Smart phones = dumb people
Modern smart phones and really aren’t phones anymore, they’re pocket computers that happen to be capable of calls and texts.
Carrying a pocket computer can certainly be a powerful thing. Just today I was running late to catch a flight and was able to check in online and download my boarding pass to my phone. I also used the GPS to navigate to the airport and calculate my ETA. That’s powerful to be able to do that from a device in your pocket.
But there’s a darkside.
Is there anything human’s fear more than a moment without stimulus? Any spare moment we have, we reach for our phone to mindlessly scroll through social media feeds. This habit may have been born out of boredom but soon we’re checking for notifications while hanging out with friends and loved ones. Once this happens, you’ve lost control.
It’s time to take back control.
The overall strategy to breaking your smart phone addiction is this: make your phone as boring as possible.
App developers have one goal in mind, they want to keep you in the app for as long as possible. Social media companies coined a very innocent sounding term for this: user engagement. But what they really mean is: user addiction.
It is very disturbing to learn the depths which companies go to get you addicted to their app. They’ve studying gambling psychology and programmed notifications to mimic slot machines. There’s a slight delay from the time you open the app to the time you see if you have any messages or notifications, this is designed to create suspense, much like the suspense when you pull the lever on a slot machine and you wait for the wheels to spin.
So here are five things that made my phone boring as hell and allowed me to be more present in my life:
(These tips only apply to smartphone users so if you’re using a flip phone, you’re ahead of the game!)
- App purge
Just start deleting. It’s up to you what you keep and what you get rid of, but be honest with yourself. When you find yourself killing time on your phone, whatever app you’re using you should consider deleting.
I deleted all social media and dating apps. Those were the main culprits for me, you may have a different vices.
But take a minimalist approach to what apps you allow on your phone to simplify and resist temptation.
- Turn off data usage
Only allow data to be used in apps that you absolutely need while in transit. GPS is the primary one I allow data to be used in.
Turning off data usage will turn your pocket computer back into a phone, you can call, text and get directions. Everything else can wait until you’re back home.
- Go Black & White
Turn your phone to black and white (grayscale). This will immediately reduce your interest in your phone. It’s absurd how boring black and white is. App developers study what colors stimulate your brain and they put those colors into their apps. Once you’ve gotten used to black and white, if you turn the colors back on, it just looks weird as hell.
- Turn off notifications
This is pretty straightforward. Notifications take you out of the real world and bring you back into the digital world. Remember that term “user engagement”? Yep they’re trying to keep you hooked on the digital smack.
- Organize apps into folders
This is more of a house cleaning than anything else. You clean your room right? Why not clean up the screen on your phone. Also that one extra layer of getting to an app will help reduce impulsive checking.
You can do all these things in under 15 minutes and I promise you, your phone addiction will drop dramatically.
User disengaged.
And here is a bonus, just in case you missed this when it was viral: