Reducing your cell phone screen time is vital if you want to improve your life and have time for the things that are most important to you. Here are some tips and tools to help you set boundaries around your cell phone use. I also linked some tips for other devices.
*This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my affiliate disclosure. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Table of Contents
7 Tips to Reduce Cell Phone Screen Time
Tip #1 Uninstall Apps and Turn off Notifications
The first one is to uninstall social media from your phone if possible or, if that is not possible, put the apps in a secure folder with a password, making them a little harder to access easily.
I also recommend turning off any notifications other than phone calls or text messages. Certain other notifications, like rideshare and/or food delivery, may also be important if they are services you regularly use, but make sure to turn off all notifications for emails and social media, especially if you are not uninstalling them from your phone.
Tip #2 Don’t Use Your Phone as an Alarm Clock
The second tip is to get an actual alarm clock if you are currently using your phone as one.
Most people who wake up to an alarm on their phone, especially next to their bed, immediately check notifications and usually also start scrolling. This usually leads to starting your day in a worse mood and on someone else’s agenda.
Here is a good article on why checking your phone first thing in the morning could be making you unhappy.
Alarm Clocks:
- There is no excuse for using your phone as an alarm when you can pick up this digital alarm clock for less than ten bucks.
No products found.
- However, suppose you prefer a more pleasant wake-up experience. In that case, this wake-up light alarm clockgradually increases in color and brightness to mimic a sunrise to wake you up naturally. You also have the choice of seven natural wake-up sounds to wake up to as well. Most importantly, you can dim or turn off the night display, which is an essential feature for a good alarm clock.
No products found.
- If you are adamant that something that gentle won’t actually wake you up and get you out of bed, then try this super loud alarm clock with a bed shaker.
No products found.
Timers:
In addition to not using your phone as an alarm clock, try not to use it as a timer either, as it’s just another excuse to get on it. Timers, however, can be very beneficial when doing this challenge and building better habits, so if you don’t have one other than your phone, consider an inexpensive one like this two-pack (because it’s the same cost for one).
No products found.
Or get this CDN timer, which I believe is the best timer out there. Why, you ask? Because it has all the numbers to enter directly instead of pressing the minute button 45 times to set it to 45 minutes. It also has both beep and vibrate options, so if you are using it for something like meditation, you don’t end it with a jolting beep. It also is magnetic, has a stand, or can clip right to your clipboard.
No products found.
Tip #3 Take Advantage of Airplane Mode and DND (Do Not Disturb)
I recommend having periods during the day when you cannot be reached. Ideally, until you have completed your morning routine or for at least the first hour of your day. During focus work blocks. And for at least an hour before you go to bed or when you start your wind-down routine. During those times, have your phone on DND, Airplane Mode, or both.
I put my phone both on DND and Airplane Mode at the start of my evening routine and charge my phone outside of my room. Why both? I do have a sleep-tracking device (Oura Ring) that I like to check in the morning before my routine is complete. So, when I sync the ring, which is also on airplane mode when I sleep, to get my sleep info. I only need to turn on Bluetooth to do so, and I won’t get bombarded with missed calls and text notifications yet. After I had synced and checked my ring, I turned off Airplane Mode and immediately turned it face down so as not to see any notifications. I Don’t check it or turn it off DND until my morning routine is done, and I get my first focus work block done for the day.
If you are someone who needs to have certain people be able to reach you, most phones allow you to set up DND rules. For example, you could only allow specific contacts to ring through or anyone who calls more than once and let the people in your life know to call twice if there is something genuinely urgent or an emergency. These options only work for DND, not in Airplane Mode.
Tip #4 Make Your Phone Gray
If you turn your phone to grayscale, it will automatically reduce your scroll time. That is because grayscale makes your phone far less engaging for your brain and visually unappealing. When you remove the colors, it lessens the dopamine hit you get from your phone. The dopamine hit you get from phone use makes you addicted to it, so this is an easy strategy for fighting your phone addiction.
Here is an article on how to turn different phone screens into grayscale.
Tip #5 Use Separate Devices
What if you are like me and many others who use their devices for productive things in the morning, like yoga or workout videos, guided meditations, motivational audiobooks or podcasts, etc.?
My suggestion is to download what you can to your phone and keep it on airplane mode during the morning. Or consider having a second device like a tablet where you only download the apps and things that motivate you and not the things that distract you. You can get some tablets reasonably inexpensively.
Here are some less expensive tablet options.
Tablets:
No products found.
No products found.
No products found.
I use my tablet instead of my phone during my morning routine. While I do not have any social media apps installed on my tablet, I do have YouTube installed because I tend to use it for my morning yoga, guided meditations, and sometimes to listen to motivational videos. However, the YouTube homepage is a giant time waste trap for me, and if I go to that page at any point during my morning routine, I am sure to find myself scrolling mindlessly for at least 15+ minutes.
So, how do I solve this? In my Ultimate Productivity System, I have something called a productivity dashboard for which I provide a template. I use this dashboard to link everything I use in my morning routine in the order that I use it. So, instead of going to YouTube directly for my morning yoga practice, I have a link in my dashboard that takes me straight to my morning yoga playlist, and the YouTube home screen is avoided. I have saved my productivity dashboard as a shortcut on my tablet’s homepage.
Now, I am not telling you this to say you have to purchase my productivity system to do this. You can set up a Google Doc or Sheet and do the same thing by directly linking everything you want to use in your routine in the order you wish to use it. Save the doc or sheet as a shortcut for easy access. You can also download regularly watched videos to your device.
Tip #6 Use Apps Designed to Help Reduce Screen Time
Apps:
Some apps help you control your screen time, like the ones linked below.
It is also a good idea to track your screen time so you can see where you are and how much you have improved. Some phones do that automatically, but most of these apps will do it for you as well. Paying attention to your screen time and figuring out your most significant time wasters can be motivating for you to stop. Some of these apps also allow you to block certain apps for your phone at certain times if you find them to be problematic.
Tip #7 Put Your Phone in a Box
You can also consider putting your phone in a timed lockbox when you really need to focus or to keep yourself from mindlessly scrolling for long periods.
This phone lock box with a timer fits a large variety of phones. It has emergency holes for answering calls or for emergency calls or messages, but it prevents you from mindlessly scrolling or playing games. If you lock the phone upside down, then you will only be able to use voice activation for emergency calls. Just set the amount of time you want it to be locked up for and automatically keep yourself from scrolling on your phone when willpower is lacking.
No products found.
Another option is to put your phone in a box without locking it, which will serve as a reminder to stay off of it.
Whether it’s a box or another spot, have a home for your phone where you can’t see it or easily touch it. This is an easy way to stay off your phone; as the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind.
Tips to reduce screen time on other devices.
Staying Focused While Working or Learning Online
Smartphones are amazing inventions that can add so much to your life, but they can also take so much away, which is why it is so important to have balance and set boundaries!
I hope you enjoyed this article on 7 Tips to Reduce Your Cell Phone Screen Time. If you enjoyed it or have any other tips, please leave them in the comment section below.
Here are some other blog posts you may enjoy!
How to Create a Vision Board and Vision Board Ideas
Daily Journaling for Self Care (Free Printable Download)
Introducing: The RevMe Challenge
(FREE challenge and habit trackers that let you track good habits, including limiting your phone use.)
Leave a Reply