How to Kick Your Mobile Phone Addiction

Most of us know about the tricks that advertisers play when trying to get our attention. What you might not realize, however, is that our mobile phone and other digital objects are doing something similar, and you are probably falling for it every time.

One thing that designers do is use the color red for notifications. Why? Because red triggers a natural emotional response, and that makes us want to swipe or click. This also can easily make us feel “attached” to our phones, and addiction to phones and things like social media, are very real. Don’t get caught up in this; here are some tips to help you kick your mobile phone addiction:

Turn Off Your App Notifications

Notifications are helpful, and sometimes, they are very important. However, most app notifications are not. These are the ones that are designed to get you to interact with your app. For instance, if you get a Facebook notification that someone posted something to your wall, you are likely going to check it immediately. Turn those off and check your apps when you have time.

Screen Time

In your Setting menu seek “Screen Time” and scroll through to see how much time you are spending on various apps. You can set tis up to be notified daily, but that’s also another distraction. If your Screen Time settings are telling you that you are excessively on social media, gaming, or activities that are simply mind numbing, unproductive, and might be considered addictive behaviors, stop.

Go Gray

As mentioned, color plays with our minds, and app developers know this. So, consider making your phone screen black and white, called Grayscale. On the iPhone, you can do this in the Settings app.

Clean Up Your Home Screen

You should also consider cleaning up your home screen. Only keep things you need like your calendar, map app, and email. Everything else should be moved to another screen.

Type, Don’t Tap

Also, try to get into the habit of typing in the search box for apps you want to open instead of tapping them. This gives you a second to consider if you really want to get involved with the app.

Remove Social Media Apps

You might want to take off the social media apps you have on your phone, too. You will be shocked by how much time you spend on those apps if you are like most people. You can always check later on a computer or by typing it into your browser.

Charge Your Phone Away from Your Bed

Most of us charge our phones overnight, and more often than not, we do it right on our nightstand. This makes it very easy and tempting to grab it and start using it. So, consider keeping it out of the bedroom at night.

ROBERT SICILIANO CSP, is a #1 Best Selling Amazon author, CEO of CreditParent.com, the architect of the CSI Protection certification; a Cyber Social and Identity Protection security awareness training program.