It was just another day. I woke up and found a video on youtube I hadn’t watched yet. It was a video by Eddy Burback titled, “I hate my phone so I got rid of it”. I clicked on the video, and me and my boyfriend sat down to start watching it.
But that video inspired me. I still haven’t finished it, admittedly, since we had to stop watching it and do other things and we want to finish it together. However, I still got the message Eddy was showing, and I wanted to start the process of limiting my phone time.
As we started using our phones over the years, it started to become something everyone was expected to have. And once you had your own phone, you felt like you had to have it on you at all times. Sometimes I will use my phone to comfort me after a long day. And I know I’m not the only one.
According to a study conducted by Shiri Melumad and Michel Tuan Pham, people find more comfort and stress relief in their phone compared to their PC. They found as well that people will tend to go to their phone for comfort, even when there are other amenities to help them. They conducted 3 separate studies to get their studies, if you are interested in looking into their research, it will be linked below. It is very intriguing seeing how the results of their studies come together.
There was a few days where I just fully deleted Instagram off my phone. The doomscrolling habit was BAD, so that was the only way in my brain I could break the habit. With doing so, I went through all the apps on my phone to see if I needed them or not.
I have apps like Facebook and Bluesky on my phone to scroll through along with instagram, but I don’t need them. If anything, they can all be pulled up on my computer. Along with Snapchat now too! So I bookmarked the websites on said computer, so in the future, they can be deleted off my phone.
I also went through all the bookmarks I have saved on my search engine, and if I still wanted to look at the saved sites in the future, I saved them on the computer. Makes it easier on me and my phone! (Did you know that with all the sites open, it keeps the ads going, and that’s why your phone slows down when there’s a lot of tabs open? I learned that recently and it actually helped!)
Making sure I have everything I would use casually on my computer is the top priority. I wanted to be sure that my computer would provide me more comfort than my phone. Of course I couldn’t use my computer when I’m not home, but it could at least contain the important stuff, with a couple fun things included.
And it’s actually helped! Having Instagram deleted, thus removing the main doom scrolling front, brought my head up from the screen a whole lot more! I started using my computer a lot more, utilizing the tools to create even more things! I started up my Youtube channel, and I’m so excited to see where it goes. I’ve been trying to take a lot more photos, and I’m coming up with a business endeavor with a friend of mine! I will admit, I redownloaded Instagram, and I have gotten back to the doom scrolling a little bit. But in the time I didn’t have it, I learned/remembered other methods to not use it.
You can play a mobile game if you need that visual stimulation! I have the my little pony mobile game where you can decorate your own pony town, and I’ve played it for years!
You can look through your camera roll and delete photos that you don’t need anymore, watch old videos, and reminisce on old memories! Or if you have the physical copies, you can look through those, maybe even make a scrapbook with some spare photos laying around!
Remembering we have other things we can do besides be on our phones is so important right now. Technology is at the front of every business, every home, even just out in public, there can be screens. So taking the time to not be on them matters. As jokey as this sounds, but touching grass matters!
If you want to still live with technology being a main part of your life, that’s totally fine! With how my career is, it’s gonna have to be a big part of mine. So you just have to coordinate some off screen time into your routine. Maybe taking a walk every day or every other day, especially if you have a pet who would love going with you! Maybe there’s a board game you’ve been wanting to play, but you haven’t had time for it yet! Or going to the book store and picking out a book that looks interesting! It doesn’t even have to have to many words!
Hey and who knows, you can maybe make a new friend while you’re out. In my opinion that’s better than any piece of tech on this planet!
According to Kommando Tech, an average person uses 3 hours and 15 minutes on their phones. They also share that an average American spends 5.4 hours a DAY on their phones. I have fallen into this so many times, especially when I have something playing on my phone for a while, like Youtube or Netflix.
So even just the small steps to be off our phones can have tremendous results. It gives us the chance to see the beauty of everything around us that’s already right here. Like the birds and the squirrels outside your window. Or your cat sleeping on the top of the couch to still be near you while you’re at your desk. Or even just witnessing the beauty of human interaction.
Enjoy every second you’re off that tiny computer that you have. Man made objects are static, and unchanging. But Mother Nature is ever changing, always has a surprise up her sleeve. Living in the moment with everything and everyone is the best part of being on this earth. That tiny computer’s just a small bonus!
Sources/Media Referenced
1. I hate my phone so i got rid of it by Eddy Burback
2. How Much Time Does the Average Person Spend on Their Phone? by Damjan from Kommando Tech
3. The Smartphone as a Pacifying Technology by Shiri Melumad and Michel Tuan Pham
Coley Rose's Corner 