A Lesson: This 9 Minute Read Will Save You 9 Years

A Lesson: This 9 Minute Read Will Save You 9 Years 

“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” – Albert Einstein 

This is not a guide. It is instead a lesson that will bring you on a journey of realisation. In this blog, I will take you through informative research and step by step exercises to teach you how to quit your phone addiction to win back 9 years of your life. Think I’m being dramatic? Read on. 

Nobody realises they have a problem until something drastic happens and they are suddenly woken up to the fact that they’ve been unconsciously sleeping for a very long time. Phone addiction is a real thing and it’s about time we all recognised that and took control of it. 

Look, the facts are staggering: 

66% of the population shows signs of nomophobia. (Source: SecurEnvoy) 

Don’t know what this means? It comes from NO MObile phone PHOBIA… That’s right, it sounds ridiculous but in reality, every two out of every three of us are addicted to our smartphones. 

So this is where we come to STEP 1. 

STEP 1: Know your facts. 

The more you know, the more capable you are of making informed decisions. By reading these facts and completing the exercises, you will become more conscious of the damage you’re causing to yourself - and in turn, to those around you. 

At first you will have to choose to consciously act against touching your phone when you get the urge to, but this will eventually become a subconscious habit in your daily life. And THAT is how you will succeed at quitting your phone addiction, thereby limiting your time online. 

At least, these facts shocked me so much that I thought, there’s no way I want to be part of the statistics that fit into this category anymore. I just hadn’t been aware of how bad this problem was and that’s the biggest issue with the majority of us; we just don’t know. 

So here’s my reasoning: 

1. The time you’re wasting in your life... 

● The average person spends a little over 76,500 hours on their smartphones over the course of their lifetime. This works out to be almost 9 years of your life. (Source: Whistleout) 

● The average time spent on smartphones a day is 2 hours and 51 minutes. ● 87% of smartphone users check their device within an hour of going to sleep or waking up (Source: SlickText) 

TO DO: Check what your screen time is right now.

Click here for instructions on how to access this for Apple or Android. This is a necessity before you move onto the next step. Where do you fare in the screentime game? 

If you’re anything like me, you’ll be shocked, even in denial. “It’s okay though, I spend time working on my phone, these numbers aren’t right”, yeah I tried to tell myself that too… If you think your phone is actually helping you work, here are some facts on productivity rates. 

2. The productivity you’re losing & how you may appear to others… 

● The average smartphone owner unlocks their phone 150 times a day. (Source: Meeker) ● We will then waste time tapping, swiping or clicking our phones 2,617 times a day, with 10% surveyed qualifying as “heavy users”, touching their phones 5,427 times a day! (Source: Dscout) 

● 58% of smartphone users don’t go 1 hour without checking their phones. (Source: CNet) 

Even if you’re an “average” smartphone user, you fall into the above categories. We are all letting our phones control us and this has just become such a normalised, somewhat acceptable thing. How often, however, have you noticed someone checking their phone at an inappropriate time? Or do you notice yourself doing it? 

TO DO: Think of this scenario. 

You’re out at a meeting with colleagues or at dinner with your family. A notification pops up onto your screen. Without even thinking, you click on your phone and open it. You quickly glance up to show you’re still engaged in conversation - but in reality, your attention has been completely 

absorbed by your phone and you’re removed from the world around you for a few minutes. Someone is speaking but you don’t even hear what they’re saying. You finish doing your task on your phone, look up and now the conversation has moved on and you’re having to nod in agreement without being sure of what is being said. 

Does this sound familiar to you? Maybe you have this aspect under control - especially in a workplace environment - but we have all absolutely seen this happening in other people around us - and quite frankly, it’s rude. The real issue with this one, is that we all think it’s acceptable to get lost in our phones around family members. These are especially the people we should be more dedicated to giving our undivided attention to - so start noticing when you are doing the above, and just put your phone down. Something that can help with this when you’re at home, is having allocated phone time. I’ll come to this below. 

3. Understanding how bad technological consumption is for your brain... 

● Using smartphones for longer intervals of time changes brain chemistry, causing chemical imbalances. 

