From 6 Hours to 1: Resetting our Relationships with our Phones
Something I love about holidays: we tend to reach for our phones less.
The average American picks up their phone roughly 100 times each day. They spend four and a half hours on it. They look at 10 apps and swipe through more than 300 feet of social media posts. (And if you’re wondering: I checked my phone data and I’m above average – and not in a good way.)
But it’s not just phones, of course.
Americans stream somewhere around 40 hours of shows and movies each week and spend 26 hours on their desktop computers.
So – holidays tend to be really nice pauses for me.
Nobody expects a quick response, I’m not waiting for any texts, and with family nearby, my itch to check my phone or keep going on my Stranger Things binge is significantly lessened.
In case this holiday reminds you how nice is it to check your phone less, here are some simple things you can do to change your relationship with your phone:
Check in with yourself regularly and ask: what do I want to give my attention to?
Read your data: look at your screen time in your phone settings to understand what you’re spending your phone time doing.
Create “speed bumps:” in your phone settings, create time limits for certain apps (or download an app like Opal to do it.)
Leave your phone for a bit: when you leave the room, try leaving your phone as well. Notice how this feels in your body.
Go outside and move your body without music, podcasts, or headphones. (When I do my morning walks, I leave my phone at home to get rid of the temptation to check it while I’m out walking.)
In 2020, I completed a 5-week challenge where I used my phone one hour less each week, going from 6 hours of phone use per day to 1 hour in the final week. It wasn’t a habit I’ve stuck to, or necessarily wanted to, but it was a pretty radical reset of the relationship I had with my phone.
If you’re feeling tied to your technology and spend more time doomscrolling than you want, a phone-life reset might be a great way to begin moving forward.
🧰 Resources
How to Break Up With Your Phone by Catherine Price (book)
“How Your Cell Phone Might Affect Your Brain” (article)
