us and that make contents that interests us. We are less open to other people’s points of view because we are not used to it anymore - this is because online everybody I similar to us and has our similar beliefs.
Accessibility
Finally phones and apps are literally at arm’s length and one tap away. They are so accessible that reaching for them has become second nature for us.
Tips to break free from phone addiction
Set screen time visible
Knowledge is power and being aware of a prob elm and how big the problem is, is the first step to solving it. I personally have a screen time widget on my phone screen, so I get reminded daily of how long I am spending on my phone, and trust me, realising that you are wasting your life on your phone is a big motivator to get rid of it.
Disable notifications
Just deactivate every notification on your phone - this will avoid you being disrupted throughout your day and scrolling when you don’t mean to. Set specific times of your day when you are allowed to check the notifications (otherwise you might get caught by the urgency of taking your phone just to check if you got notifications on each individual app).
Massive unfollowing
Be very strict with this and unfollow anyone that you honestly don’t care about, anyone that makes you feel bad about yourself, and anyone that just does not add anything meaningful or positive to your feed. On the other hand, only follow accounts that provide inspiring and motivational content, so that you can have your phone work for you and not against you.
Set app limits
Phones would often have settings that allow you to put limits on individual apps. Once you have understood which are the apps you spend the longest time on, you can add a downtime limit. When you reach the limit the app will remind you that time’s up and that you should be doing something else.
Greyscale mode
Phones are designed to be colourful and visually appealing, which draws our attention. Changing your screen to greyscale can make your phone less enticing and reduce your urge to use it.
Out of sight
Delete apps from your Home Screen. In this way, it will be harder for you to reach them when you get your phone, as you will need to type the app’s name to get access to it. Following the same priciple, you could also put your phone in another room for a few hours everyday. In this way, it’s there if you need something, but it won’t be easily accessible for you so mindlessly scroll.
Digital detox
Set a day, or even just a few hours in your day or week where you are not allowed anything digital. This will make you realise that the world won’t end if your not connected, and that anyone that really needs you can find alternative ways to get in contact with you (although let’s be honest, for most of us it will be rare that someone ends us so urgently that we need to unterrupt our detox time).
conclusion
Phone usage can really impact our brain and our behaviour. Phone companies use various strategies to keep us addicted. However, by implementing the tips above, you can break free of your phone addiction and reclaim your time and mental well-being. Remember, the goal is not to eliminate phone usage completely, but to find a healthy balance that enhances your life rather than controlling it.