● It also impacts cognitive capacity - just by having your smartphone in the room with you, even if it’s turned off… What?!

● Using your phone before bedtime disrupts your sleep cycle, not for the games you’re playing or the news you’re reading but for the light that is being omitted by your screen. ● Smartphone use and depression are correlated. 

Sorry? This information is astounding. Surely these statistics should be distributed more widely. Why aren’t there pop ups from our providers when we overuse our phone with the health consequences on it - the same way with cigarette packaging. Something even more shocking is coming… read on. 

TO DO: Have a read of the above links. 

Often, we find it hard to believe what we read online - and that’s completely rational, you should absolutely be that way. However, the likes of Harvard studies and legitimate research papers should hold somewhat more weight in our minds that there is proof out there to support the bullet pointed quotes. 

These papers show the reality of the damage we are causing to our brains by being addicted to our phones. With this information at our fingertips and once we recognise the factual status of it, it will become nearly impossible to turn a blind eye to your technological consumption and so hopefully this is all making it more clear of what needs to change. Even if that’s an unwelcome truth. 

4. Understand it’s not easy to quit & the big tech businesses make it that way deliberately… 

● 58% of smartphone users have admitted to trying to limit their device usage, only 41% succeeded in lessening their cell phone addiction. 

● Almost 40% of all consumers and 60% of 18-to 34-year-olds admit to using their phones too much. (Source: SlickText) 

Apps are designed to lure you in and keep hold of your attention for as long as possible. From Instagram sending dozens of irrelevant story notifications your way to Twitter using the psychological trick of the pinwheel loading bar - this same tactic is used with slot machines to keep people playing… 

Now you may ask, why do the big tech companies want to keep us on these kinds of social media platforms? Well the answer is simple. You are their product. The more time you spend on these platforms, the greater power they have. When they sell advertising space through B2B sponsored ads, they are able to share this site traffic data and price accordingly. The longer you spend staring at your screen, the more money they are making. 

It’s a mind game and we’re all being played. 

TO DO: Decide whether you’re happy being taken advantage of like this. Are you really content knowing you fall into the above category? That every time you click on a notification, you’re being manipulated to do so and then, that these businesses are using

psychology against you, to rob you of your precious time? So the real question now is, how much willpower do you have? How great would it be to know you can ignore the bright light flashing, that you can stop strolling, that you’re in control and that you’ve taken your power back. 

Of course, this is supposed to rile you up and get you on a level of wanting to feel empowered - but clearly, the above statistic just shows that although we know we need to change, it’s not so easy. So how do we start training our brains to be less inclined to unconsciously click and scroll and click and scroll? 

STEP 2: What you can do on your phone 

Choosing to quit a habit has to become just that - a HABIT. Help yourself on this journey by first performing a thorough cleanse of your phone. This will ensure unnecessary notifications are removed - so some habits can simply be removed entirely just with the “Uninstall App” button. Simple! We can do this! 

1. Delete phone games 

Playing games on your phone might be a nice pastime on paper, just for a few minutes as a brain-break from work or to wake yourself up in the morning - but often, you’ll get trapped by the vivid colours, multi-day streaks and poorly animated, non-existent rewards. Get rid of them! 

2. Delete news apps 

Often news apps are the first thing people look at in the morning or the last thing before they go to sleep at night. This only invites negativity into your mind. Delete them. You can catch up on the news by going to the intended website when you’re on your laptop with a strict time frame having been set prior to loading the tab. 

3. Change your phone settings 

There are a plethora of settings that can help you be less inclined to pick up your phone. Did you know that you can change the colour of your screen to be greyscale so that it appears less enticing to your subconscious mind? Another little trick, although it may end up being more time consuming, but at least fewer distractions, is to turn off your notifications for certain apps or conversations - just ensure you have a 10 minute slot carved out in your day to just check and reply to those. 

Then of course there are the usual suggestions - set a screen time limiter on your phone to notify you when you’re reaching your desired quota of lost time. Put your phone onto airplane mode when you’re working - or even, better yet, just turn it off! Do you feel that fear arising in you now at the mere suggestion of turning your phone off? That’s how you know the addiction is real. 

4. Use the hair tie trick

A strange one but it shows how simple it can be to incorporate conscious changes into your stream of thoughts. Simply by placing an elasticated hair tie around the centre of your phone, you are more likely to not touch it. 

How? By having a visual reminder that somewhat impedes your ability to touch your screen, your brain is reminded of what it actually wants - or does not want - to do and so it adds one more layer to the thought process. Now you will have a moment of realisation and consciously be able to choose not to pick up your smartphone. 

So as soon as you have the clutter cleared off your phone, it’s time to put it down and start picking up some better habits instead. 

STEP 3: What you can do off your phone 

Even after knowing the above facts and deleting all unnecessary and time consuming apps, it’s still not so easy to just quit entirely. I know that first hand, believe me! So it’s time to step up the game and get more serious. Just as you do with any business, you 

1. Set your goals 

Based on your current screen time, start setting achievable goals each week for how much less tech time you want to be consumed by in the future. Everything is your choice, it’s all in your power. You control it. 

Every week that goes by check in to see how you’re doing and adjust accordingly. It’s really great because your phone will tell you in the screen time settings, how much less (hopefully!) you’ve been using your phone with a percentage so you can have real goals every week and keep track to ensure you’re consciously becoming more and more present every week. And becoming present is the ultimate goal of all goals, above all. I’ll have to do another blog on this one sometime soon - keep updated on when this, and other useful reads, will be released by signing up to my newsletter here. (If you have a personal emailing list for your blogs, if not - I recommend this is something you do! I can help with this too)**** 

2. Work more on your computer & less on your phone 

Working on my laptop, instead of my phone, always feels much more like honest work time. Why? I am far less likely to get distracted by scrolling on social media apps or to get lost in WhatsApp conversations. Instead, get everything up on your laptop that you usually need for work. This will not only make you much more productive when it comes to having to get your laptop out to work on it, it will also save you so much more time than you can imagine. 

Think about it. Your laptop is designed for work. Your phone is not. Although apps try and make it easier for us, it’s just not the same typing on a keyboard than it ever will be on a tiny little touchpad with our thumb…

You know you can even have WhatsApp on your desktop - so you won’t need to look at your phone for any work-related messages - but in any case, if you ARE using WhatsApp for work, you should shift that to Slack immediately. Slack is a messaging app that has been built for the professional world. It makes messaging teams and workplaces super easy and all you need to sign up is an email. 

By making these changes and making an effort to instead allocate a certain time in the day to productively look at your phone, you will naturally start to break your habit of subconsciously just picking your little device up to ‘check on it’. 

3. Start practicing mindfulness 

Mindfulness is proving to be hugely beneficial for your mind, let alone your entire life. Not only is it the key to a longer life with many studies proving it, but in the short term too, people see the immediate effects. From decreasing anxiety, depression and stress levels to improving mood and increasing productivity - bettering how we feel on a happiness level all in all… 

So this is something that we all should be practicing regardless of whether we’re addicted to our phones or not. The reason I’ve included it here however is because the main teaching of mindfulness is to become present and I think that anyone actively searching to quit being so absorbed by technology, is really searching for that. 

Essentially, mindfulness gives you the ability to be conscious of the nuances of the present moment and it is in those nuances that gratitude can be found - which is the key to happiness. That will have to be yet another blog post for another time. Again, sign up to my newsletter here if you haven’t done so yet, for updates on these! (LINK AGAIN: If you have a personal emailing list for your blogs, if not - I recommend this is something you do! I can help with this too)**** 

TO DO: If you don’t know where to start with mindfulness, simply focus on your breath. Fill your lungs entirely and slow your breathing down. Do this as long as you can solely focus on your inhales and exhales. This will immediately bring you back into being in the present moment. 

And look at that - you’re not using your phone anymore either. Everything is always in your power when you consciously choose it to be.

Blog Post Title Two

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Three

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Four

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.